CTRM / CM as an Architecture A ComTechAdvisory Whitepaper
In essence, Commodity Management isn’ t a single homogenous software category at all, but rather a grouping of related but nonetheless functionally different classes of software that relate to the trading, movement, and management of commodities. It is a truly heterogeneous software category addressed by over 100 different vendors serving one or more commodities, geographic markets and / or industry segments- and its why new vendors and products continue to emerge in what would otherwise appear to be a crowded market.
A CONTINUING EVOLUTION
The evolution of this already complex software class has been, and continues to be, impacted by rapidly shifting requirements. Factors such as regulatory changes, shifting economic / trade patterns, industrial technology advances and geo-political conflict have led to rapid changes to the very nature of the commodity markets – with new markets, new companies and new ways of doing business seemingly emerging almost daily. With each change, new functional requirements are established and new demands are thrust upon existing vendors and their products- providing an opportunity for new vendors to enter the markets with the“ latest and greatest” products. Software technology innovation has also heavily impacted the category, such as the earlier migration to client / server architectures- and now to web-enabled, cloud delivered solutions being two primary examples.
Beyond the changes in functional requirements, today’ s evolving markets are generating huge amounts of data, which seems to grow and change exponentially on an almost daily basis. While capturing, managing, and reporting this data is an increasingly daunting task, the usage of that data and the information it contains will vary tremendously between market segments, companies, and even individuals within those companies. For instance:
/ Different types of users will require different views of the same data, even down to singular users – this requirement has necessitated the development of customizable dashboards for individuals in oversight roles such as managers, executives, and compliance personnel; personalisable screens and reports for traders / deal makers, logistics personnel, etc; and the use of complex reporting tools and integration frameworks for consolidated reporting and analytics at a parent company level.
/ Regulatory reporting where different trades and transactions must be classified and reported in different formats to different jurisdictions.
/ Risk management where different views on different types of risk need to be presented with varying
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