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UNUS PRO OMNIBUS, OMNES PRO UNO
A ComTechAdvisory Whitepaper
A DIFFERENT APPROACH
There is another approach to the problem and that is to build a software solution that cater
for specific commodities and are pre-configured specifically for that commodity off the shelf.
In a sense, ETRM solutions aimed at electric power have taken this approach since electric
power is so different to other commodities and is also different in different regions. It makes
physical electric power very difficult, if not impossible, to combine with a wide range of other
commodities. That being said, many ETRM’s for electric power will also try to handle carbon and
natural gas as well.
Rather than trying to cater to all commodities and supply
chains and be master of none of them, some solutions
are set up to offer very deep and specific functionality
for a specific commodity like cocoa, sugar or cotton,
for example. Any configurability is also set up for the
commodity out of the box such as price feed integration
or specific workflows. This then offers the user a fit for
purpose solution at a lower cost as implementation time
frames and support costs can be significantly lower. It
also reduces risks of user rejection – an issue that many
firms face with their all singing, all dancing CTRM that
actually does no one’s job particularly effectively.
solutions can be provided by different modules in
a modular CTRM that covers a range of specific
commodities in detail or as an ecosystem of different
vertical and horizontal solutions that communicate
via API’s perhaps even in the cloud. As ComTech
has discussed in many articles in the past, the
ecosystem or CTRM as an architecture approach,
brings everything back full circle to a best of breed,
mix and match environment and away from the older
monolithic applications of the past. With more modern
technologies, this is a practical and arguably desired
outcome that provides greater flexibility, business agility
and specificity at a lower cost of ownership.
For those managing multiple commodities, these
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