This IDC study provides a top-down sizing of the network security market, which consists of the firewall/VPN, unified threat management (UTM), and intrusion detection and prevention (IDP), virtual private network (VPN) technology markets. During 2007, network security solutions ignored the slowing economy and continued to grow and transition to new technologies increased. The document provides vendor shares for 2007 and a segmented 2008–2012 forecast for this market.

"The network security market is undergoing a variety of transitions within the subsegments and is still growing despite slowing economies worldwide. As UTM and IDP devices continue to gain market share on the former Goliath — firewall/VPN — XTM solutions are already moving past the capabilities of UTM appliances with networking and management features. In the VPN sector, ease and innovation are also pushing out IPsec solutions, the incumbent VPN product, says Andrew J. Hanson, associate research analyst at IDC. "Network security products remain popular because they offer comprehensive security with strong performance advantages and convenience to customers. Network security vendors will need to integrate better performance, management, and networking functionality with strong security architecture to remain competitive in a market that is seeing more comprehensive solutions taking hold in larger businesses."