physical asset optimization - Allegro Horizon provides a singular vendor solution for companies operating in the global wholesale energy and commodities markets .
Allegro Horizon provides capabilities that span the following areas of critical concern to commodity market participants : commodity trading , risk management , physical logistics , regulatory compliance and accounting . The company ’ s stated mission is “ to assist the commodity companies worldwide as they work to improve their results by maximizing the value of their commodities , from the ground to the point of consumption .”
Historically , Allegro has shown the capability to adapt and innovate with market trends being a first adopter of . Net , more intuitive UI ’ s , and a move to “ hosted in the cloud ”. In terms of functionality , it has continued to build out from its original core functions and delivered its component-based architecture offering customers increased flexibility as outlined above . In doing so , it has gained a reputation for technical innovation and architecture .
Company Strategy
Allegro notes their company ’ s strategy is built on five core pillars :
1 . Organic growth — Since its inception , Allegro has served the upstream energy and utility markets . Now , after more than 30 years of business , Allegro serves customers in the mid and upper tiers of the market , including several global-scale tier 1 customers , ( each industry with its own set of requirements ). The company plans to continue to build out its core commodity offerings to cover the specific nuances of different commodity centric industries to increase the company ’ s market reach and ability to service a broad range of industries and requirements . Allegro noted in early 2018 that it plans to offer a solution for the metals and mining industry in the near future .
2 . Geographic expansion — Geographically , Allegro has been particularly successful in the U . S . and European markets , servicing a number of top-tier customers , with strong adoption in the Asia Pacific region in recent years . Allegro has further increased its traction in the region with customers in edible oils and rubber .
3 . Non-organic growth — Allegro has completed two acquisitions – Just Commodity in 2015 and most recently in 2018 , Financial Engineering Associates , Inc ., a leading provider of risk analytics software , giving the company and their customers ’ access to a full suite of comprehensive analytics tools . The company plans to continue to look for complementary acquisitions that add key functionality and value to its customers .
4 . Product innovation — Allegro has focused on creating productivity-enhancing user interfaces , flexible data structures , and extensible architecture for the commodity management software industry . Allegro ’ s Horizon product is a forward-compatible solution that allows companies to only install only those capabilities required to support their desk or department , as well as mobile , cloud , and open architecture capabilities .
5 . Customer satisfaction — Allegro maintains a multi-faceted approach to enhancing the customer experience via dedicated account management , health checks , formalized training via Allegro University , an active user group , and the annual Allegro Global Customer Summit .
Outlook and Analysis
ComTech research shows Allegro consistently ranks as a market leader across multiple categories of commodities , with particular strengths in energy commodities , including natural gas , natural gas liquids , power , oil , oil products , LNG , coal and emissions . The company is a global scale provider of CTRM solutions and is one of the most recognized names in ComTech ’ s 2016 CTRM Vendor Perceptions Study . The company was ranked # 1 in Commodity Management , # 2 in Overall Market Leadership , # 1 in Natural Gas , and # 2 in Overall Energy , Power and Oil & Products leadership . They are also # 2 in Implementation leadership . Additionally the company was noted as # 1 in Technical Architecture , # 2 in Risk Management , and as the # 2 provider of a Single CTRM Platform for all commodities .
Despite a backdrop of declining total global market spend for CTRM solutions and services over the last 3 years , Allegro has consistently outperformed most of their peers and increased their market share vs . their competitors . Given the momentum that Allegro has developed over the last several years , and the increasing market uncertainty related to recent acquisitions in the space by ION , ComTech does expect Allegro to continue to out-perform most market peers in the near-term .
Opportunities
• Allegro continues to operate as an independent business , affording them the flexibility to quickly respond to market changes
• The acquisition of FEA provides additional deep domain expertise in Risk and Analytics , strengthening their position in those areas vs their competition
• Rising oil prices and increased activity have increased demand for ETRM systems capable of managing oil , oil products and LNG – areas of strength for Allegro .
• It ’ s partner ecosystem and training strategy help create a brand-centric environment focused on its users enhancing its ability to deliver solutions across broad markets
• Allegro ’ s product architecture allows deployment of specific required functionality either for a specific commodity or in a multicommodity approach ensuring that it is able to compete across broad stretches of the market both vertically and horizontally .
© Commodity Technology Advisory llc September 2018 2