Week in research: Verizon leads managed security; Consumers hot on Internet-enabled TV

Verizon commands the managed security space: Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has gained a leading spot in Gartner's new Magic Quadrant for Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP), North America. Driven through its Terremark unit, Verizon delivers a suite of services that include: managed security services; governance, risk and compliance management solutions; data loss and prevention solutions; and identity management solutions. Overall, Gartner has forecast "continued strong, if not spectacular, growth for MSSs in North America." In 2010, the MSSPs generated $2.3 billion in revenue, an increase from $1.8 billion the year before. In 2011, Gartner believes the market will grow to $2.8 billion. Gartner said this growth is a function of various factors, including staffing and budget pressures, growing compliance requirements and increasing interest and availability in IT functions as a service. Release

Consumers tune into Internet-enabled TV: As more consumers subscribe to video players like Hulu and Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), the advent of Internet-enabled TV devices, including TVs, Blu-ray players and gaming consoles that can display video in the living room continue to grow. According to In-Stat, approximately 17 million U.S. households have a connected TV, while streaming media players have doubled since the end of 2010. Interestingly, only a fraction of those consumers who own an Internet-capable TV device use a home gateway to access OTT video services. Regardless of this disconnect, the growing market of OTT video-capable households will double the revenue for online video-on-demand (VoD) and electronic-sell-through (EST), which is expected to double by 2015. Release

Network security appliance race heats up: As more businesses deal with employees bringing in their own Internet-capable mobile devices (iPads, netbooks and smartphones) to the workplace, they have to ensure their internal networks are protected from potential security threats that could come onto their LAN. This factor, says Infonetics, has helped the network security appliance and software market grow 6.4 percent in Q3 2011 to $1.46 billion. Leading the race is Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), which increased its network appliance and software revenue 4.5 percent in Q3 2011. Juniper (NYSE: JNPR) also made big strides during the quarter with its network security appliance and software revenue rising 22 percent propelling them into second place in front of Check Point. Release

Infonetics SaaS security 2011