Brady Veteran Relishes the evolution of ETRM implementation projects over the years.
Having spent almost 30-years in the energy and commodity trading software sector, I have seen many changes and have always emphasized the importance of history when looking at the space. So, it was fun to talk with Glen Cooper of Brady Technologies recently and talk about some of the fundamental shifts and changes around ETRM. Glen is also quite the veteran of the space going back many years and additionally experiencing the evolution of ETRM on the vendor end of things with Brady and precursors. He now is now focused on Igloo – Brady’s SaaS ETRM solution, and so can talk about much of what has changed with ETRM solutions over the years. So, we ended up comparing and contrasting the early days of Brady ETRM with working with Igloo and SaaS.
Back then, as Glen told me, all development was done using a waterfall method where scope was defined up front, the software developed and presented to the client. There was little iteration with the customer during the process who was presented with the results at the end of the process. Functionally rich ETRM platforms at that time presented integration challenges. Integrating them into the customer’s application landscape was both difficult and time consuming requiring expensive custom work. Remote access could also be a problem; coding and testing were more difficult as a result and, the client’s IT team could be rather defensive, adding to the difficulties. “Customers also often cut corners not going with their ETRM vendors recommended specifications to keep costs down,” he recalled. This would often cause later implementation and/or satisfaction issues.
These days, the cloud and SaaS eliminates many of these issues, Glen told me. With a product like Igloo, many of the customers are smaller and do not have an IT staff, for example. Brady can fast track the implementation as well by prepping the environment, installing out-of-the-box, and allowing early access to the software. Any new development can be performed iteratively involving the customer along the way rather than defining up front and prepping for a big reveal only at the end. Pre-configuration also helps get things delivered faster and more cheaply, but it is the constant involvement of the customer that is different, he told me. It all combines to allow an earlier go-live – often within 6-weeks as opposed to 6-months. This makes the entire process more efficient, less costly and faster.
Post-implementation is also remarkedly different these days. These days, Brady assigns a technical account manager who works with the customer and has regular communications with them around needs, ongoing issues and so on. Additionally, they can help users get more from the system by becoming familiar with how the customer works and pointing out how the system can be optimally used to reflect that. Upgrades are performed fast – in a few hours with no significant impact on the customer. That contrasts sharply with the early days in which upgrades were both expensive and time consuming requiring an entirely different testing environment and a stringent testing phase before release into the production environment – if at all. Many customers ended up running on older versions that were no longer supported because of skipping expensive upgrades.
Glen reminisces a bit about the early days – implementing on premise ETRMs in long, complex and expensive projects and trying to support customers that were reluctant to take upgrades due to the cost and complexity. However, he relishes the improvements brought about by technology that have sped up the entire process, made it cheaper, more efficient and with better support. ”Brady’s heritage in the industry means we have built extensive expertise in ETRM software implementation best practice. We cater to a diverse range of customer profiles and understand the intricacies of different trading technology landscapes,” he said. Brady still sees interest in its Brady ETRM solution as it has functional depth and breadth still absent form many SaaS-based newcomers and those procuring it will see a radically different approach these days to implementation and integration, he told me.
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