Cloud billing will be the catalyst for a cloud subscription revolution

Grazed from CloudComputing Intelligence.  Author: Marcus Austin.

Cloud billing is expected to take off in 2014 but the use of in-house-developed billing systems and manual processes are slowing down businesses moving their apps to the cloud.  A new survey by Cerillion Technologies, has revealed that more than half of all businesses today (53%) are still using either an in-house-developed system or manual processes to bill their customers.

At the same time, the results highlight a clear shift in the way products and services are sold: away from traditional one-off product sales towards a more flexible pricing model based on subscriptions and usage.  One-off pricing models are currently used by 84% of organisations but the research shows that this proportion is set to fall to 51% in the future. In contrast, new pricing initiatives built around an on-going service relationship are growing steadily, including subscriptions, pay-per-use and freemium pricing models…

Cloud billing to expect rapid growth in 2014

The survey results also paint a picture of a cloud billing market about to undergo rapid growth. It is currently relatively small in the UK, with just 4% of survey respondents using a cloud billing system or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) approach today. However, a further 11% say they are using a managed service – and with cloud penetration generally on the rise – Cerillion foresees dynamic growth in the cloud billing market as businesses strive to meet the demands of the new subscription-based economy…

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