Enterprise content management software (ECM) continues to be in high demand, despite the economic downturn and its impact on global IT budgets.

The latest manifestation of this rapid industry growth can be seen in the financial success of Perceptive Software – provider of ImageNow ECM solutions – which recently reported revenues of $84 million in the fiscal 2009 year, ending June 30.

Perceptive”s revenue marks an increase of 22 percent from the previous year, despite the fact that a recent study from Compliance Research Group estimated global IT spending to decline 3 percent in 2009.

According to a Gartner Dataquest Research report, Perceptive is now the fastest-growing ECM vendor in the world, the company cited.

"Particularly in tough economic times, companies purchase technologies that will have an immediate impact," said Scott Coons, Perceptive Software CEO and president. "ImageNow creates immediate efficiencies in business processes and delivers a rapid, demonstrable return on investment."

Though the estimated decline in IT spending seems daunting for software companies, experts say it actually makes it a critical time for businesses to invest in ECM software, which can reduce document processing time and help save businesses time and money.