Why Choose Industry-specific Cloud Transformation for Applications?

Cloud

November 11, 2024

The cloud’s exceptional agility has shattered conventional ways businesses operate. But navigating its boundless potential can be daunting. That is where industry-specific cloud strategies shine. Targeted solutions are not just about cloud transformation; they are about accelerating business transformation.

Why choose industry-specific cloud transformation?

Cloud transformation is more than a tech upgrade—it’s a comprehensive shift that revitalizes your applications, transforms your data management, and fuels an AI-first outlook. When it meets the unique needs, regulations, and data demands of your industry, the cloud breathes new life into legacy systems, turning outdated infrastructure into a dynamic foundation for growth and agility.

Here is how:

  • Sustainable tech stack: Pre-built integrations and tools designed for your industry minimize custom development, reducing long-term costs and maintenance needs.
  • Faster time to market: Industry specific cloud platforms come pre-loaded with industry-specific tools, workflows, and data models. This eliminates the need to build everything from scratch, allowing you to implement solutions and reap benefits quicker.
  • Industry compliance readiness: Industry specific cloud platforms are built with specific industry regulations and compliance requirements in mind. This reduces your risk of non-compliance and simplifies the security management process.
  • Software as a Service (SaaS) applications: Cloud-based applications built specifically for your industry are packed with features and functionality that resonate with your customers and employees. Think efficiency gains and a user experience that feels like it was made just for you.

How industry cloud platforms reshape business

Cloud transformation goes far beyond a simple tech upgrade—it’s a complete reinvention of your consumer and business applications. Whether you’re aiming to improve customer experiences or streamline operations, cloud platforms provide the agility and intelligence to keep your apps running faster and smarter.

Industry cloud platforms are specialized cloud solutions designed specifically for your sector. Think of them as clouds with built-in smarts for your industry—pre-loaded with the tools, compliance, and workflows you need.

  • Instant Setup: Ready-to-use, no building from scratch.
  • Compliance Done: Tailored to your industry’s regulations.
  • Data Simplified: Seamless data integration for faster insights.
  • API enabled to interact with your legacy systems and cloud applications.
  • AI & Automation: Smarter processes, quicker results.

In short, it’s the cloud that speaks your industry’s language! Here are the benefits:

  • Core business applications: Industry cloud adoption helps integrate domain-specific knowledge and tools into core business applications. These platforms offer pre-configured modules, data models, and best practices to streamline your project management, business intelligence, supply chain management, and enterprise resource planning. Focus on the business instead of basic IT topics.
  • Multi-channel experience: Cloud based applications deliver seamless and personalized experiences across all customer touchpoints. Through sophisticated analytics, these platforms enable you to understand customer behavior across channels, anticipate their needs, and deliver targeted and contextualized interactions. Focus on the client and enable all experience channels for them.
  • Marketing and sales: Cloud-powered CRM, analytics, and automation tools tailored to your industry’s specific needs boost your marketing and sales efforts. These platforms leverage industry expertise to optimize lead generation, customer engagement, and conversion rates, resulting in more efficient and effective marketing and sales strategies. Focus on the business segments and clients that will offer growth.
  • AI-driven smart processes: Pre-built tools and data tailored to your industry needs accelerate AI adoption, enabling smarter, automated processes that streamline operations and boost efficiency. For example, industry cloud solutions include pre-trained AI models for common industry tasks, such as image recognition in manufacturing, fraud detection in finance, or sentiment analysis in customer service. Focus on AI where it delivers proven business benefits.
  • Data ops: Pre-built tools and integrations tailored to your domain enhance data agility, governance, and scalability. Pre-configured data pipelines tailored to industry needs automate data preparation, transformation, and cleansing tasks, accelerating analysis, and eliminating errors. Cloud platforms also offer pre-built connectors for commonly used industry data sources, eliminating manual integration efforts and streamlining data ingestion. Focus on monetizing your hidden asset – data.
  • Business back office: Cloud-based application transformation optimizes back-office functions. It automates administrative tasks and improves efficiency with pre-built industry solutions, streamlining data integration across disparate systems. For example, cloud platforms could help you gain immediate access to industry-tailored applications addressing common pain points.

Guidewire is a prime example of an industry cloud platform that we excel at for industry-specific transformation: Insurance. By leveraging Guidewire’s comprehensive suite of applications, including PolicyCenter, BillingCenter, ClaimCenter, DataHub, and Digital, we enable insurers to streamline their operations, enhance customer engagement, and drive digital transformation.

Our expertise in implementing Guidewire solutions helps insurance companies drive higher customer satisfaction and innovate with AI for business growth. Our industry-specific approach ensures that the enterprises are well-equipped to meet the evolving demands of the insurance market.

