Ten years ago, customers installed software at their locations, but lately, the industry has changed, and now many people rent Web-based software online on a monthly basis. It is going this way because customers and vendors alike want it to. The majority of software corporations obtain their profits from shelfware (software acquired on an impulse but not truly necessary, and consequently, it frequently ends up on a shelf).

Trendy programs for which customers pay the total price straightforward might be difficult to use, making them difficult to handle and benefit from. Nevertheless, once a person or a company has bought this software, there is no motivation for the corporation to follow up and make sure that the application is working as it should be for the customer. On the other hand, new companies like Taleo and Hire.com (employing automations), Concur (expense reimbursement), Salesforce.com (sales automation) are figuring to be rather successful in renting software over the Internet to their customers.

With this system, if a company determines that the service is not working properly, it can stop using the software right away and stop the monthly payment. This maintains the attention of the software provider in the customer, constantly improving the system and responding to direct needs. Renting software is for the company a safer investment than buying a single program for thousands of dollars all at once, and vendors are encouraged to provide a safe data environment. Hosted accounting software is becoming more and more popular, as many companies have understood its benefits. Others, that only wanted to try out software, only have a month's rent to lose.