The cloud is no longer an option. Companies that need to be flexible, resilient, adaptable and competitive in a fast-changing world, have already migrated to cloud models, especially hybrid cloud schemes. A May 2022 survey conducted by Cisco, the connectivity company, found that 87% of global leaders were implementing this model or considering doing so, compared to just 8% who decided to stay with a single provider.

In this vibrant context emerges a new trend identified in Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends report: cloud platforms by industry. Each business vertical is a true universe of unique requirements, regulations, characteristics and challenges that are not mirrored in other industries or segments. In this sense, these platforms aim to meet the specific needs of each industry, especially those that find it very difficult to incorporate generic solutions.

Exponential growth

The trend seems irreversible: Gartner itself, in a report conducted among companies in the United States and Europe, identified that approximately 40% of organizations have begun to adopt these platforms, while another 15% are moving forward on pilot projects and an additional 15% are considering starting to deploy them between now and 2026.

For all this, it is expected that by 2027 companies will be using industry cloud platforms to accelerate more than 50% of their business-critical initiatives, compared to 10% in 2021.

Best practices for all

Industry-specific cloud platforms carry not only the best practices of each industry in terms of processes, but also in terms of workload distribution, user experience, data storage and access (for example, there are segments that require data to be physically stored in the same country where the organization’s operations take place), optimal service levels, disaster recovery mechanisms and, fundamentally, compliance issues.

Indeed, highly regulated industries such as financial services, oil and gas, healthcare, mining and utilities are among those that choose these vertical solutions the most. However, specific proposals also emerge with the promise of added value for retail, e-commerce and manufacturing.

Data fabric and composable applications

According to Gartner, two of the major technology trends that the consulting firm had highlighted for 2022 appear at the base of the cloud proposals for industry. 

One is the data fabric, the familiar architecture that provides management capabilities that enable single visibility of the entire data set regardless of whether it is located in the cloud, on premise or at the edge of the network. In addition to being agnostic to geography, it is also agnostic to environments, processes and utility. The idea of “fabric” as a framework speaks of an ability to connect storage spaces, data types and sources with the appropriate methods to access them in an accurate and timely manner. The other is composable applications, those that are built from modular, business-centric components.

These types of cloud offerings are just taking their first steps: they are expected to evolve over the next few years into “ecosystem platforms,” in which companies can participate in shared processes that range from order and payment processing, to research and development.

The big question is, do these vertical propositions fit? The answer will be determined by the specific needs of each company and the real added value offered by each of these industry cloud platforms.