Cloud transformation for your applications: Industry-specific benefits

Cloud Computing is a powerful tool to achieve core application resilience across industries. By modernizing and migrating applications to the cloud, you can unlock benefits like modular API driven architectures with automatic scaling, redundancy across geographically diverse regions, and access to robust disaster recovery mechanisms.

To understand how the cloud enhances your applications, it’s important to distinguish between custom applications and COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) or SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions. Custom applications are built specifically for your needs, offering full control over architecture and features, which means greater flexibility but also more responsibility for your development and IT operations teams. In contrast, COTS and SaaS solutions have vendor-defined architectures, limiting customization but benefiting from the cloud’s scalability, maintenance, and ease of access.

Ultimately, being on the cloud translates to applications that can withstand disruptions, adapt to spikes in demand, and recover quickly from outages, minimizing downtime and safeguarding business continuity. Furthermore, cloud-native development practices like microservices architecture and containerization promote fault isolation and independent scaling, further enhancing application resilience. In addition, modular clo0ud native architectures enable zero downtime upgrades and technology advances not possible on premises or to complex and expensive to introduce to legacy applications.  

Whether your goal is to improve customer experience, ensure regulatory compliance, or simply mitigate downtime risks, cloud transformation is the key to building applications that are robust, adaptable, and ready for anything.

  • Healthcare: By 2026, 70% of hospitals are expected to migrate to the cloud, streamlining supply chain management. Cloud-based applications enable secure and compliant patient data storage, facilitate real-time collaboration between healthcare providers, and optimize resource allocation.
  • Finance: This sector anticipates the fastest cloud adoption rate. Agile cloud environments are crucial for financial institutions to comply with complex regulations, offer secure online banking experiences, and power real-time financial transactions.
  • Manufacturing and supply chain: By 2025, 80% of manufacturing enterprises are expected to embrace the cloud. Core applications like production scheduling and inventory management will gain resilience through cloud-based integration with other systems, streamlining operations and optimizing supply chains. The scalability offered by cloud-based applications ensures smooth production even during peak demand periods, while disaster recovery minimizes downtime during disruptions.
  • Retail and e-commerce: The retail cloud market is expected to grow from $46.98 billion in 2024 to $127.69 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 22.14%. This growth is driven by the need for omnichannel customer experiences and data-driven insights. Cloud native applications help you meet these requirements by personalizing shopping experiences, driving efficient order fulfillment, and ensuring data security and privacy.
  • Telecommunications and technology: With the global telecom cloud market on track to reach $108.7 billion by 2030, the cloud’s role in this sector is critical. Core applications like network management platforms and real-time data analytics benefit from the cloud’s ability to handle massive data volumes and ensure network infrastructure resilience. This enables seamless connectivity and efficient service delivery.

Cloud transformation is not just about migrating applications; it is about embracing a new approach to building and deploying software or using commercial applications and platforms. By harnessing the power of the cloud, businesses across industries can unlock the key to resilient applications, paving the way for a future of uninterrupted operations, satisfied customers, and sustainable growth.

How to choose the right cloud transformation partner?

Choosing a vendor with deep industry knowledge is critical to ensure successful modernization or replacement with commercial cloud apps and platforms. Look for vendors who:

  • Have a proven track record of delivering successful industry-specific cloud transformations.
  • Offer a comprehensive portfolio of industry-specific solutions and expertise.
  • Understand your specific industry’s challenges and regulatory landscape.
  • Employ industry-certified professionals with deep technical and domain knowledge.
  • Can demonstrate a clear value proposition and ROI for your cloud transformation.

Conclusion

Cloud transformation is no longer just a trend, it’s an essential strategy for businesses across all industries to stay competitive and resilient. From healthcare to finance, manufacturing to retail, and beyond, industry-specific cloud platforms are enabling organizations to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and maintain compliance in an ever-evolving regulatory landscape.

By modernizing applications and leveraging cloud-native solutions, businesses can unlock unparalleled agility, scalability, and innovation, ensuring they’re not just keeping up with change but driving it.

Whether your goal is operational efficiency, improved data management, or enhanced AI capabilities, the right cloud transformation partner can guide you through this journey, setting your business up for sustained success in the digital era.

Ready to transform with the cloud to lead your industry? Let’s start transforming your legacy systems today. Contact us to tailor a cloud strategy that aligns best with your industry.

About the Author

Matthias Popiolek

Matthias Popiolek

Matthias leads digital and cloud consulting in Europe for Hexaware, where he drives digital transformations and cloud journeys across all industries. With more than 25+ years of IT experience, Matthias has expertise in management consulting, architecture, cloud product creation & ownership, and a background in operations, project management, and pre-sales for cloud, outsourcing, and solutions. Matthias is focused on helping enterprises to adopt “modern delivery” as a standard way of working. In doing so, he works with customers on strategy, organization, processes, and technology. 

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