While many software development companies are moving to subscription models for their software, the desire for these subscriptions does not seem to be high according to a survey of 400 companies. The survey indicates that almost two-thirds of companies would prefer to simply purchase licenses rather than pay an on-going subscription fee for products.
Software developers like the recurring revenue. This takes place in the real world all the time (I haven"t been to Lifetime Fitness in months but still get auto-billed each month for it). One might argue that subscriptions work acceptably on individuals because they are more prone to cancel it. By contrast, in large companies where turn-over is a factor, subscription software products could go years without use but still be paid for simply because the person who originally purchased the subscription is long gone.
The survey also found that 21% of the revenue software companies get today are from maintainence fees.