[InclinedPlane]

The exception is software which is so widely regarded as being good and necessary that it's trivial to expense it. For example: Visual Studio, SQL Server, Oracle, AutoCAD. Software that has acquired a strong reputation can short-circuit the typical management heavy buying decision process. Instead of consulting with the software maker the decision process becomes focused on the question of need, alternatives, and budget.

To date it hasn't been very common for software to live in that niche, but it certainly can.

[FeministHacker]

The management-heavy buying process still applies, however - as support and service contracts become extremely important for large organisations, and are essential to their operations.