Web Security Controls Are Rapidly Transitioning to the Cloud

No big secret, but IT services in general and IT security controls in particular are rapidly transitioning to the cloud.

There are many reasons for this, including better economics, improved performance and reliability, faster innovation, better efficacy and perhaps most important, reducing the load on stretched security teams.

Mimecast has been on the forefront of this cloud transition for many years with our email security service. Nowadays there is little argument that cloud-based email security systems are the way to go. Even suggesting on-premises based email security systems reminds me of the Box on the show Silicon Valley. 

In May 2017 Gartner estimated that 65% of organizations had already chosen cloud-based delivery of their secure email gateways. In addition, Gartner estimated that 95% of new and transitioning buyers are choosing cloud-based delivery. Given these estimates, it won’t be too long before on-premises based email security systems will be almost completely gone.

Web security and the cloud

But what of web security? It is going through the same transition to the cloud, for much of the same reasons, but is not as far along as the email security market. Recent survey results conducted by Mimecast has found:

• 27% of organizations are cloud-based now
• 32% of organizations are on-premises now
• 37% of organizations are using a hybrid mix of on-premises and cloud-based controls
• 4% or organizations have nothing (hope the cybercriminals don’t find them!)

Not yet up to the 65% of cloud-based of email security systems, but getting there.

What else did we learn about the web security market? Not surprisingly, security is the #1 reason for using web filtering, but an important #2 is the enforcement of acceptable use policies. 

We also found that 80% of respondents consider web security for off-network mobile devices to be important or very important. Given how prevalent mobile devices are in the corporate setting, this is also not surprising. This is another key reason why cloud-based deployments are becoming popular, keeping employees protected even when they are off the enterprise network with their mobile devices.

All of the above and more leads directly to the reasoning behind the recent release of Mimecast Web Security: 100% cloud-based, setup in less than 60 minutes, and closely integrated with the Mimecast Secure Email Gateway.

*Gartner, Market Guide for Secure Email Gateways, Neil Wynne, May 3, 2017