Cybersecurity companies weather the economic downturn
Cybersecurity companies may have suffered during the economic downturn — but they suffered less; some companies even saw an increase in revenues; “The things that we’re delivering have become more of a necessity than a nice to have,” says the president of an Iowa-based company which provides technical support and corporate security for desktop computers — and which increased its annual revenue by 41 percent in 2009
The past year has seen many companies having to tighten their belts, laying off workers, and re-forecasting their earnings due to the current economic climate. This trend, however, does not appear to have hit companies involved in cybersecurity in the same way.
According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, SecurityCoverage, a company that provides computer security, managed to increase its annual revenue by 41 percent in 2009. The company provides technical support and corporate security for desktop computers and markets itself by partnering with telecom and cable companies, ISPs, and financial institutions.
The company president, Bob O’Dell says that the economic decline actually helped the company. “The things that we’re delivering have become more of a necessity than a nice to have,” O’Dell said. “As people were being laid off and trying to find a new job and evaluate their finances, they were using their computers to do it. I think the bad guys realize that as well as anyone else, so we actually saw the number of threats start to really spike last year.”
Most of the rise in revenue is attributable to gaining new customers, as well as selling new products to existing customers, says O’Dell. The company was also one of the few who continued to hire new employees. “We added 30 new partners in 2009 and invested heavily in our product development by rolling out four new products,” O’Dell said. “We also hired 25 new employees throughout the year, bringing our total employment to about 73.” O’Dell hopes to maintain current growth levels in the coming year.
The New New Internet’s Michael Cheek writes that cybersecurity is likely to remain a growing field over the next several years, as everyone becomes more aware of the host of threats that come from cyberspace.
