Industry Cloud Platforms are specialized digital platforms designed to cater to the specialized requirements of specific industries. These platforms go beyond generic cloud solutions and equip them with a comprehensive suite of services meticulously tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by businesses globally, especially within the manufacturing and enterprise sectors.

“An ICP is the combination of Packaged Engineering Capabilities, Industry-Aware Data Analysis, and Composable Tooling that revolutionize it from mere cloud platforms into business transforming platforms,” says Nishant Puri, Chief Information Security Officer at IoT83. “It can offer acceleration for smart product lines and evolve into an ecosystem to collaborate and convert data into value for critical areas of industrial operations.”

In the latest Gartner Survey, 39% of respondents in North American and Europe-based enterprises said they had started adopting industry cloud platforms, with another 14% in pilots. According to the evaluation, approximately 17% are considering deployment by 2026. Overall, the concept of industry cloud platforms is popular among most respondents, and they identified themselves as adopters or potential considerers of industry-specific cloud platforms. With this analysis, Gartner foresees that more than 70% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives by 2027.

Why Do OEMs Consider Adopting Industrial IoT Through ICPs?

Industry cloud platforms (ICPs) empower OEMs to move beyond technology innovation. Their capabilities, such as freedom to configure, streamlined functionality, and focus on vertical market issues, set them apart from native cloud systems.

1. Customization and Specialization: Industry cloud platforms are designed with specific industries in mind, incorporating standards, regulations, and processes unique to each sector. This customization ensures that the platform meets the exact needs of its users.
2. Integrated Solutions: These platforms often include various integrated applications and tools specifically for industry workflows, data management, and operations, reducing the need for external solutions.
3. Compliance and Security: Industry-specific compliance and security measures are built into these platforms to adhere to regulatory standards.
4. Advanced Analytics and AI: Industry cloud platforms leverage advanced analytics and AI to produce insights tailored to specific industries, enabling predictive maintenance, enhanced decision-making, and improved operational efficiencies.
5. Scalability: Like native cloud services, industry cloud platforms offer scalable resources, allowing organizations to easily adjust their usage based on needs without substantial capital expenditure.

1. Collaboration: These platforms facilitate enhanced collaboration among various industry stakeholders, including suppliers, customers, and regulatory bodies.

5 Major Advantages of Adopting Industrial IoT with ICPs

Industry cloud platforms represent a convergence of cloud computing technology with deep industry expertise, offering powerful tools precisely aligned with the needs of varying use cases. Here is a list of advantages OEMs can accumulate by choosing the right Industry Cloud Platform.

1. Increased Efficiency: These platforms help streamline operations, reduce redundancies, and automate routine tasks by providing industry-specific tools and workflows.
2. Improved Innovation: With access to cutting-edge technologies and data analytics, companies can more readily innovate, improving products and services to stay competitive.
3. Cost Savings: Industry cloud platforms can reduce costs by minimizing the need for multiple disparate systems, by eliminating the need to develop core application architecture, and reducing the burden of maintaining compliance and security with external tools.
4. Better Data Management: These platforms offer robust data management tools designed to handle the specific data types used within an industry, improving data accuracy, access, and security.

1. Tailored Customer Experiences: The ability to utilize data and insights specific to an industry allows companies to create more personalized and captivating customer experiences.

Elements in the Industry Cloud Platforms

Industry Cloud Platforms operate by incorporating the broad capabilities of cloud computing with specialized features and services tailored to specific industries. This integration allows OEMs to leverage the platform’s scalability, flexibility, and efficiency while addressing their particular sector’s unique challenges and requirements. Here’s a breakdown of elements in the ICPs:

Industry-Specific Design

Industry cloud platforms are designed with a deep understanding of the specific industry’s processes, regulatory requirements, and OEMs’ needs. Developers of these platforms collaborate with industry experts to ensure that the software architecture, data handling, and other services are aligned with industry standards and best practices.

Core Cloud Infrastructure

At their foundation, industry cloud platforms utilize the core infrastructure of cloud computing, which includes data storage, networking, and computing power. The cloud service provider maintains this infrastructure and can be located across various data centers globally, ensuring reliability and scalability.

