Excerpts from an article by Otto Berkes in CIO.com

One of the great things about working in technology is the never-ending challenge of working in an industry that is continually shifting under your feet. Right now, one of these waves is the shift to subscription-based businesses that is taking hold around the world. Make no mistake, the shift is real, but without some real thought around enabling these models for longevity, they may end up in the tech junkyard next to all the dot coms that failed in the 90’s. Building in that longevity is going to have to come from every aspect of your business, especially the way you develop your software.

The market landscape in the era of software-driven subscriptions should be eerily similar to the one that faced us when companies like Uber and Airbnb first appeared. Enabling access to a pent-up supply of just about everything turned out to be the first wave of what we now understand to be a perpetual wave pool of digital change, which will ultimately impact everything we do and how we do it.

Now, the subscription economy is set on rewriting the importance and even the attractiveness of permanent ownership in a world where everything can be rented. The Ubers of the world changed our views of apps, but the Rent-The-Runways and Spotifys of the subscription world are redefining something much deeper: the concept of “mine”.

There’s a subtle shift taking place from getting people’s attention (apps) to holding that attention (subscriptions). There will be two key determinants of the success of the new wave of subscription businesses: innovation and trust.

Read the full article here and check out how Zuora helps companies stay agile and succeed in the Subscription Economy!