Germany’s cybersecurity market is entering a decisive year. With escalating threat levels, rapidly expanding attack surfaces and the operational impact of NIS 2, organizations of all sizes must reassess their security operations capabilities.
At the it-sa cybersecurity trade fair in Nuremberg, I presented the current market forecast for managed security services in Germany as part of InfoGuard's Breach Talk. ISG forecasts a 15.2% market growth for managed security services from €2.095 billion in 2025 to €2.413 billion in 2026. This growth is driven by urgent enterprise demand for stronger detection and response capabilities.
Figure 1: Market Growth for Managed Security Services
Against this backdrop, the role of modern security operations centers (SOC) is shifting from a technical function to a strategic one. CIOs, CISOs and boards now view SOC maturity as a prerequisite to safeguarding business continuity, supply chain integrity and operational stability.
Security operations have moved far beyond monitoring log streams. SOC providers are expected to deliver:
Coordinated, rapid response to minimize business disruption
By the end of 2026, the German market for managed security services will grow to over €2.4 billion. This corresponds to market growth of more than 15%, which is significantly higher than the already-strong growth of the cybersecurity market as a whole.
Large German enterprises continue to push sophistication in hybrid SOC and managed detection and response (MDR) models, but midmarket organizations have emerged as the fastest growing adopters of SOC and MDR services. Driven by skill shortages and disproportionate regulatory burden, they increasingly turn to external SOC partners to compensate for internal limitations.
Threat actors recognize this dynamic: midmarket organizations are now deliberately targeted as perceived “easier to breach” entry points into larger supply chains. The result is a broad-based surge in demand across enterprises.
With the NIS 2 directive transposed into German law in December 2025, thousands of additional (mid-sized) companies now fall under stricter cybersecurity requirements.
This forces organizations to:
For many CISOs, this transforms SOC capabilities from “important” to “non negotiable.” Organizations unable to meet these requirements — especially in critical sectors — face real operational and legal exposure.
To meet the combined pressures of compliance, threat evolution and talent scarcity, organizations should immediately focus on:
Focus on OT security: Address monitoring challenges across industrial systems, a major NIS 2 driver.
Enterprises that accelerate these steps now will be better positioned to meet regulatory expectations and build resilience against emerging threats.
The competitive landscape for SOC/MDR providers is rapidly evolving. Winning providers will stand out by:
Bringing visibility and control into OT, cloud and distributed workplaces
Differentiation is no longer based on toolsets. It is driven by operational maturity, automation depth and business-aligned response.
The new Cybersecurity Provider Lens 2026 cycle is underway. This year, we will analyze providers across these markets:
This is a widely recognized market benchmark enterprises use to select cybersecurity partners. The results will be published in the summer of 2026. Please contact us if you offer cybersecurity products or services in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Switzerland, U.K. or the U.S. and have not yet received an invitation to the provider survey.
The 2025 Provider Lens Cybersecurity study remains a valuable reference for enterprises assessing the market and understanding competitive positioning. The report highlights evolving provider capabilities and emerging differentiation.
Enterprises looking to accelerate SOC transformation — and providers seeking transparent market intelligence — can still access the full 2025 assessment.
Developments in the SOC and MDR environment are prompting both enterprises and service providers to seek greater clarity regarding market structures, maturity levels and service models. In this context, ISG provides independent analyses and observations that help stakeholders better understand market dynamics:
For enterprises:
Consideration of operating models and maturity levels
For service providers:
Observation of enterprise buying behavior