SaaS revenues rise

According to a study by Forrester Research, the economic downturn has been punishing to many IT vendors, but not software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors as they are seeing double-digit growth in their subscription revenue, reports Tech World.

Of the 10 companies to which Forrester mapped subscription revenue, most showed gains above 40%, according to a recent report. NetSuite, a provider of business management and CRM offerings, saw a 44% revenue increase, from $28 million (R295.8 million) to nearly $40.5 million (R427.9 million) in the third quarter of 2008 from the year-ago quarter.

"I think SaaS has an element of being recession-proof," says Ray Wang, a Forrester analyst. “Many companies are moving cautiously with small SaaS deployments, short contracts and even month-to-month agreements.”

Emptoris, a provider of enterprise supply and contract management software, reveals that the State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury has selected Emptoris Spend Analysis software for application at the division of purchase and property, says msnbc.

"In today's economic environment, organisations need to be as efficient and effective as possible in their spend management. Leveraging the power of technology, and specifically spend analytics technologies, is one of the most effective means of accurately and efficiently controlling spending," says Ted Williams, senior VP of global field operations at Emptoris.

The State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury is responsible for managing all aspects of the State's $33.5 billion (R354.5 million) budget including: tax and revenue collection, budget management, investment management and public finance, property purchasing, property construction, and contract management.

The global digital marketing company, 24/7 Real Media, has introduced Open AdStream with fully integrated contract management functionality powered by FIVIA, says Business Wire.

Open AdStream streamlines the advertising management process while the addition of contract management automates workflow for publishers every step of the way, from sales to billing.

“To increase efficiency and accuracy, publishers require a full suite solution to replace the multiple technology tools needed to manage each component of their advertising campaigns,” says Nicolle Pangis, VP of product management for global media and technology at 24/7 Real Media.