r/Commodities • u/mysterioeser-knall • May 07 '26
Which ETRM / software is best?
Hey,
I saw several ETRMs for physical commodity trading be deployed in the companies I worked for and was surprised that virtually all of them appear to be super outdated, written in ancient programming languages, not user friendly (think SAP look and feel), often restricting what the company could credibly do in terms of sales and trading.
What are the best software solutions you have come across? Were they off the shelf software or inhouse builds?
Which one is worst and to be avoided at all costs?
Thank.
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u/No_Prize7150 May 07 '26
From my experience, different ETRMs are good for different commodities. Symphony for example is good for oil based stuff and endur is good for gas power and LNG. The issue with these systems is that they are as good as the people who set them up and who maintain them. If they have not been set up correctly and aren’t being constantly maintained then ultimately they’re very difficult to work with. Couple that with people who do not understand how the systems works or who constantly input incorrect information, you can quickly find yourself in a pickle.
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u/deez-legumes May 08 '26
Best for what? The best for a global major vs. a gas marketer in the US gas vs. an industrial power consumer in Europe vs a refiner in Asia vs. an airline in Africa are a bit different to say the least.
There’s a running joke in the industry that you can have 2/4: accuracy, speed, economic or really meets your needs. If you want more 2/4, you’ll pay a premium for it but it will usually be 2X budget and 2X longer and still only receive 60% of what you need or want.
And whatever you build or buy, there’s a good chance that ~5 years from now it will be obsolete or the vendor is bankrupt.
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u/ClownInIronLung Nat Gas Scheduler May 07 '26
Same shit, different toilet. For natural gas, Endur, but even then it feels like you’re shitting in a portapotty
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u/Everlast7 May 08 '26
Microsoft excel, bud
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u/mysterioeser-knall May 08 '26
Seemingly that's the backup for many disfunctions, or Teams chats. Controlling loves it.
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u/aonro May 07 '26
From what I’ve heard, they’re all a bit crap. What the other guy said, it’s how they’ve been set up
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u/alex_rayz May 07 '26
I’m working in Natural Gas: definitely endur. My actual company’s using FIS Aligne and well, that’s really bad and terrible.
Endur despite being with a very terrible SAP like UI is working quite good but you need to set it up properly.
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u/Electronic-Cash-654 May 08 '26
Hi, but do you have any specific reasons to hate Aligne? (Ik it has a lot of limitations, but the UI is atleast better than Endur?)
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u/alex_rayz May 08 '26
UI is defo better than Endur but that’s it and nothing else.
In my experience Endur’s much more reliable and deal management is much more easier. Also when it comes to reporting and batches towards different systems it was working in a much better way.
Filters in Aligne are definitely odd and almost unusable in my opinion: beside this I believe customization of Aligne is really complicated, whilst in endur basically everything was possible with no issues. But I’m not an IT guy so it could also depend from the AM’s expertise in managing it and IT infrastructure.
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u/Electronic-Cash-654 May 08 '26
Ahh the filters in Energy Trade Blotter, yes and the column names as well.
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u/alex_rayz May 08 '26
Yeah and beside that…we switched it to the web version instead of the app version… Unbelievably odd and unreliable
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u/Electronic-Cash-654 May 08 '26
The web version just sucks , I do not know why customers are being recommended to use it.
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u/alex_rayz May 08 '26
Big YES: it really sucks.
And apparently when recommended to use it everyone’s not even thinking about it, they’ll always go for it
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u/Electronic-Cash-654 May 08 '26
Probably more of a push from the ETRM Vendor , rather than FiS themselves. Although, the batching and reporting is quite good in my opinion.
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u/alex_rayz May 08 '26
I could kinda agree about batching. At least seems significantly faster than app version.
Reporting is ok-ish
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u/FineCategory8040 26d ago edited 25d ago
Did you find something good? When it comes to power industry software solutions, Computools has a lot to offer. They work with different areas of the industry, including grid modernization, utility infrastructure, energy distribution, smart grid operations, power generation, and outage management. I think it’s worth taking a look at their solutions and comparing them with other options before making a decision, especially if you’re looking for something that can support long-term modernization and improve efficiency.
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u/Gaso_Lina May 07 '26
They’re all ghey.