An ETRM is a key piece in the overall trading organization puzzle. Here are three ways to know if your ETRM is fit enough to meet your organization’s specific needs.

The ETRM market has been heating up this year and there are many great available solutions. With that said, it’s as true as ever that ETRM isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. While cost is a critical aspect to consider, evaluating ETRMs means going beyond the price tag. It means solving a complicated puzzle, one that should assemble into a picture of an efficient, successful trading organization. An ETRM is a key piece in the overall trading organization puzzle.

Here are three tips for assessing an ETRM’s fitness to address your organization’s specific needs.

1. Take A Close Look At The ETRM Capabilities To Learn Its Shape – All ETRMs do an outstanding job with deal capture and basic valuations to satisfy essential risk management activities for the commodities they cover. However, as the requirements get further into the commodity lifecycle, like in scheduling, accounting, and advanced risk reporting, differences begin to emerge. Think of an ETRM as a puzzle piece, where its tabs and blanks are formed by both the commodities it supports and its unique capabilities and limitations.
2. Explore How The ETRM Will Fit In The Broader Application Puzzle – With ETRM core capabilities understood, the fitness of the system will be dependent on the rest of the puzzle, which is made up of the other applications in your portfolio. ERP, CRM, and enterprise reporting systems can all be key pieces to plan around. Developing an application roadmap, including integration plans, will enable your company to make use of the best features across systems while minimizing duplication of effort. To support effective integration, many leading ETRMs come equipped with built-in, modern APIs and other useful data-sharing tools. Properly fitting the ETRM alongside its adjoining pieces is critical to success.
3. Establish A Strategy For Fine Tuning The Shape Of The ETRM – Once ETRM capabilities have been evaluated and the adjacent systems and integrations planned, gaps will remain. These gaps can be addressed using a variety of strategies such as process workarounds, custom code within the ETRM, or external data and reporting solutions. Customers looking to lower the total cost of ownership will avoid customization by adapting processes to match the ETRM design. Others will invest significantly in customizing the ETRM, hoping to create competitive advantages, optimize processes, and maintain controls over critical transaction data. Ironically, many of the most feature-rich ETRMs are also capable of extensive customization by development teams. Make sure the tools available for fine-tuning the fitness of an ETRM satisfy your organization’s specific requirements.

READ MORE: 10 Ways To Build Layers Of New Value Around Your ETRM System

Puzzle analogies aside, there’s an ETRM that’s a fit for every trading organization, but every trading organization isn’t a fit for every ETRM. Thanks to advances made by ETRM vendors over the last few years, this is an exciting time to find an ETRM piece that’s truly a fit for your ETRM puzzle.