Going Beyond Subscriptions in a B2i World

Whether it's business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B), consumers today have more power in the buying process than ever - especially in the software and cloud services industries where innovation cycles are intense, competition is fierce, and almost every market has several strong competitors.

Instant access has largely destroyed the information asymmetry that existed between consumers and software and cloud services vendors. Google research found that individuals are touched by 10 to 14 pieces of information before they make a decision. Branding consultancies report people being hit with 3,000 brand impressions a day. It's becoming increasingly harder to "push" information to the customer.

This paper examines the implications of this power shift from the perspective of the individual buyer.