By Charlene O'Hanlon

When it comes to choosing a security model for their network, a growing number of companies are looking at hybrid CPE/SaaS solutions as well as integrated devices, according to a recent survey by Infonetics Research.

Threat Protection and SaaS: North American Enterprise Survey looks at the security buying plans of 240 U.S. and Canadian small, medium, and large organizations from a wide variety of vertical markets. Among the findings, respondents noted that protecting against theft and accidental leakage of data are the two biggest drivers to invest in content security. The firewall is still the center of the security gateway universe, used by most survey respondent businesses, according to the survey.

Respondents also are looking for more features in fewer devices, which would reduce the amount of complexity in the data center.

Most companies in North America have something in place to protect themselves from spam and malware already, but when upgrading or purchasing new protection, they face a critical decision of whether to invest in technology and build out their own content security infrastructure, subscribe to hosted/cloud-based services, or deploy a hybrid of those two options. About half of the businesses we interviewed in our recent security survey plan to go the straight-CPE route, while most of the balance plan to pursue a hybrid approach,” said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics Research.