2025: what does the year ahead have in store for the IT channel?

1 Managed Services, a rising trend, with Managed Security Services as the growth hotspot 

Cybersecurity has never been just a concern for large enterprises. SMBs are increasingly aware of the threats they face, with 73% reporting an attack in 2023—a worrying increase of 13% since 2021.  

This rising tide of attacks, evidenced by a 37% average increase in daily cybersecurity warnings, has forced businesses of all sizes to prioritise cyber resilience.  

SMBs generally have limited scope for sizeable investment in in-house experts and infrastructure to mitigate cyber-risk. This is where Managed Security Services come into play. 

The demand for managed services is set to rise, and the opportunity is particularly sizeable in the cybersecurity sector.  The global Managed Security Services (MSS) market is projected to reach $67 billion by 2025. 

This demand is creating a sizeable opportunity for IT providers to attract new customers and deepen relationships with existing ones.  

To tap into services growth, partners must leverage relationships with specialist providers to offer services without heavy investment in infrastructure and expertise.  

Infinigate has invested significantly in its Managed Security Services Distributor (MSSD) model, and our Managed Security Services go beyond traditional hardware and software solutions by integrating active management, continuous monitoring, and remediation into the security framework.  
 

Denis Ferrand-Ajchenbaum

Chief Growth Officer Infinigate Group, MD Infinigate Cloud

2 Growing Investment in cybersecurity 

The cybersecurity market is set to sustain its growth trajectory over the coming year and the IT channel has a clear opportunity to intercept it, considering the high percentage of cybersecurity technology spending the channel accounts for (according to Canalys, in Q2 2024, total cybersecurity technology spending through the channel accounted for 91.3%).  

Industry analysts forecast in excess of +10% growth for the cybersecurity market globally over the next few years. Gartner predicts end-user spending on information security will hit $212 billion in 2025, an increase of 15.1% from 2024.  

The ever-evolving threat environment means security is a priority, not just for chief information security officers (CISOs) but for the entire C-suite. Key areas of investment are expected to be cloud security solutions, as more organisations move to the cloud, and security services, especially managed security services and expert consultancy, in response to the ongoing skills shortage and need to manage budgets efficiently under challenging economic conditions.  

Platforms, rather than single solutions, will offer an integrated way to procure cybersecurity, supported by services. Channel partners will continue to play a key role in helping with this transition. 

Klaus Schlichtherle

CEO Infinigate Group

3 The EU will bare its teeth to enforce new cybersecurity regulations  

The escalating complexity and frequency of cyber threats meets with increasingly stringent cyber-insurance and compliance demands from directives such as DORA, NIS2, and CRA.  

These directives have the ultimate aim of protecting essential and important assets and services across key segments and with particular relevance to Operational Technology (OT). 

2025 will see the EU bare its teeth to enforce cybersecurity regulations to raise cyber-resilience standards, with heavy fines for those failing to comply.  

Many businesses are facing significant challenges in translating the complex requirements of these directives into clear action plans for compliance.  

To meet these regulatory requirements, businesses need a clear picture of their data assets, their assets’ locations, and the threats facing them.  

Businesses also need documented processes and technology in place to prevent and react to cyber breaches.  

Often, organisations lack the in-house resources and expertise to achieve compliance; the IT channel has an opportunity to assist business customers in helping decode the complex directives, guiding them on the road to compliance. Doing so serves to ensure business continuity and protect against costly disruptions and costly fines.  

2025 can be the year the channel steps up to support customers in navigating regulatory changes and enhancing cybersecurity posture. 

Patrick Scholl

Head of OT, Infinigate Group

4 SASE adoption progress in 2025  

Due to the overall complexity of security operations, industry-specific challenges, and regulatory demands, organisations are turning to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions to protect their digital assets, drive digital transformation, and ensure business resilience.  

SASE enables an integrated networking and security architecture that converges multiple network and security functionalities into a unified cloud-managed solution. According to a new IDC Technology Spotlight, 82% of European businesses see SASE adoption as a top priority or beneficial for their organisation.   

Gartner forecasts that the global market for SASE will be worth $15 billion by 2025, with 36% CAGR since 2021. In 2025, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) will boom, with 60% of businesses expected to have clear plans and schedules for adoption.  

But successfully implementing a SASE model hinges on choosing the right partner to navigate deployment challenges. The channel, and specialist distributors such as Infinigate in particular, have a pivotal role to play with SASE in 2025, offering solutions, expertise and support needed to help customers unlock the full value of their investments. 

Denis Ferrand-Ajchenbaum

Chief Growth Officer Infinigate Group, MD Infinigate Cloud

5 AI will play both sides of the fence, enabling more sophisticated cyber-attacks and bolstering security operations centres   

AI adoption will surge in 2025, with threat actors utilizing AI-powered malware, intelligence gathering, and automation tools allowing cyber criminals to deploy more effective and precise cyber-attacks.  

On the side of defence, AI-powered analytics, anomaly detection and correlation engines will empower Security Operations Centres (SOCs) with the ability to mount an efficient defence of their organisations from the expected cyber-attack surge.  

The key takeaway here is that attackers only have to be right once, but defenders have to be right every time and without suitable tooling it will become increasingly difficult for SOCs to withstand the tide of increased cyber-attack events.  

The adoption of AI-powered PCs will allow users to run AI applications and tasks locally.  While resulting in an improvement in productivity, it should be recognised that AI-powered PCs will likely create new attack vectors for threat actors, with data exposure concerns to be considered.  

It will be important to train employees on the responsible use of AI to protect the business’ competitive data assets, and care should also be taken to ensure that security implications are carefully considered before activating AI features of new systems.  

The channel has an opportunity to play a crucial role in helping businesses identify high impact use cases for AI and ensuring responsible use of AI to reduce risk.  

Dean Watson

Lead Solution Expert, Secure Networking, Infinigate UK&I

To find how our market, channel and technical expertise can spark your growth in 2025, please contact us today.