Subscription Funded Cloud Software - Simple Example

Udayakumar Nalinasekaren
Dec 23, 2010

The best example is this website. It is hosted on the cloud. I live and operate this website from India. The cloud computer that runs this website is probably in Singapore. I have not purchased for any of the software applications that makes this website possible. My website is free of advertisements (except my own of course).

Such applications are usually funded by a subscription model. You pay a monthly fee for the next several months in advance for fractional use of the application software, computers, storage and network bandwidth that the provider has made investments in. The advance payment requirement is part of the business model that requires a lock in period to assure the provider of your business for a reasonable period. Usually providers try to give you discounts of you choose longer subscription periods.

As websites and blogging emerged as big trends in the world, their consumption increased. Technology that makes websites and blogging became more and more standard. Most websites and blog sites are hosted on the LAMP stack around the world. While most of the software mentioned here is open source and free, their maintenance and operation is not free. Maintenance and operations is all about keeping the lights on for your website or blog.

Your website subscription usually covers