Is Build Making a Comeback?

Almost 20-years after the birth of the E/CTRM software category, you would think that commercially available CTRM software would be a normal and natural choice for any firm seeking a solution and for many, it is. However recently, we have been seeing what I can only describe as a surprising second wind for building home grown solutions. This hasn’t been a tangible or statistical indication, but more a a strain of a conversation that seems to suggest larger traders and some others continue to look to building internal solutions. Indeed, I recently worked for a power trader that had built all of its own software and believed this was the way to go. So is build back in vogue and if so, why? Without repeating our mantra of many years, one reason is the complexity of commodity trading. Each commodity has its own attributes, its own supply chain, its own derivatives, its own supply/demand balance and criteria and so on. One-size and flavor simply doesn’t fit all in many instances. Variability compounds this as grains trading in North America and the Ukraine have many subtle, but critically important, differences and this is replicated across every commodity, every segment and every … continue reading

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