Commodity Point Inaugural CTRM Conference – Prague By David Calmonson
Note: I don’t usually post articles by third parties especially vendors but I rather like this on about our conference in Prague by David Calmonson of Contigo.
I have to admit that I am a cynic when it comes to spending time at events such as conferences and exhibitions. The travel time (another ash cloud was looming– I think I am jinxed), missing my football team returning home with their first major trophy in a generation and thinking about all the ‘real work’ I needed to be doing, did not put me in a very receptive frame of mind at the outset!
Still the taxi journey from the airport was great, although I was puzzled by the endless left and right turns the driver took – I was readily convinced it really was an hour from the airport to the hotel. Unfortunately this exciting but unexpected tour of Prague coupled with the inevitable late landing (90 per cent of flights are on time – why does it seem that I’m always on the 10 per cent that aren’t?) I nearly missed the end of the cocktail party. But as it happened, most of the delegates were still there – and surprisingly so was most of the food.
The evening event was really enjoyable and unsurprisingly extended into visiting a few local hostelries! By the end of the night I had learned more about our fellow CTRM vendors, their strengths, weaknesses and aspirations, than reading through the last half dozen (excellent) Commodity Point CTRM Surveys. So what else could I possibly learn on Monday at the actual event?
Quite a lot as it happens.
There were around a dozen presentations all of which were relatively short and as a consequence were able to retain maximum focus and audience interest. The majority was well researched and presented, and few, if any, were a sales pitch. The talks covered a variety of themes yet many drew similar conclusions: ‘Don’t rely on one vendor or one corporate CTRM; go for best of breed as long as the products are interoperable and integrate well; People + Process + Software = Complete Solution; take up references face to face; try before you buy rather than rely on an RFP; power and gas CTRM software needs local knowledge whereas the majority of other commodities can be treated globally; banks invest significantly more in their IT systems than utilities – and do it more quickly – in fact utilities can spend more time and capital justifying a CTRM than procuring one; and simple technology is good’
And also that sometimes my cynicism is not justified.
The whole event was extremely valuable, educational and enjoyable. Clients, past and present, ex-colleagues, new contacts…who knows, maybe I will get to double figures on Facebook now! I am now convinced that attending more events of this nature is actually far more valuable than I had previously thought and I’m sure my football team will provide many future opportunities to celebrate – although if I have to wait as long again I’ll be celebrating my 90th birthday and, who knows, by that time may just be eligible to draw a pension!
