(By Info-Tech Analyst James Quin- Printed with permission from Processor magazine www.processor.com).
I Resolve To Increase Security Funding
Info-Tech Research Group surveys indicate that the average enterprise expenditure on IT security is 7.3% of the IT budget. Furthermore, other studies show that on average, enterprises dedicate 6.5% of revenues to IT as a whole. Crunching the numbers, that's just under 50 cents spent on IT security for every $100 of revenue.
At a minimum, all enterprises should be spending to this level because if they're not, they're lagging behind. And while that's a start, does 50 cents for every $100 of revenue sound like enough to protect that revenue, the infrastructure that generates it, and the data that proves it? I don't think so either. Exactly how much more should be spent isn't something that can easily be defined, but by increasing to 65 cents per $100, IT security is effectively raised to 10% of IT security spending, an almost 50% improvement on the current average.