The idea of SaaS-based web solutions has its roots that date back to the 1990s. Aspect Enterprise Solutions (earlier OILspace) was founded in 1999 to harness this technology innovation. The aim was to provide energy companies with a competitive advantage while accelerating technology adoption in the oil industry. In 2009, Aspect Enterprise expanded into broader commodities markets, including metals, steel, biofuels, coal, and agriculture. Today, the company offers AspectCTRM, an enterprise/ commodity trade risk management (E/ CTRM) solutions suite, and market data for users to perform pre-trade and trade analysis as well as risk and operations management in one system. Aspect Enterprise’s architecture is built from the ground up to support robust technology systems for the industry professionals globally. Working together with clients’ IT departments, the team at Aspect Enterprise can quickly deploy solutions that offer a smart approach to problem-solving.

AspectCTRM supports best practices for better decision making across each step of the transaction lifecycle with commodity trade management tools. While the commodity trade management module includes risk management functionality for pre-trade analysis, the commodity risk management module provides a robust credit and market risk solution, and an affordable alternative to using spreadsheets. It addresses a multitude of risks like price, volume, volatility, quality, delivery counterparty, credit, and multi-currency, with a full spectrum of physical and financial tools. Aspect Enterprise’s clients can integrate this module with their internal systems to gain real-time commodity risk management and analysis control.

AspectCTRM can be configured for the front-, middle-, and back-office professionals and integrated with external solutions. It features three editions that are designed for varied client needs. The lite edition features front-office functionalities such as trade capture, position keeping, profit, and loss tracking, and market risk reporting to help clients deliver out-of-the-box services. Both the standard and enterprise editions of AspectCTRM are robust in features, covering the full spectrum of functionality for trade and risk management.
A case in point, Aspect Enterprise catered to Singapore-based energy trading arm ofMitsubishi Corporation which focuses not only on traditional energy-related activities but also on finding ways of using energy more efficiently while protecting the natural environment. Mitsubishi approached Aspect Enterprise to overhaul its spreadsheet-based system, which was beginning to crack under the pressure of vast number of trades. Deployed across all Mitsubishi trading locations, AspectCTRM is efficiently managing the risk implicit in the trade of physical products and associated trades of derivatives for hedging.

In addition, Aspect Enterprise’s dedicated team offers implementation support and training that covers scoping and confirmation to match the alignment with business objectives and workflows. It ensures that AspectCTRM is aptly configured to support the client’s business processes. Team Aspect Enterprise trains employees to utilize master data. It also provides initial operations support after rollout with checkpoint reviews during implementation and follows up with final reviews. For each new implementation, an experienced project manager and a team are appointed who will oversee the project, from planning through execution.

Recently, ION Investment Group acquired Aspect Enterprise to increase its footprint in commodities and further improve its portfolio of SaaS solutions. “ION’s long-term approach to product development and strategy is ideal for our culture of continuous innovation. I’m excited for what the future holds as we continue to expand our cloud offerings that enable our customers to solve their business challenges quickly and cost-efficiently,” states Steve Hughes, President and CEO of Aspect Enterprise. Moving forward, Aspect Enterprise focuses on adding new functionalities to the existing product suite to deliver improved customer experience.