Rising Use of Subscription and Pay-per-use Software Licensing Models

Information Technology is engrained into our modern society to such a degree that the constant change taking place goes mostly unnoticed, and by all estimates IT is the very embodiment of perpetual change. As hardware has improved at exponential rates, and the complexity of software has mirrored the improved abilities of available hardware, the ways in which software is purchased and delivered are also undergoing increasingly radical changes. Server based licensing of enterprise software has long been the norm, but proliferation of software available in cloud and via SaaS are making these previously cutting-edge internet software technologies approach mainstream status. Similarly, software providers are moving from traditional licensing methods toward flexible models which are more compatible with emerging cloud and SaaS software offerings. Toward that end, subscription based licensing and pay-per-use pricing are becoming more widespread in the software marketplace, while traditional standalone installations and perpetual license agreements are being increasingly phased out. The notable and ubiquitous software provider Autodesk began the process of phasing out perpetual software agreements in 2015, and have announced that by August 2016 they will no longer sell any of their applications or suites with perpetual licensing agreements.