In future, individuals and companies will be able to use a wide range of software applications on a pay-as-you-use subscription basis instead of purchasing it.
The technology platform that makes this possible has been developed by Webtec, a South African-based company which launched the concept worldwide this week.
"Users can subscribe for any period from an hour, a week or a month or longer, depending on their requirements," says the company`s CEO Paul Dinsmore.
The way the service works is that a person will dial into their Internet service provider (ISP), access a Web site and select an option to subscribe to a software application and be billed on his or her monthly account.
For example, a mobile worker might dial into an ISP from his laptop and select the use of an anti-virus or firewall security software application.
The Webtec platform can be used for any type of software including financial accounting, security and leisure applications.
The core technology behind the subscription service platform was originally developed by French company Softsecure for the downloading of security software.
But it has been developed further by Webtec to incorporate a broad range of applications, right up to corporate ERP and CRM products.
"We have developed the platform so that we can now wrap the technology around a whole spectrum of software applications that address the needs of individuals, small and medium-size businesses and corporate companies," says Dinsmore.
It can also be used to deliver content such as movies and educational videos.
From a leisure perspective, two big opportunity areas are games and music downloads where users want to enjoy the product for a while, but do not want to own it forever.
Because there is no upfront payment, users can change from one software product to another if something better becomes available.
It also does away with upgrade hassles because the latest version of software is always available online.
"In addition, it is great for smaller software developers who cannot afford to market their products through conventional retail channels," says Dinsmore. He says subscription software is quite different to the ASP (application service provider) model where the software application resides on the ASP`s server and is accessed online by the user.
With the Webtec service, the software is downloaded onto the users hard drive and switches off automatically when the subscription expires, but the user is warned beforehand and can renew it with an online payment.
Once the subscription has expired and the software is no longer required, the user is also provided with instructions as to how to delete it from his hard drive.
Webtec has already signed up several international software suppliers who are making their products available on a subscription basis, including Trend Micro, Sophos and Panda.
The company has made similar arrangements with suppliers of other types of software including security applications such as firewalls and intrusion detection.
"We are planning to release a desktop security bundle, which will include anti-virus, a personal firewall and content and image filtering," says Dinsmore.
The latter will allow individual users to customise their security according to their own specific needs instead of a service provider making the decision as to which Web sites to block.
ICL is providing the infrastructure for the Webtec service and initially subscription software will be available through ICL`s ISP, Eject.
But Webtec is currently negotiating with other ISPs to include the option as an additional service for their customers.
Some of the bigger software suppliers may feel threatened by the subscription-based concept on the basis that it will cannibalise software sales, but the take-up of this model is inevitable, says Dinsmore.
He says Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNeally predicts there will come a time when nobody will buy software.
"And IBM is investing $10 billion in the software subscription concept, which it refers to as on-demand computing."
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