Despite predictions that cloud computing would shift its services to accommodate the pandemic and Gartner projecting a $651 billion public cloud market by 2024, the migration is not complete. So it might seem odd at this stage of adoption to ask, What’s the next big thing in public clouds?

What Are Industry Clouds?

Industry clouds are specialised clouds with unique sets of workloads and target markets. For example, an industry cloud could be an oil and gas cloud, a banking cloud, or an automotive cloud. The point is that industry clouds are focused on a distinct market.

In many ways, industry clouds are not new. In fact, they have been around since the dawn of public cloud computing. However, they have been overshadowed by public cloud and private cloud, which provide some of the same services and benefits. As a result, industry clouds have never really broken through as distinct service providers. But with the recent rise of private cloud and the maturity of the public cloud market, industry clouds are gaining traction.

The Essential Components of Industry Cloud

In a traditional cloud service model, a provider hosts servers and storage on its own infrastructure, runs its clients’ applications, and provides the services that customers are looking for. The cloud service providers can then charge customers a set rate upfront or on a subscription basis.

An industry cloud, however, may be a little different. For example, the provider may be a cloud service in and of itself, but it may operate on multiple types of infrastructure. The provider may be a public cloud that buys infrastructure services from a public cloud, or it may be a public cloud that also uses a private cloud, or it may be some combination of the two.

More importantly, the industry cloud will be tailored to a specific industry, providing the services and capabilities that the industry needs. For example, the oil and gas industry cloud may utilise an automation system for its cloud. An automotive industry cloud may use blockchain for its smart contracts.

Breaking Down Industry Clouds and the Future of Cloud Computing

Many companies will find that industry clouds provide a flexible, agile environment that can’t be found in a public cloud. However, there are also some potential drawbacks. For example, industry clouds are not as large as public clouds, so they cannot offer the same amount of redundancy. At the same time, they are smaller, which may make it difficult to integrate their services.

However, that is where today’s public clouds come into play. They can integrate with industry clouds to provide a comprehensive solution for the market. So rather than choosing a single provider, companies can use the best-in-class expertise of public and industry cloud providers to bring the market the solutions it needs.

In many ways, the industry cloud is the logical next step in cloud computing. By focusing on a specific market, these clouds will be able to provide vendors, SMBs, and larger enterprises with a cloud solution that is supremely tailored to their needs. This, in turn, will make these industry clouds a force to be reckoned with and will likely help shape the future of cloud computing.

Conclusion

Cloud computing has become an essential part of business and infrastructure, and it is evolving rapidly. Industry clouds are just one step of many. With that said, industry clouds can offer SMBs and enterprise customers a more specialised and tailored solution than the conventional, one-size-fits-all approach. With their focus, industry clouds provide a valuable and flexible solution for businesses, regardless of size.

With the main focus on custom software development, Informatics also specialises in infrastructure solutions and services through years of experience and knowledge in the industry.

We gained a prominent position in the global IT sector, providing some of the most cutting-edge software & Infrastructure solutions with a local and international client list. If you’re in need of a custom software solution, get in touch with us! Let us know how we can help.

Written by Daniele Paoletti