1. Firewall-as-a-Subscription: assess procurement and operations separately
Announcement dated 26 October 2026; vendor-stated launch on 1 November: Firewall-as-a-Subscription combines an on-premises appliance, security capabilities, management, support and migration services. The term is three years, with monthly or annual billing through Check Point partners. Customers operate the firewall; managed firewall and SOC services are separate add-ons. Trade coverage followed on 28 October.
What this means for your business: For integrators and MSSPs, the question is how the subscription fits their managed firewall offering. A sound comparison brings together 36-month total cost, migration effort, support scope and operational responsibility. Who handles configuration, updates, monitoring and incident response? Which services are included, and which require a separate agreement? These questions help assess whether the model fits a specific customer's technical requirements and financial planning.
Status and context: The procurement model does not automatically include a fully managed service or establish lower total cost. The official brochure specifies a 15% uplift for monthly billing. Regional terms, partner activation and the specific quote remain decisive.
2. IT security in 2027: growth in software and services
Market forecast published on 28 October 2026: based on IDC data, Bitkom expects German security spending to reach EUR 15.8 billion in 2027. Software is forecast to grow 14.6% to EUR 8.9 billion and services 8.4% to EUR 5.7 billion. Hardware is expected to decline 4.2% after strong 2026 growth. connect professional reports the same figures using the same underlying data.
What this means for your business: For vendors, distributors, integrators and managed service providers, the forecast offers a reason to assess how software, integration and ongoing operations fit together in their portfolio. The key questions are which security problem an offering addresses and what reliable operation requires. Planning should therefore consider technical integration, available skills, service scope and demonstrable customer value alongside the growth figures. Funding for any specific project remains an individual customer decision.
Status and context: These figures are a forecast for Germany, not a DACH-wide survey or evidence of approved customer budgets. The second source uses the same IDC dataset and is not independent market validation. Market growth does not establish a specific need at an individual organisation.
3. SEP and Vawlt link backup with European multi-cloud storage
Partnership announced on 29 October 2026: Germany's SEP and Portugal's Vawlt combine backup/recovery with a storage layer distributed across cloud providers. The vendor page describes standard S3 integration, Object Lock for immutable backups and channel distribution. A 90-day trial is offered for approved projects. speicherguide covered the alliance on 2 November 2026.
What this means for your business: For MSPs and backup/storage decision-makers, recoverability is the central question: can backups remain accessible if a cloud provider fails, and can a business-critical workload be restored within the required time? A meaningful assessment considers data volume, recovery time objective (RTO), recovery point objective (RPO), cloud and egress costs, and responsibility during an incident. A documented restore test provides concrete evidence for the decision.
Status and context: A technology partnership and vendor offer, not independent operational or financial validation. European ownership and data residency alone guarantee neither compliance nor complete legal insulation. Assess architecture, contracts, subprocessors and restore results separately; trial approval is required.