Western Europe Financial Services Sector IT Spending for Security 2005-2009 Forecast

This Financial Insights report examines the trends and priorities of the IT security sphere within the Western European financial services arena. Through a Financial Insights/IDC survey and the IT spending forecast numbers, this research provides a complete picture of the current situation and expected future evolutions. In addition, the analysis of the most relevant deals of the last 12 months presents insights on current areas of investments.

Security is extremely important because new regulations are requiring more control, banks need to maintain a spotless reputation, and banks cannot afford to face huge fraud costs.

In particular, according to Angela Vacca, senior research analyst for European IT Opportunity: Financial Services research, "Financial institutions are under constant pressure because hackers' methodologies evolve very rapidly and regulators constantly require stricter levels of control, which involve continuous upgrades of IT systems. Therefore, financial institutions that do not tackle security issues are expected to face huge tangible and intangible costs."