In a report entitled “Security and the Cloud,” Forrester analyst Jonathan Penn predicted that rather than reallocating portions of existing security budgets to cloud computing, organizations will allocate money to security within cloud projects—creating “a whole new category of revenue for the security market.” Jonathan stated that cloud computing has forced vendors to come up with new products and thus formed a whole new security market sector–and security vendors and cloud providers had better get ready.

The report’s executive summary: “Concerns about security are the most prominent reasons that organizations cite for not adopting cloud services. Therefore, creating more comprehensive security capabilities is a prerequisite for getting organizations to adopt cloud-based services for more complex, business-sensitive, and demanding purposes. Forrester fully expects to see the emergence of highly secure and trusted cloud services over the next five years, during which time cloud security will grow into a $1.5 billion market and will shift from being an inhibitor to an enabler of cloud services adoption. The advent of secure cloud services will be a disruptive force in the security solutions market, challenging traditional security solution providers to revamp their architectures, partner ecosystems, and service offerings, while creating an opportunity for emerging vendors, integrators, and consultants to establish themselves.”

The report can be purshased on the Forrester website for $499.