MicroScope+ Premium Content/MicroScope

Owning things is so 2005. These days, the cool kids prefer to pay as they go. There are many benefits to paying for services rather than buying products, and this model is transforming everything – including business technology. Thanks to the likes of Netflix and Spotify, you’re now just as likely to pay for your movies and music by the month rather than building up a collection of DVDs and vinyl. Some urban dwellers even pay for vehicles that way too, using smartphones to rent them by the minute for short trips without the headaches of ownership (or parking fees). Is it any wonder that business technology users are getting in on the act? The cloud has made technology ownership in 2021 a little like writing and posting letters; it’s quaint, and people certainly still do it, but it’s going out of fashion. Instead, subscriptions have gradually taken over the world of business technology. It began with the shift from perpetual software licences to subscription ones, which the likes of Microsoft sold you to ensure that you were ...