Cloud technology is hardly new. In fact, most of us use some iteration of it every day, whether that’s at work or at home. That being said, as ubiquitous as the tools are, they’ve had the greatest impact in the workplace, driving growth across countless industries.

For a look at cloud technology in action, look no further than these three fields and how they’ve taken the cloud as the foundation for next-level innovation.

The Culinary Cloud

While there are niche aspects to the food industry, like molecular gastronomy, that have always been known for being on the cutting edge of technology, the pandemic has fueled a much more substantial transformation.

In particular, we’ve seen a much greater expansion of cloud kitchens, also known as ghost kitchens or dark kitchens, which are delivery-only operations that typically involve the shared use of kitchen space.

Customers place orders via app platforms exclusively for delivery and they’re prepared at and picked up from these cloud kitchens.

In an industry with slim profit margins, cloud kitchens have the potential to make culinary operations much more financially sustainable – though they also compromise much of what makes the hospitality industry hospitable, making them a hot button issue among foodies and industry thought leaders.

Still, expect to see more cloud kitchens pop up in the coming months and years as a means of expanding suburban offerings and optimizing space use in high-rent urban environments.

Helping Healthcare Providers

Another industry that’s turned heavily to cloud-based technology, especially during the pandemic, is healthcare, which now calls on such tech for more than just recordkeeping.

Rather, with the expansion of HIPAA-compliant cloud storage, healthcare organizations are better able to provide comprehensive care and encourage industry-wide improvements meant to support patients and clinicians. Many of the most popular telehealth programs are also managed through the cloud, and those platforms have provided critical access for patients over the last eighteen months.

Mainstream In Manufacturing

Manufacturing is obviously a tech-driven industry, and the cloud has provided critical support in terms of scalability, flexibility, and security for these operations.

Whether you’re a small manufacturer trying to track inventory and manage your supply chain or a huge conglomerate with multiple production sites, warehouses, and distribution centers, cloud connectivity ensures that every site has up-to-date information on what’s in stock, where materials are headed, and other key issues.

The more complex the items being manufactured, the more important cloud-based tools are.
When it comes to manufacturing, it’s not just the factor floor that benefits from the cloud. In fact, we can’t discount the role such technology plays in industrial mergers & acquisitions.

M&A is a data-heavy sector and that’s as true in manufacturing as it is in any other industry. Any operation that’s primed to go through an M&A process in the coming months or years will need the right cloud technology to make it happen.

We’re living in a moment of enormous transformation and we can’t underestimate the importance of the cloud to these processes. Whether you’re preparing and delivering food or building heavy machinery, cloud technology is running behind the scenes and on your desktop with the goal of ensuring you have all the information you need at your fingertips.