Cloud computing is booming, and companies from safety-and-storage specialist Symantec (SYMC) to network giant Cisco Systems (CSCO) are making big bets on cloud security.

"Whenever businesses change the way they consume IT (information technology), we've got to change the way we provide security," said John Pescatore, an analyst with research firm Gartner. "They've changed from mainframe to client-server to Internet. We've got to be able to deliver security the same way. "

That has started. Some 60% of big companies already outsource some aspects of security, he says. Worries about relinquishing control of security have abated somewhat as companies realize the abilities of cloud computing and the challenges of doing the job all in-house.

For example, "many companies are already comfortable with e-mail security happening in the cloud," Pescatore said.

Now, companies are outsourcing security roles such as threat monitoring and firewall management. Revenue from security delivered as a service will make up 22% of all security service revenue in 2014, up from 10% last year, says Infonetics Research.

Symantec Sees 15% Mark

Symantec CEO Enrique Salem expects software-as-a-service will generate 15% of company revenue, or $1 billion annually, within five years.

The software-as-a-service push "is happening in the security space," said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president of Symantec Hosted Services. "The reason people are interested in SaaS is simple. It gives them the ability to scale up and down very quickly, and it is much more cost-effective."

Trollope says Symantec is "removing technology" from computer network endpoints like desktops and laptops "as fast as we can." But he said "no one can say with a straight face they've moved everything to the cloud, because that's impossible. For example, you still need to have a presence at the endpoint — that is absolutely necessary."

Symantec bought SaaS e-mail scanner MessageLabs in 2008. Now called Symantec Hosted Services, the business also offers Web address threat filtering, anti-virus and anti-spyware services to companies. Symantec's Norton consumer security software line also has a heavy SaaS component.

When Norton Internet Security 2010 "detects a file it hasn't seen before, it sends a fingerprint up to the cloud and says, 'Do you know about this?' Norton servers take a look, evaluate whether it's good or bad and pass that down to the customer's computer," Trollope said.

Source: Investor's Business Daily