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The rise of the subscription economy: Turning devices into recurring revenue

Dec. 16, 2025 · Authored by Ryan Brown

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The subscription economy has evolved from a digital trend into a dominant business model, reshaping how companies generate and sustain revenue. Once associated primarily with media and software, subscription-based growth is now expanding into industries as diverse as automotive, real estate, and industrial technology. Automakers are selling power upgrades by subscription, property managers are layering Internet of Things (IoT) services onto rentals, and telematics providers are turning fleet-tracking hardware into recurring revenue through consumption-based contracts.

This shift is powerful because it creates predictable revenue streams while building stronger, longer-term relationships with customers. Rather than relying on one-time product sales, companies can now deliver ongoing value, transforming static offerings into living services that evolve alongside customer needs. For many, this transformation represents not only new growth potential but also a complete reimagining of their business model.

According to Grand View Research, the global subscription economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2033, growing at a 13.3% compound annual rate. The B2B segment alone accounts for over half of this total, highlighting the vast opportunity for device-based companies to capture recurring revenue by connecting products to services.

Discover how leading businesses are turning connected devices into long-term revenue engines through automated billing and lifecycle management with highlights from our recently published Playbook for Device-Centric Subscription Growth.

Why device-centric subscriptions are the next frontier

While software-as-a-service (SaaS) drove the first wave of subscription adoption, the next phase of growth lies at the intersection of connected devices and recurring services. IoT, telematics, and property technology providers are discovering that the real value isn’t just in the hardware — it’s in the ongoing insights, analytics, and software experiences that accompany it.

By combining physical devices with subscription platforms, businesses can deliver personalized, data-driven experiences and lock in recurring revenue streams that extend well beyond the initial sale. However, this opportunity comes with significant complexity. Device-based subscriptions require managing thousands of assets, each with unique pricing, activation dates, and renewal cycles.

Without proper systems in place, these variables can quickly lead to billing errors, customer frustration, and lost revenue. Companies relying on spreadsheets or homegrown tools soon find that manual processes can’t keep up with growth. What starts as a simple billing challenge can turn into operational chaos as subscriptions multiply and contracts diversify.

Have questions? Baker Tilly can help.

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Ryan Brown

Director

The systems challenge: Managing growth without chaos

Running a subscription business is fundamentally different from selling standalone products. It demands real-time visibility into contracts, automated billing and renewals, and flexible systems that can manage overlapping lifecycles between devices and services. For device-centric businesses, this complexity is magnified — hardware is installed, upgraded, or replaced at different times, while customers expect their subscriptions to reflect those changes instantly.

This is where many organizations stumble. Without integrated systems, finance and operations teams spend hours manually reconciling device data with subscription terms. Even small errors can delay invoices, damage customer trust, and disrupt cash flow. As subscription volumes rise, the gap between product and finance systems widens, creating bottlenecks that limit scalability.

To overcome this, companies are turning to purpose-built subscription management tools like 360 Subscription Billing (360SB). Designed for NetSuite, 360SB automates recurring billing, ties devices to contracts, and synchronizes subscription data across finance, sales, and fulfillment teams. The result is a single source of truth for subscription activity — reducing manual work, eliminating errors, and giving leadership teams real-time insight into recurring revenue performance.

Case study: Nauto’s journey to scalable subscription success

One company that successfully made this transition is Nauto, Inc., a leader in AI-powered fleet safety solutions. As Nauto expanded, its combination of devices and software services created mounting complexity in billing and renewals. The team initially relied on spreadsheets to track thousands of devices, contracts, and term changes — until the process became unmanageable.

By implementing 360SB, Nauto automated subscription invoicing, linked devices directly to contracts, and integrated financial data across NetSuite and Salesforce. This move eliminated billing delays, improved accuracy, and gave Nauto the scalability needed to expand its services globally. Today, the company manages thousands of complex billing scenarios seamlessly, reinforcing customer trust and accelerating growth — all without adding back-office strain.

Building the foundation for scalable subscription growth

The lesson is clear: recurring revenue doesn’t scale without automation. Companies that rely on spreadsheets and manual oversight eventually hit a wall. By contrast, those that invest early in integrated systems gain the ability to grow confidently and profitably.

With a solution like 360SB, businesses can:

  • Automate mid-term changes, renewals, and proration
  • Generate accurate invoices across thousands of devices
  • Consolidate billing for customers with multiple contracts
  • Access real-time recurring revenue analytics
  • Maintain compliance with auditable subscription data

These capabilities are essential as the subscription economy accelerates. Automation not only ensures accuracy but also frees teams to focus on strategy, innovation, and customer success rather than manual reconciliation.

The Playbook for Device-Centric Subscription Growth breaks down how systems like NetSuite and 360 Subscription Billing (360SB) help unify contracts, finance, and operations — enabling error-free invoicing, real-time visibility, and scalable recurring revenue.

Whether you’re building your first subscription offering or scaling globally, this playbook offers a road map to future-proof your business in the fast-expanding $1.5 trillion subscription economy.