A new Gatepoint Research study (http://tinyurl.com/kllawxg), commissioned by cloud billing expert Aria Systems and released today, finds that a significant percentage (42%) of respondents from the high tech, telecom, and retail sectors are experiencing frustration with their current billing systems when trying to use them to support new recurring revenue models. Often at the heart of the problem are legacy billing systems that limit a business’s ability to adapt quickly and flexibly to changes in their marketplace.

According to the Gatepoint study, 33% of respondents report being “barely or less than satisfied” with their current billing system. Of the 42% that identify using an internally-built, or “homegrown” solution, 40% report “low-levels of satisfaction”. The primary frustration? Nearly two-thirds (67%) report being limited by a system that only supports simple subscription models, while over half of those wish they had a more flexible system that would give them the ability to experiment or adapt to alternative pricing models.

"For many companies, the biggest hurdle to adapting to competitive changes in the marketplace is not the willingness to experiment with new revenue models," says Bob Harden, recurring revenue process expert and former director of Billing Software at Experian, "It’s the limitations of legacy billing systems, which were likely designed for one-time transaction models."