Software distribution processes

Another potential way of looking at software is as a utility - something that is always present in the background, and you only pay for it depending on how much you use. This, according to Cusomano, was IBM's big insight when it introduced its On Demand strategy in 2002.

Of course when we think of utilities we think of commodity products: electricity, gas, oil etc. Software often has intrinsic value: you might expect to pay more for ERP software than, say, video game software. There is also the issue of how connected a user must be in order to use such a model.