Report:
The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Email Security, Q2 2023
How does Forrester define the Enterprise Email Security market in 2023?
Email security is entering a golden age driven by cloud email migration, machine learning adoption, and API-enabled integrations. The market has evolved from stagnation to innovation, with customers increasingly adopting multi-vendor, layered approaches for greater efficacy. Of 37 customer references interviewed, only 2 worked with a single vendor. Key evaluation areas include flexibility in deployments and integrations, ease of security team response, and holistic human protection beyond email to messaging, collaboration, and SaaS applications. The evaluation assessed 15 enterprise email security providers across 26 criteria.
Key Facts for The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Email Security, Q2 2023 in 2023
- Publication Date: 11-Jun-2023
- Document ID: RES178496
- Summary: In our 26-criterion evaluation of enterprise email security providers, we identified the most significant ones and researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report shows how each provider measures up and helps security and risk professionals select the right one for their needs.
- Authors: Jess Burn, Joseph Blankenship, Angela Lozada, Michael Belden
How did the Enterprise Email Security market evolve in 2023?
- Email security is entering a golden age after stagnating for the better part of a decade
- Mass customer migration to cloud email, rapid adoption of machine learning, and widespread use of APIs have brought forth improved offerings and innovative roadmaps
- Customers have more choice than ever when it comes to protecting how employees, customers, and partners communicate and collaborate
- Of the 37 customer references interviewed, only two were working with a single enterprise email security vendor
- The majority of customers employ a layered or multilayer approach to protection using two or more email security vendors
- This multi-vendor approach provides greater efficacy and peace of mind as attackers continue their own innovations
- Vendors are investing in detection capabilities for sophisticated social engineering, cleverly embedded malware, and highly realistic landing pages
- The Forrester Wave evaluation highlights Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders, and Challengers among 15 vendors
- Evaluation based on 26 criteria across current offering, strategy, and market presence
- Vendors were evaluated using materials provided by March 16, 2023
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- Global product revenue over $30 million USD. The vendor has at least $30 million in email security revenue from two or more geographies.
- A productized commercial offering. The offering can be delivered as a secure email gateway (SEG) or a cloud-native, API-enabled email security solution (CAPES), but it cannot be a custom managed or professional service. The majority of vendor revenue must come from enterprise sales, not OEMs or MSPs. The vendor must offer a product version of the solution that was generally available prior to February 23, 2023.
- Significant interest from Forrester customers. Forrester considers the level of interest and feedback from our clients based on our various interactions, including inquiries, advisory, and consulting engagements.
What are the common features of top products in the Enterprise Email Security space?
No common features specified.
Scope Exclusions
- Custom managed or professional services (not productized offerings)
- Solutions where majority of revenue comes from OEMs or MSPs rather than enterprise sales
- Products not generally available prior to February 23, 2023
- Vendors with less than $30 million in global email security revenue
- Vendors operating in fewer than two geographies
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- Global product revenue over $30 million USD from two or more geographies
- Productized commercial offering (SEG or CAPES deployment)
- Product generally available prior to February 23, 2023
- Majority of revenue from enterprise sales, not OEMs or MSPs
- Significant interest from Forrester customers
Offering Strengths — Relative Weighting
- Deployment options — 4%
- Email filtering and malicious email detection — 7%
- Content analysis and processing — 7%
- Machine learning models and training — 6%
- Antimalware and sandboxing — 7%
- Malicious URL and web content security — 7%
- Email authentication — 6%
- Messaging and collaboration app security — 5%
- DLP control enforcement and policy support — 5%
- Encryption — 5%
- Threat intelligence — 5%
- Incident response — 5%
- Security awareness and training integrations — 5%
- EDR and XDR integrations — 5%
- Reporting and dashboards — 5%
- Support and customer success — 6%
- Analyst experience — 5%
- Product security — 5%
Strategy Strength — Relative Weighting
- Vision — 20%
- Innovation — 20%
- Roadmap — 20%
- Partner ecosystem — 15%
- Pricing flexibility and transparency — 10%
- Community — 15%
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research provides a comprehensive evaluation of 15 enterprise email security providers across 26 criteria grouped into three categories: current offering (including content analysis, machine learning models, malicious URL detection, antimalware/sandboxing, and email authentication), strategy (including vision, innovation, roadmap, and community), and market presence (revenue and number of customers). The evaluation assesses both secure email gateway (SEG) and cloud-native API-enabled email security (CAPES) deployment options.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: Security and risk professionals should use this research as a guide when selecting enterprise email security providers. The report helps professionals evaluate vendors based on their specific needs, including flexibility in deployments and integrations, analyst experience and response capabilities, and holistic human protection that extends beyond email to messaging, collaboration, and file-sharing applications. The Excel-based vendor comparison tool allows readers to adapt criteria weightings to fit their individual requirements.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: To be included in this evaluation, vendors must have: 1) At least $30 million in email security revenue from two or more geographies, 2) A productized commercial offering delivered as SEG or CAPES (not custom managed services), with majority revenue from enterprise sales rather than OEMs/MSPs, 3) A product version generally available prior to February 23, 2023, and 4) Significant interest from Forrester customers based on inquiries, advisory, and consulting engagements.
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Revenue below $30 million threshold
- Operating in only one geography
- Offering only custom managed or professional services rather than productized solutions
- Majority of revenue from OEM or MSP channels rather than direct enterprise sales
- Product not generally available before the February 23, 2023 cutoff date
- Insufficient interest or engagement from Forrester's client base
- Declined to participate in the evaluation process
- Only partial participation in the evaluation process
Q: What should buyers consider when evaluating products in this market?
A:
- Offer flexibility in deployments and integrations - ability to mix capabilities from multiple vendors and integrate with key security stack tools
- Make it easy for security teams to respond - streamlined analyst experience with minimal console jumping and intuitive investigation/remediation workflows
- Look beyond email to deliver holistic human protection - extend protections to messaging, collaboration, file sharing, and SaaS applications across devices
- Provide adaptive human protection - move beyond standard phishing tests to real-time nudges and context-aware training
- Demonstrate ability to connect and share data with other email security vendors and security tools
- Show clear plans and timelines to improve analyst experience in products and with technology partners
- Support email authentication protocols with hosted and managed services
Q: How has the Enterprise Email Security market evolved in 2023?
A:
- Mass customer migration to cloud email infrastructure
- Rapid adoption of machine learning for threat detection
- Widespread use of APIs to connect systems and share data
- Multi-vendor, layered approach to email security (35 of 37 references using multiple vendors)
- Shift from secure email gateways (SEG) to cloud-native API-enabled solutions (CAPES)
- Focus on analyst experience (AX) and streamlined workflows
- Extension of protection beyond email to messaging, collaboration, and SaaS applications
- Evolution toward adaptive human protection with real-time nudges
- Integration of email security into broader XDR and Zero Trust strategies
Q: What differentiates Strength of Offering vs. Strength of Strategy?
A: Current Offering evaluates the strength of a vendor's existing product capabilities across 18 criteria including deployment options, detection technologies, machine learning, integrations, and analyst experience. It represents technical execution and product maturity. Strategy evaluates the vendor's future direction across 6 criteria including vision, innovation, roadmap, partnerships, pricing, and community engagement. It represents the vendor's ability to evolve and maintain market relevance over time.
Reference
- Forrester, The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Email Security, Q2 2023, 11-Jun-2023, ID RES178496
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