Business security solution vendor WatchGuard has touted record-breaking fourth-quarter numbers, with mid-sized and enterprise firms increasingly upgrading from single-purpose appliances to next-generation Unified Threat Management (UTM) systems.

Although the company hasn’t offered actual sales figures, billings growth was in the double digits both year-on-year and against the previous quarter, as well as for 2011 compared with 2010.

By country, Australia experienced 30% growth, the United Kingdom 78%, and New Zealand a massive 108%.

Scott Robertson, vice president, channels and alliances – APAC for WatchGuard, says although security breach headlines drive awareness, it is demand for the features on offer in UTM solutions that is really causing businesses to upgrade.

"The demand for multifunction, easy to use and affordable network security is at an all time high,” Robertson says.

Although its core SMB market is ‘solid’, the company is experiencing ‘accelerated demand’ among mid-market and enterprise organisations, Robertson adds.

Users are also increasingly taking up add-on services, such as Application Control, WebBlocker and spamBlocker.