The major drivers for the key management as a service (KMaaS) market are the rising incidence of data breaches and increasing regulatory compliance requirements. As a result, the revenue generated by industry players will increase from $511.9 million in 2019 at a 25.9% CAGR during 2020–2030 (forecast period). Such solutions are helpful in the management of the entire lifecycle of keys, which are the values used to encrypt or decrypt files, applications, and communication channels.

Based on application, the categories of the market are disk encryption, file/folder encryption, communication encryption, database encryption, and cloud encryption. Among these, the file/folder encryption category dominated the key management as a service market during 2014–2019 (historical period). This was because companies transfer thousands of individual sensitive files and folders within themselves and across servers, which need to be protected from unauthorized access. The cloud encryption category will likely witness the fastest growth till 2030 due to the rising usage of cloud-based networks for data storage and management.

The industry segment is divided into healthcare, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), retail and e-commerce, IT and telecom, aerospace and defense, government, and others. In 2019, the largest share in the market was held by the BFSI category, as the rapidly digitizing industry is becoming a preferred target for cybercriminals because it deals with money and financial bonds. During the forecast period, the highest CAGR is expected to be seen in the healthcare category, as the usage of electronic health records (EHR) and cloud platforms is putting confidential medical information at risk.

Thus, the strongest growth driver for the key management as a service market is the rising cases of cybercrime, most of which are a result of inadequate cybersecurity measures. For instance, the major reasons miscreants are able to access confidential data are weak passwords, improper configuration, and complex access permissions, apart from malware attacks. Additionally, with companies rapidly transitioning to the cloud, the risk to their databases is increasing further. Here, KMaaS offers an appropriate solution by encrypting the database, applications, cloud platforms, and communication channels.

In this regard, the rising demand for next-generation KMaaS solutions is a lucrative opportunity for key management as a service market players. With features such as simplified management consoles, additional hosting options, multiple key types, built-in hardware security modules (HSM), and heterogeneous key management, these advanced KMaaS solutions improve the management of a business’s cybersecurity operations. Other significant benefits offered by such enhanced cloud-based key management solutions are the central management of key encryption, stronger data protection, compliance for the cloud environment, and reduced administration costs.

North America generated the highest revenue in the key management as a service market till 2019, and it will continue doing so throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to the rising adoption of advanced cybersecurity technologies to thwart data breaches, rapid construction of data centers, and shift to multi-cloud environments. In addition, the presence of many cloud service providers, wide-scale usage of data analysis tools, surging adoption of mobile applications for business operations, and growing focus on the utilization of EHRs are driving the regional market.

During the forecast period, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is projected to experience the highest key management as a service market CAGR, due to the rapid digitization, rising adoption of cloud computing, growing awareness on combating cybercrime, and surging need for better key management solutions. As a result, major organizations in the region are deploying cloud-based KMaaS solutions to secure confidential data. For instance, in February 2020, Fujitsu Limited selected the key management platform and Cloud HSM service developed by Thales SA for securing its public key infrastructure (PKI) and managing customers’ cryptographic keys.

Hence, with the increasing incidence of cybercrime, especially data breaches, companies around the world will deploy KMaaS solutions for encrypting sensitive information.