Reports Analyst Briefing Note Aspect Enterprise Solutions

ComTech Analyst
Briefing Note
Aspect Enterprise Solutions Ltd
Overview

At a Glance

Aspect Enterprise Solutions (Aspect) was founded as OILspace in 1999 and delivers commodity
trading and risk management (CTRM) and trading operations solutions to a global base of users
across multiple categories, including petroleum products, crude oil, metals/steel, coal,
petrochemicals and agricultural commodities.
Incorporated in the USA and headquartered in London, UK, the company launched with fully webbased solutions, and is recognized as one of the first to employ a truly multi-tenanted cloud delivery
model for its products. In addition to its CTRM solution, the company also provides real-time and
historical data feeds and trade decision tools for traders via its AspectDSC (Decision Support Center)
product line. AspectPM is its price manager solution, providing consolidation and support for the
global oil price forecasting process and forward curve management. The company sells its products
globally, with clients located in all geographies. Aspect has been particularly successful in selling its
solutions into the mid and lower tiers of the market and to those companies that have adopted the
solution as their first commercially supplied and supported trading solution. Geographically, Aspect
has become the leader in vendor-supported solutions for Africa.

Financial Results
Aspect is privately held and does not publically disclose financial information. However,
management has indicated that the company is profitable and has grown consistently over the last
seven years. The company derives revenues from three distinct offerings: AspectCTRM products
sales/subscriptions, AspectDSC data subscriptions, and services related to supporting AspectCTRM
customers. Aspect has noted that while revenue growth related to the AspectDSC line has be flat
to slightly up over the last several years, their revenue growth in AspectCTRM has been above
industry norms for organic growth and customer acquisition. Services revenues have also been
growing, however at a slower pace than AspectCTRM product revenues, reducing the overall
contribution of services to the company’s top line revenues. According to Steve Hughes, Aspect’s
president & CEO, this lower growth rate is related to improved services and implementation
capabilities, resulting in lower implementation times and reduced demand for services assistance
by their new customers. According to the company, AspectCTRM can be deployed in as little as two
weeks to a few months, depending on integration and data complexities.

Technology Base & Business Practices

Company Background
Founded:
President & CEO:
Offices:

Employees:
Website:

1999 as OILSpace
Steve Hughes
London UK
New York NY
Houston TX
Moscow RU
Singapore
100 (Est.)
AspectEnterprise.com

Products
AspectCTRM - Lite, Standard & Enterprise
Editions
AspectDSC - Market Data Portal
AspectPM - Price Manager & Forward
Curves

Market Profile (ComTech Est)
Customers by Geography
North America
South America
Europe
Africa
AsiaPac including Aust.

15%
5%
35%
25%
20%

Customers by Market Segment (CTRM)
Oil/Products Traders
Ag Traders
Energy Producers
Metal Producers

75%
5%
10%
10%

Financial Results

Aspect's technology and business practices have been relatively unique in the CTRM technology
space, beginning with its web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions in 1999; to publishing
its fees and bringing transparency to software pricing in 2011; to its strategy of targeting small to
medium size businesses. While Aspect does serve several of the largest trading companies in the
world, its cloud solutions and delivery advantages afford smaller companies professional trading
and supply chain tools.

Aspect is a privately held company
and does not disclose financials.
ComTech estimates the company’s
annual revenues to be in the range of
$15-20 Million USD.

In 2012, Aspect began rolling out a development initiative called AESthetics which would allow
companies and partners to deploy and configure their own solution, reducing reliance on consulting
services and, according to the company, saving tens of thousands in professional services fees.
AESthetics is an underlying framework that is built into AspectCTRM to create standardization and
tools that expedite the installation, implementation and data configuration effort. Additionally,
Aspect is launching a new Partner Program, partnering with a number of consulting organizations
© Commodity Technology Advisory llc

June 2014

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