Fendahl’s CTRM/CM solution, Fusion, Ready to Compete
Being an analyst in the Commodity technologies space, you get to see a lot of software demonstrations and there are very few CTRM/CM solutions remaining that I haven’t had a look at. However, until last week, one of those that remained broadly unseen by me was Fusion from Fendahl Technology. Fendahl is a vendor that has grown its presence in the CTRM space over the last several years and it is a relatively new solution, so it is based on a modern technology stack (Microsoft technology stack essentially) and it is able to be deployed as a SaaS or traditional install on premises. Fendahl now has over 130 staff and offices in the Americas, Asia, and EMEA, serving over 40 customers across multiple commodity segments, according to its website.
“Our objective has been to build a best in class CTRM solution,” I was told by Fendahl’s Gareth Davies (Director – Product Management) as we got started. “It’s really an ecosystem in which some modules can be deployed and used stand-alone and others must be used as part and parcel of a comprehensive CTRM solution.” I was then introduced to some concepts that have been encapsulated in the solution like ‘controllers’, which are single configurable reporting windows into an aspect of the data – like say trades – that can be configured by the user. “The user can simply build reports around the trade data set, for example, for a much more flexible and intuitive way to extract value from the data inside the solution.” The solution can also easily plug into other data sources and include them – things like NAV, SAP, Excel, other systems or whatever – and the reports are built using a drag and drop feature allowing users to create custom views without IT intervention. The Executive Reporting Dashboard (ER Dashboard) sits above the entire solution offering an easy to build dashboard personalizable to the user comprising of both graphical and tabular data all of which can be drilled in to.
“With more modern technology, we don’t have millions of lines of code to manage. Everything is more efficient,” Gareth said as we started to drill into areas of the solution. It is multi-everything – commodity, units of measure, currency and so on. Featuring a broad array of deal capture and reporting screens for almost every physical deal structure you can think of including repo deals, Fendahl told me these days most deals enter the solution automatically via feeds from various exchanges like ICE, CM and so on. As we continued our walk through the system, it rapidly became obvious that Fusion was the real deal in terms of coverage from comprehensive risk management (including Monte Carlo and other advanced analytics), and comprehensive pricing to back office and into a number of commodity management areas as well like processing, logistics, quality, pricing and fixation, packaging, traceability, and much more. Making use of workflow throughout the solution, a complete and comprehensive audit trail is also available. Fusion also has a complete mobile version that with proper access security allows many functions like deal capture, approvals and so from a handheld device. It also features a full document management solution built in with drag and drop template creation.
“Our initial focus has been on building out a strong physical commodity management solution with a growing focus on comprehensive risk management tools and capabilities,” Gareth told me. “We try to be different and we listen to customers. For example, we have a freight solution and INTTRA container management module in the works right now and we believe we have a very strong concentrates solution too.” Though the demo was time limited, I will say that as an analyst in the space, it did tick most or all of my boxes from usability to functional depth. Plainly though I am not a user trying to use it for specific complex business purposes and, knowing the variability of this business as I do, it will have its relative strengths and weaknesses versus competitors. It is, however, a strong competitor across almost all commodities and industry segments so far as I can see. We will continue to track Fendahl and Fusion in the coming months, but this does seem to be a solution that has become ready for a broader audience.
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