Dell’Oro Group reports application security and delivery grew 15% in 2025

Dell’Oro Group found worldwide network security revenue rose 10% in 2025 to over $26 billion, and application security and delivery grew 15%, highlighting enterprise emphasis on application-layer controls for operations and governance.

Market Overview

The report shows worldwide Network Security revenue increased 10 percent in 2025 to more than $26 billion, with the Application Security and Delivery segment totaling nearly $6 billion and growing 15 percent in 2025.

Key Findings

“As enterprises modernize customer-facing services and operationalize AI-enabled workflows, the web and API layer becomes the most visible choke point for availability, performance, and governance, which elevates the importance of integrated delivery and protection platforms,” said Mauricio Sanchez, Sr. Director, Enterprise Security and Networking at Dell’Oro Group.

“AI applications have accelerated API sprawl and raised the cost of inconsistent application policy. Application Security and Delivery grew 15 percent in 2025 because buyers are consolidating delivery and protection into integrated platforms,” said Mauricio Sanchez, Sr. Director, Enterprise Security and Networking at Dell’Oro Group.

Segment or Supplier Performance

Web Application Firewall (WAF) demand reflected prioritization of web and Application Programming Interface (API) protection with suite packaging and shared policy models noted as differentiators, while Application Delivery Controller (ADC) demand shifted toward software-centric models supporting portability and automation.

Firewall procurement continued to fund segmentation and policy enforcement but focused on platform strategies that simplify operations and increase subscription attachment, and Security Services Edge (SSE) activity emphasized unified policy, consistent telemetry, and simplified administration across users, sites, and workloads.

Technology or Trend Analysis

The report notes Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications accelerated API sprawl and increased the cost of inconsistent application policy, while buyers consolidated delivery and protection into integrated platforms and sought tighter integration between delivery models and security policy.

Forecast or Analyst Outlook

The findings indicate continued consolidation toward cloud-delivered access controls and integrated delivery-protection platforms, with expectation of ongoing demand for unified policy and simplified administration across enterprise application surfaces.

Methodology Notes

The Network Security report includes manufacturers’ revenue for ADC, Firewall, SSE, traditional Secure Web Gateway (SWG) appliances, and WAF segments, breaks SSE into Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), SWG, and Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) functions, and splits segments by form factor including physical, virtual, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

The data and segment definitions are presented to inform enterprise decision-makers about market and product trends relevant to application-layer controls and delivery platforms.

The report’s revenue and segment data summarize market activity and supplier performance relevant to enterprise security strategy. This Analyst Signals brief reflects a neutral, fact-based summary of the original research note.