Cisco, SonicWall, Sophos Among Leading Next-Gen Firewall Players

Next-generation firewall (NGFW) should be a lucrative opportunity for cybersecurity providers as the global market is expected to more than double by 2025, topping $6.7 billion.

That’s according to a new report by Allied Market Research, which expects a compound annual growth rate of nearly 13%. The market totaled almost $2.6 billion in 2017.

Leading market players, AMR says, include Barracuda Networks, Cisco, Check Point Software Technologies, Fortinet, Forcepoint, Juniper Networks, Huawei, SonicWall, Palo Alto Networks and Sophos.

The surge in sophisticated cyberattacks, the IoT-based threat landscape, and strict government regulations for data security and safety are driving market growth. An increase in cybersecurity spending and the advent of firewall as a service open up new opportunities for partners in the market. Scarcity of skilled professionals, however, and concerns related to the performance of cloud protection tools, are hindrances.

The hardware segment was one-half of the next-gen firewall market in 2017, and is estimated to continue its lead the way through 2025. This is due to increase in adoption of application control-specific security tools and the rise in adoption of endpoint protection.

No surprise, the cloud segment is expected to grow the fastest, with a CAGR of nearly 15% through 2025, due to low capital and maintenance costs, and increasing adoption of cloud security solutions among SMBs and large enterprises.

Based on industry vertical, the health care sector is expected to grow at the fastest rate, with a CAGR of nearly 16% from 2018 to 2025, due to a comprehensive adoption of electronic health records and continuous monitoring reforms, along with a rise in the number of security breaches for medical records.

North America contributed more than one-third of the total market share in 2017 and will continue its dominance through 2025. This is attributed to the rise in cyberattacks, significant adoption of IoT-based devices, BYOD, and the surge in dependency on internet and social media platforms.

However, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 14.6% due to the growth of the banking and finance sector, and a well-established telecommunication industry in the region.