In the past trading houses had only two options: spreadsheets or big-budget custom software development programs. Now SaaS-delivered solutions combined with Cloud Computing offer a real, cost-effective alternative. With the global economy, regulatory environment and credit shrinkage increasingly mandating formalized systems for even small trading companies, SaaS offers fast-start, turnkey solutions without up-front investment or resource demands.
Steve Hughes
President & CEO
Aspect Enterprise Solutions
Cloud-based applications — aka Software as a Service (SaaS) — have seen steady growth over the past few years and will continue to grow.
Gartner, Inc., Cloud Computing: The Next Generation of Outsourcing, Ben Pring, November 1, 2010

According to Technology Research Analyst Firm Gartner…

We are in the midst of a fundamental shift, as more enterprises start to use services enabled by cloud technologies. This will heavily impact IT services providers, who must now consider strategies for coping with profound changes in the marketplace or risk being left behind.
Cloud Computing:
The Next Generation Of Outsourcing
Ben Pring, November 1, 2010
According to Technology Research Analyst Firm Gartner…
Increasingly, hosted or SaaS-based solutions are gaining favor among end users as a means of reducing capital costs, deployment times and support overheads. While traditionally these solutions were preferred options for smaller end users or end users with limited functional requirements, as the functional capabilities of SaaS - or application service provider (ASP)-based deployments grow, the appeal to larger organizations will widen.
Magic Quadrant For Energy Trading And Risk Management Platforms
Keith Harrison and
David Furlonger
March 18, 2011
AspectCTRM was installed and working for us so fast – quickly enabling us to get a real-time understanding of profit and loss, exposures, price movements in the markets and how we can better manage risk.
Peter Malcom King
Business Development & Strategy Manager
Linetrale Oil Supply & Trading Company, Nigeria

Industries

AspectCTRM supports multiple industries with varying product trading needs in all areas of the world. We have more than 500 Clients with thousands of users in 90 countries. Our customers are oil majors, petroleum marketers and retailers, bunker companies, end user companies like airlines, corporate merchant trading firms, oil and gas suppliers, investment banks, hedge funds, metals and steel industry participants, including producers and construction firms, and other companies whose businesses focus on commodities-related trading.

Our Clients Buy & Sell

  • Crude Oils & Condensates
  • Petroleum Oil Products:
    • All groups including gasoline, gasoil, diesel,
      lubricants, asphalt, bunker fuels
  • Non-Ferrous Metals
    • Base Metals: aluminum, copper, tin, nickel, lead and zinc
    • Precious Metals: gold, silver, platinum, palladium
  • Steel & Iron Ore
  • Softs: Coffee, Cocoa, Sugar
  • Coal
  • Emission
  • Freight

Flexible, Scalable Solution

A real benefit of AspectCTRM is in its ability to be customized and tailored to these different business types, as no business – even in the same industry segment – works the same. Our engineers have developed common workflows and processes in the system to address a large percentage of requirements in trading and risk – with add-on components and workflow configurations available for specific company needs. This is achieved through our fully scalable and flexible AspectCTRM Standard and Enterprise Editions. The Lite Edition supplies small to mid-size companies with needed requirements out-of-the-box with no customization. AspectCTRM includes several modules depending on the industry.

All editions are deployed swiftly with immediate return-on-investment. This entirely Web-based approach reduces hardware costs as there is no installation process and allows easy access for users spread across the globe. SaaS delivery makes swift deployment possible, coupled with our component based approach, depending on your company’s needs you can chose the specific features and functionality you require, giving you flexibility as your business needs change or grow.

Many petroleum marketers and retail chains with hedging programs need only the specific positions management requirement found in our Lite Edition with no Physical Operations functions. They’re able to deploy within a few days with an affordable solution that meets their specific needs around optimizing petroleum procurement and hedging against their physical positions.

AspectCTRM is used by traders, risk managers, operations staff and back-office personnel. Our single platform handles functionality across front, middle and back office: trade capture, managing positions, viewing exposure and analyzing risks and accounting functions to name a few.

Products Supported:

  • Non-Ferrous Metals LME Base Metals: Aluminum, Copper, Tin, Nickel, Lead & Zinc, Aluminum Alloy, NASAAC Minor metals: Molybdenum, Cobalt
  • Steel Flat Products: HRC, CRC, Slab, Pilings
  • Long Products: Billet, Rebar, Rods, Wire Iron Ore, Pig Iron, Ferro-Alloys, Special Steels
  • Scrap And Recycled Materials
  • Precious Metals Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium
  • Forex
Control and transparency are the keys to any successful trading operation. Here are the building blocks without which one cannot establish proper corporate governance and best practices. When I joined TNK one of my first priorities was to implement a new system of operations control through ASPectCTRM, which now, in my opinion, is the best in the market. It allows tracking of movements at any time: what was sold, who the seller and buyer were, and what the market situation was at that moment, and all this marked-to-market. Transparency is one of the keys to making the right decisions, absolutely vital in a competitive market in which one tries continuously to optimize results.
Jonathan Kollek
VP of Sales, Trading & Logistics, TNK-BP
We looked at a number of alternatives but felt that Aspect’s SaaS approach was the best fit with our needs. It’s proved highly affordable, very fast to implement and it’s enabling us to more accurately monitor our exposure and manage the business more effectively. Having talked to other Aspect users, we have confidence in the solutions’ ability to support us with additional functions as we continue to grow.
Abdul Majid Mohd Yusoff
Managing Director
MasOil — Bunker Trader, Supplier & Terminal Operator
Having looked around for some time, it was clear that Aspect is the only company who can offer our business a full function CTRM platform, which we can access from any location at a price which fits our budget and return on investment model. They were very helpful and demonstrated excellent knowledge of our business. I look forward to working with them to leverage the power of AspectCTRM to help make our business more streamlined, efficient and effective. I would recommend small and medium enterprise commodity companies talk with Aspect Enterprise Solutions.
Harvey Puaar
Director of European Operations
Ambassador Lushbury Group