Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Hedgehogs 1, Foxes 0
Cloud | Technology
November 17, 2021 – As a wise man once said, foxes know many things, but hedgehogs know one big thing. It’s a useful construct to explain what’s happening in cloud computing. Vertical applications (which specialize in an industry) are attracting more business in more sectors than horizontal applications (which are designed to work across industries).
To read the article, see “Cloud-migration opportunity: Business value grows, but missteps abound,” October 12, 2021.
customizer here
Visual form
Six-category lollipop comparison chart.
Layout / body structure
The chart is a single row of six vertical comparisons under industry icons for healthcare, manufacturing, public sector, banking, retail, and media and telecom. Reader moves left to right across the industries, comparing the bright vertical-specific marker with the darker horizontal marker within each category.
What is being compared
The chart compares estimated change in public-cloud spend from 2021 to 2024 for horizontal workloads versus vertical-specific applications across six industries. It is showing where cloud-based vertical applications attract faster growth than more general-purpose horizontal workloads.
Measurement system
The vertical axis is percent CAGR on a 0 to 100 scale. Each industry has two markers, one for horizontal and one for vertical, and several categories also print a multiple such as 2.0x, 1.8x, or 1.5x to summarize how much faster the vertical spend is expected to grow.
Visible structure inside the graphic
Each industry column contains a dark dot for horizontal and a blue dot for vertical connected to the baseline by thin stems. The largest gap appears in healthcare, where the blue marker sits in the mid-80s and the dark marker in the low-40s, while media and telecom is the one column where the two markers sit almost on top of each other in the mid-30s.
Main takeaway from the visual
Vertical applications are the stronger growth draw in nearly every industry shown. The blue markers consistently sit above the dark markers, and the gap is especially wide in healthcare, manufacturing, public sector, and banking, which makes the page read as a broad industry-case for vertical cloud adoption.
Key standout values or extremes
Healthcare shows the highest vertical reading at roughly the mid-80s versus the low-40s for horizontal, and the printed multiplier is 2.0x. Manufacturing also shows a 2.0x relationship, public sector and banking show 1.8x, retail shows 1.5x, and media and telecom is the tightest pair with both values around the mid-30s.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.