Advisory Services Are Outgrowing Managed Security Across Asia/Pacific

The security services market in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) is on track to grow from $10.8 billion in 2024 to $16.6 billion by 2029, a 9.1% CAGR, according to IDC’s 2026–2029 forecast. The market is changing internally as AI takes over routine tasks, a shift that used to increase staffing and spending in managed security services. Now the focus is moving toward advisory, integration, and governance work instead.

What’s Driving the Shift from Managed to Advisory Services?

AI-powered threats, tightening data governance rules, and a persistent skills gap are turning security services into a critical business requirement rather than a technology cost center organizations can cut when budgets tighten. Growth is concentrating in advisory and integration work in countries like India and South Korea, where digital transformation is accelerating alongside demand for AI applications. That’s pulling security services growth away from more mature technology hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong.

As AI reduces labor needs in managed security services, IDC suggests cybersecurity service providers can succeed by implementing outcome-driven pricing models, developing advisory and governance capabilities, and getting established early in the region’s emerging market segment.

The region’s security services market is shifting from traditional operations to advisory. Every buyer needs security services, but fewer are willing to pay for headcount when AI can do the routine work. The goal is to move toward outcome-based delivery, integration, and governance — and the providers who can reprice around outcomes while leading with compliance and sovereignty readiness are the ones who will win this cycle.

Segment Landscape: Where Is the Growth?

IDC Outlook: What’s Next?

Growth is shifting toward the region’s emerging-tier economies. By 2029, India, Korea, and other emerging markets are expected to surpass the broader region, rising from about a third to over 40% of revenue. Growth in Singapore and Hong Kong will stabilize in the meantime. Australia remains the largest market, accounting for nearly a third of regional revenue, but its growth rate will lag the overall growth rate. IDC forecasts that security services providers will prioritize deepening existing accounts over winning new customers.

From an industry perspective, financial services and the public sector together account for roughly half of regional revenue, driven by ongoing regulations and threat exposures that keep both industries investing steadily in security. Manufacturing and resources are expanding rapidly as industrial and operational environments evolve. Healthcare remains the smallest and slowest-growing sector, held back by limited budgets.

What Could Accelerate This Shift?

Agentic AI is moving the SOC from human-run to machine-assisted. Autonomous AI agents are transforming purchasing and delivery models. Short-term security services spending is focused on governance, trust frameworks, and integration, while the labor intensity of managed services keeps falling over the medium term.
Digital sovereignty is becoming a persistent regional requirement. Government policies on data governance and localization are making compliance a continuous expense that spans budget periods, which benefits cybersecurity providers with local presence, expertise, and sovereignty capabilities.
Pricing is shifting from headcount resources toward automation and outcomes. With AI now handling tasks L1 analysts in a SOC used to perform, headcount-based pricing no longer makes sense — cybersecurity providers can keep expanding despite the persistent talent shortage.

What Could Slow It Down?

A reactive security posture hinders strategic security investments. If security is still treated as an incident-response function rather than a strategic pillar of business resilience, security budgets stay tactical and reactive.
Fragmented security environments within an organization slow adoption. Fragmented and isolated security solutions erode buyer trust and lengthen evaluation periods, delaying investment commitments even as integration demands grow.
A persistent talent shortage constrains delivery and absorption alike. A shortage of qualified security and automation talent limits how quickly cybersecurity providers can staff projects and how rapidly buyers can adopt new solutions.

Key Indicators to Watch

Three things will shape how far and how fast this shift goes: how quickly organizations trust autonomous AI actions in the SOC, how much national data-sovereignty rules diverge from country to country, and how quickly the security talent pool grows.

See the full 2026–2029 market sizing, segment breakdowns, and growth forecasts behind this analysis. Download the IDC Market Forecast. Talk to IDC about what’s next for security services in your market. Contact Us.