A study by the National Computing Center (NCC) in the UK has found that over 65 percent of British firms are postponing their ERP implementations, with 24 percent on hold indefinitely and 41 percent reporting a temporary delay. The economic situation has caused companies to reduce their IT budgets and due to the complex nature of ERP implementations, firms did not have the personnel or money to invest in a long-term project.

However, the NCC did find that 29 percent of firms were not reducing investment in their ERP project and in fact some firms are increasing their investment. But on the whole UK firms were wary of such large projects at this time. Data from the NCC found that only 12 percent of firms said their implementation had come in on time, while 6 percent said it had taken less time than planned. Estimating the cost of an ERP implementation seems to be an issue for UK businesses as the NCC found that 53 percent of implementations had gone over budget.

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Salesforce.com, the leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) using software-as-a-service (SaaS), reported that it's third quarter profit has doubled. The figures show that despite the economic difficulties experienced by most companies, there is still a strong demand for the solutions using SaaS rather than traditional on-site implementations.

For the third quarter that ended on October 31, Salesforce.com reported a profit of $20.7 million, up from $10.1 million from the previous year. The company's revenue grew 20 percent to $330.5 million. The company's revenue grew in every region, including a 16 percent gain in the Americas, which provides about 70 percent of the overall revenue total.

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In a new report released by IT consultancy firm Gartner, the highlight is that there is continued growth in software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications with small and medium sized businesses. The report called Market Trends: Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2008-2013, estimates that global software-as-a-service revenue will reach $7.5 billion this year, a 17.7 percent increase from 2008 revenue of $6.4 billion. The report also predicts the SaaS market will grow through 2013 when worldwide SaaS revenue will total more than $14 billion.

Gartner shows that this growth is in areas such as content, communications and collaboration (CCC) and customer relationship management (CRM). Currently CRM and ERP sales make up the bulk of SaaS sales, but CCC, CRM and SaaS-based call center software continue to grow at the expense of ERP solutions, where Gartner reports the sales in 2009 as relatively flat.

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America Recycles Day is November 15th this year and businesses and individuals can help to make this year the most successful. Recycling is a way that every person and business can help to protect the environment and conserve natural resources. By recycling at home and at work, you can help to reduce carbon emissions associated with extracting natural resources, manufacturing new products and waste disposal.

Businesses can help the environment by recycling to land and buildings. Reusing previously contaminated properties, often called brownfields, can help reinvigorate communities and preserve green space. A 2001 report by George Washington University stated that, "for every acre of contaminated property reused, approximately 4.5 acres of greenspace is preserved."

To encourage the recycling of brownfields, the EPA consults with property owners, state officials, businesses and communities to design practical solutions to property transfers, facility cleanups and redevelopment at cleanup sites. EPA has assisted in the redevelopment of both private and federally-owned sites.

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