Not all channel partners are seeing the same migration to data security, though. "DLP, and the cloud is fine for big enterprises." says Mehta from Secure Network Solutions in Chennai. Focused primarily on SMBs, the company, made Rs 15 crore last financial, hasn't seen a swap between orders for gateway security or UTM and the cloud or DLP. "Customers want DLP but they are not sure if they want it at the gateway or at the desktop level. DLP is a wide open ocean. That said, gateway DLP is showing some demand," he says.

Thanks to Wikileaks, there is a growing awareness of data security--and the importance of data availability solutions--even among small business units, says Sudhir Kothari, CEO and MD, Embee Software. "We talk to customers about the ROI of solutions like IRM, DLP, and high availability solutions, which gives us maximum return and loyalty among customers," he says.

Sales Cycle Tradeoff

Shrinking demand for AV, UTM and firewall products is only one reason that channel partners are gravitating towards higher-end security technologies. Here's the other: The latter offers fatter margins. Many of the firms deploying technologies like DLP tend to have a bottom-line focus, not a top line one.

"Security margins were at decent double-digit levels a few years ago as low-end margins among other software products drove most SIs to drift towards security. Partners make decent margins from services in DLP, SIEM or technologies which demands skilled manpower and technical competency," says says Harish Tyagi, CEO, Taarak India. All of the firm's business, including services and consulting expertise, comes from security.