Singapore companies to spend more on IT security

Singapore companies are expected to spend 23 per cent of their IT budgets on security over the next three years, up from 15 percent today, a CA-sponsored study has found.

According to the study, the higher spending is largely driven by the need to guard against data breaches, improve mobile customer experience and drive new services enabled by improved security.

While 49 per cent of respondents said security was mostly about control, 51 per cent indicated that it was about both control and enabling business growth.

“It is paramount for Singapore organisations to stay ahead of the fast-changing IT threat landscape,” said Chua I-Pin, vice president for Asia South at CA Technologies.

“The successful organisation in the application economy does not look at technologies such as security as a growth inhibitor, but a necessary part of a broader strategy to innovate and grow,” he added.

Take mobility, for example. According to the study, 52 per cent of Singapore respondents said it has a big or significant impact on security practices and policies, which is comparable to the Asia-Pacific figure of 55 per cent.

CA says this trend is expected to increase as mobility, BYOD and the Internet of Things continue to drive an increasingly wireless enterprise, where the security risks of perpetual access must be addressed.

Despite the security risks posed by APIs, 86 per cent of Singapore respondents have opened up their data through APIs, as part of efforts to launch new apps quickly, improve customer engagement and tap new revenue opportunities.

This is 12 per cent higher than the Asia-Pacific average of 74 per cent, and adds a new dimension to an organisation’s IT security.

The study was conducted by Vanson Bourne, and involved 650 senior IT and business leaders from Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore.