Container security presents a hot growth opportunity for the channel, with the global market expected to more than quadruple by 2024, reaching nearly $2.2 billion.

That’s according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets, which anticipates a compound annual growth rate of nearly 31 percent. The market is valued at $568 million this year.

Major vendors include Google, Trend Micro, Alert Logic, Qualys, Docker, Red Hat – which was acquired by IBM – Guardicore, Thales and more.

Increasing vulnerabilities and cyberattacks, a large number of open-source vendors offering container platforms, the increasing popularity of microservices, growing digital transformation across enterprises, and the need to adhere to regulatory policies all will drive market growth in the coming years, the report says.

Large enterprises are the early adopters of container security technology as they have a large number of vendors and service providers in the market, and have larger budgets, according to MarketsandMarkets. In addition, large enterprises are investing in container security and associated services to cater to customer needs, streamline business operations and enhance the experience of stakeholders. Moreover, affordability of resources and big investment allows these organizations to leverage the benefits of container security.

The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) vertical handles customers’ crucial data, including transaction passwords, account numbers and card details, which need to be protected with the utmost importance, according to the report. With the increasing financial industry regulations, traditional enterprises in the vertical need to evolve with advanced technologies to meet these regulatory needs. Therefore, the vertical is expected to follow high-security standards to maintain critical information and is moving toward the adoption of cloud-based container services at a rapid pace.

North America is expected to maintain the highest market share through 2024. The market has been steadily showing positive trends as several companies and industries are adopting container security to sustain their market positions and increase their productivity.