Customized Applications and Tools

In addition to the native cloud infrastructure, industry cloud platforms offer a suite of applications and tools specifically developed for the industry’s workflows. For example, an OEM and Enterprise domain cloud includes APM to enhance asset reliability and performance through data-driven insights, ARM for real-time remote asset tracking and management, FieldOps to manage on-site activities and workforce for efficient service delivery, ERM to identify, assess, and mitigate organizational risks, CbM to continuously monitors systems to operate within set parameters, AIOps for AI automation and IT operations optimization, and factory apps to streamline manufacturing processes through integrated software applications.

Data Management and Analytics

Industry-specific data management capabilities are a core feature of these platforms. They offer customized databases optimized for the data types that are most common in the industry, along with tools for data analysis, visualization, and reporting. Advanced analytics and machine learning models are also tailored to provide industry-based actionable insights.

Security and Compliance

Security features and compliance measures are built into the platform to meet the industry’s regulatory standards. These include data encryption, access controls, audit trails, and other security protocols. Compliance is continuously updated to reflect changes in legislation or industry standards.

Integration and APIs

Industry cloud platforms provide extensive integration capabilities through APIs to ensure businesses can use their existing systems and data. IT handles data management and cybersecurity, OT manages industrial operations and machinery, and BT aligns technology with business goals. Through APIs, these technologies converge, allowing real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and optimized production processes. This integration fosters innovation, reduces downtime, and improves overall business performance, driving a unified and smart industrial ecosystem. Also, these APIs allow easy data exchange between the industry cloud and the business’s other software solutions, enabling a cohesive IT ecosystem.

Collaboration and Sharing

The platforms often include features that facilitate collaboration both within the organization and with external partners, such as suppliers, clients, and regulatory bodies. These include shared workflows, secure communication tools, and permissions management to control data access.

Continuous Improvement and Updates

Technology providers regularly update their industry cloud platforms to incorporate technology advancements, security updates, and industry-specific features. This continuous improvement ensures that the platforms remain effective and secure over time.

Embracing IoT Adoption through Domain Cloud

Majorly, OEMs adopt IoT technology either by buying traditional low-code platforms or building applications in-house. However, both approaches have limitations that make it challenging to achieve business goals. With traditional IoT platforms, OEMs face issues and constraints with flexibility, scalability, and interoperability in the long term. On the other hand, building a platform in-house requires resources, extends the time to market, and demands a higher budget (up to 5 Million USD).  

While traditional IoT solution providers offer a broad range of services, Application Enablement Platform (AEP) takes a targeted approach, catering its offerings to meet specific needs and challenges of industrial OEMs and Enterprises. Making ICP a valuable approach for incorporating a faster business model transition, it unlocks a wealth of potential benefits for OEMs:  

1. Industry-Specific Focus: The AEP approach was built after profoundly understanding the specific workflows, processes, and pain points OEMs face while introducing business transformation. It allows them to utilize pre-built microservices, 40+ modules, API, SDKs, Edge Agents, etc., a complete business model that directly addresses the challenges, like customizations, competitive edge, enhanced user exp, lower cost to operate, flexible engagement options, and speed to market.
2. Streamlined Operations: OEMs can streamline their operations by offering optimized workflows that reduce task redundancies and eliminate manual analysis of equipment, risk management, security and privacy, real-time visibility, and control of unit economies.  
3. Regulatory Compliance: Many industries have strict regulations regarding data security and privacy. An AEP platform can factor these regulations into its custom application building blocks, ensuring businesses stay updated with new compliance standards.  
4. Improved Decision Making: AEP often comes equipped with industry-specific analytics tools to help businesses gain deeper insights from their data. OEMs can utilize this data-driven approach for better decision-making across the organization.

By leveraging industry-specific services and expertise, AEP can help OEMs achieve their business transformation goals, improve operational efficiency, and gain a competitive edge.

Collaboration and Adaptability

This approach allows you to skip short-term or partial solutions, like low-code platforms, and move straight to an application enablement platform that not only fast-tracks the development of new Smart Products and Applications but also provides the depth and flexibility to deliver strategic multi-service applications with complete solution ownership. With the AEP, OEMs can provide customers with a truly connected business model and dramatically expand their market position and industry leadership.

An Industry Cloud Platform allows you to onboard development acceleration, ease of customization, and full deployment flexibility with an advanced pro-code environment—bridging the gap between build and buy approaches. Making the right choice is crucial for the success of your IoT project.