Glossary of terms

Vertical Cloud

Vertical clouds are sets of cloud services optimized for particular industries or business models. Some organizations can work with cloud computing services that are of general use. For others, there are more niche requirements regarding compliance, security, and several other factors.

Vertical cloud providers facilitate services that help users meet these specific needs. Vertical cloud can also include different levels of virtualization and automation to optimize operations in a particular sector. This can include analytics, custom applications, or even industry-specific security approaches. As an example, organizations in the healthcare and banking industries have to ensure data privacy in accordance with the various compliance requirements. Hence, organizations in the particular vertical might prefer cloud providers offering compliant services and other unique factors that cater to the industry.

Most vertical cloud services tend to fall under the SaaS category. However, they can also be Paas or IaaS. All kinds of cloud services can be in the realm of vertical clouds. While many major public cloud providers offer industry-specific clouds, there is a rising number of smaller providers with the same offerings in the market too. Besides banking and healthcare, there are various industries where vertical cloud is finding its footing.

They include:

  • Manufacturing,
  • Education,
  • Transportation,
  • Government,
  • Oil and gas,
  • Life sciences,
  • Insurance and finance,
  • Utilities.

Industries with strict standards are top candidates because vertical cloud solutions promise to simplify their complex processes and ensure they’re meeting all the necessary rules and regulations. However, these complex industries are not the only ones that can benefit from vertical cloud adoption. Really any industry that wants to optimize efficiencies can use it. Small and medium businesses that want to fine-tune operations can find great benefit in industry clouds, especially when they can use the solution out-of-the-box. In addition, vertical clouds built for the retail industry combine business actions around marketing, loyalty program tracking, CRM, and customer service to deliver a single inclusive infrastructure that serves all needs. Unlike heavily regulated industries, retail’s goal in vertical cloud adoption is less about compliance and more about optimizing inventory and reimagining operations.

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