"Firms have been missing an opportunity to take a holistic view of their portfolios and benefit from data they originally collected for only one purpose: compliance," says Duplan. "By studying data for trends and using the results to change their processes, companies would be more likely to avoid making the same mistakes again and would perhaps reduce or eliminate the need to collect data in the first place."

Looking ahead, Top 200 firms worry about the continuing commoditization of environmental services, the drive of firms to differentiate themselves from their competitors and the need to boost value.

Others see impacts from a continuing global economic slowdown. Robert Levitt, president of Hudspeth & Associates, wonders whether the private sector can "replace" government spending in the environmental arena.

AMEC's Mahmoud wonders about firms' ability to withstand a "prolonged" period of uncertainty. "Thus far, most firms have been able to take measures to sustain growth and profitability through overhead reductions, labor cost control and acquisitions," he says. "However, there is a limit to the effectiveness of these strategies if the external market stays flat or declines across multiple geographies and multiple market sectors for an extended period of time."

Data management by Fran Sweeney,Andrea Pinyan and Mev Barton