Winning the developers is winning in cloud, and Box is doing a pretty good job of it so far. The online storage has successfully created a cohesive application ecosystem around its service with OneCloud, a hosted framework that unifies corporate data across devices to make shared files easily accessible from third party productivity tools.

The platform rolled out to iOS in March 2012 with a humble launch line-up of 30 apps. Since then, Box added Android support, introduced a set of developer tools and implemented a self-service catalog that allows end-users to download verified software as needed. The firm’s efforts have paid off tremendously, with OneCloud passing the 1,000 applications mark this week in the latest milestone towards its vision for vertical integration.

In a Wednesday blog post, OneCloud product and program manager Cecilia Haig writes that her company is actively fostering the development of industry-specific applications in order to address growing demand for cloud services in niche markets. In the last year alone, the number of Box users in the healthcare and education sectors tripled while adoption in the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) space quadrupled, Haig noted.

“Over the coming years, we believe this trend will touch businesses across all verticals, all over the world,” she detailed. “We look forward to continuing to work with our OneCloud partners in cultivating an ecosystem that helps usher in this new era, enabling our customers to realize untapped business value. We are still early into the journey, but we couldn’t be more excited about the road ahead.”

The success of OneCloud highlights the broader industry shift to vertical solutions, especially in the cloud and analytics segments. Similarly to Box, SAP is encouraging the development of vertical solutions on top of its hosted HANA service.