The CTRM Blog

CommodityPoint has observed a good deal of interest in emerging European markets – those outside of the more traditional CTRM markets of the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Scandanavia, recently. Talking to Simon Dawes of Abacus Solutions Inc this afternoon, he reaffirmed our observation and provided some thoughts into what is driving increased CTRM procurement activity in those markets. “It’s really down to three things from what we see,” he said. “Increased trading volumes, expansion into new markets and exchanges and a move into new commodities.” He contrasted that to more established European CTRM markets where buyers are more likely to be engaged in a cyclical kicking of tires or driven by the need for increased integration while hoping to deploy new solutions faster.

Recently, I caught up with Salim Jabbour of Abacus Solutions Inc. Under his leadership, Abacus has developed and gone to market with a new product, SATURN, an integrated enterprise risk management solution with broad functionality and deep analytics. SATURN is described as a “next generation ETRM system with breakthrough real time full simulation portfolio optimization”. I was interested in getting an update about the product since my initial review prior to its commercial launch. The following is an interview with Dr. Jabbour.

Since we last spoke over 3 years ago, SATURN seems to be gaining market penetration momentum. How do you explain your ability to compete with large well established ETRM vendors?

Abacus Solutions Inc has been selected by WalMart Texas Retail Energy as a replacement for its existing solution for trade capture and risk management. Texas Retail Energy (TRE) manages the energy supply for Walmart and Sam’s club stores and distribution centers including over 300 stores in Texas and over 400 stores in the UK.

Salim Jabbour, CEO of Abacus Solutions, briefed CommodityPoint on its new client on Friday. TRE went live in February with SATURN after a relatively short implementation phase that included some customization work. The implementation was managed by Abacus with no thierd-party involvement. Salim was quick to point out that this was a competitive bid in which it beat several well known vendors for the business and also a replacement of another commercial system.