29 September 2005
Huge, disruptive forces – mostly driven by technology – are forcing software suppliers to rethink their charging models.
The billing of 'on-demand' processing, applications and services is creating huge technical and business challenges for the software industry. But there are at least three other big, disruptive problems that suppliers must grapple with:
Eric Rudder is sitting in a briefing room in London talking to a group of business journalists, when he is asked a question about software licensing. He buries his head in his hands: "My head hurts...my head hurts a lot when I think about that problem," he moans theatrically.
But the questions do not stop, and a little later, he begs, "We should move off this topic now. You're making my head hurt. It is a very complex issue, I don't have the answers."
But if anybody in the world does have the answers, then surely it should be Rudder. He is senior vice president of the Server and Tools Division of Microsoft, the world's largest software company, and his fast growing division brings in $10 billion a year in sales. As Rudder admits, the issue of how software is licensed and paid for will determine the shape, flow and possibly the future growth of that $10 billion. | 
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