Analysts from Allied Market Research predict that the market for industry cloud solutions and platforms will exceed $350bn by 2031. Capable of handling the demands of specific industries, vertical industry clouds are built to cater to a specific industry. Unlike general-purpose cloud solutions, which offer a broad range of features, vertical industry clouds provide industry-specific capabilities, customisation and standards, says Colin Baumgart, CTO and commercial solutions area director at Microsoft South Africa.

These solutions are designed to solve specific pain points and adhere to the regulatory requirements of each industry. Verticals such as healthcare, financial services, retail and manufacturing are seeing rapid adoption of vertical industry clouds, but there are also offerings available for the public sector, nonprofit, energy, media and telecoms, agriculture and automotive, among others.