Trading & Risk Management
Opportune’s plainly stated mission to add value to clients is at the core of our approach. Our team has been carefully assembled from experienced energy consultants, subject matter experts from industry, and technologists specializing in trading and risk systems. We have the right balance of people, process, and technology expertise, combined with the ability to leverage the unique capabilities of the broader firm, to tackle complex trading transformations from kick-off to close-out.
Software Selection
We begin with deep understanding of the energy business learned by doing – as industry leaders, consultants, and technology implementors. Then, we take a business scenario-centric approach, supported with a library of tools and templates developed across dozens of selection engagements, to quickly elicit, analyze, and articulate solution requirements. Many of our consulting professionals are former software vendor employees who bring a singular depth of understanding of these solutions that is complemented by our longstanding relationships with the leading solution providers.
Many firms take a cookie cutter approach to system selection; not Opportune. Because of our rare blend of industry and system knowledge we will add value by:
- Taking a collaborative and holistic approach to understanding business objectives
- Considering the existing technology footprint as well as the IT vision and strategy
- Developing a population of proven vendors and solutions that are fit for purpose
- Accelerating the selection using our proprietary process library and catalog of common requirements and standardized templates
- Defining and documenting core business scenarios and using them to facilitate tailored vendor demonstrations
- Scoring solutions, arriving at a recommendation, and supporting vendor negotiations
- Delivering a solution architecture that goes well beyond the ETRM core to identity other technology key enablers
System Implementations and Upgrades
ETRM system implementations and upgrades can be complex, expensive, time-consuming endeavors. Our team of 40+ CTRM implementation consultants have, on average, more than 15 years of hands-on experience implementing, operating, and supporting the leading solutions. This enables us to get more done with fewer resources and to avoid potential pitfalls that can lead to escalating costs.
Opportune ensures project success by:
- Conducting an up-front assessment to clarify scope and provide an accurate estimate
- Preparing a comprehensive, realistic plan combined with a transparent view of status
- Working with, not against, software vendor and ecosystem partners – we “play well with others”
- Adhering to a proven implementation and project management methodology of the client’s choice of agile, waterfall, or hybrid
- Mitigating risk to your business via carefully scoped and executed testing, from unit test through UAT
- Bringing your IT team up to speed on the new technology and supporting platforms
- Ensuring that users are ready for more than just new tools, but also for streamlined processes, refined responsibilities, enhanced controls, and clarified roles
- Complementing the ETRM system with tight integration & automation, enhanced reporting & analytics, and targeted industry solutions
- Supporting the business on the new, integrated solution set until they’re comfortable and confident
Process Design and Optimization
There are best practices and there are practices that provide a competitive advantage. There are times when heritage processes should be adapted to fit a new ETRM and times when optimization can push performance ahead of your peers. Opportune’s consultants possess the business acumen to advise on the design, modification, and implementation of optimal processes by:
- Understanding what is advantaged about your business model, your asset base, and your culture as we contemplate organization and process design
- Utilizing our library of industry-specific process maps so we’re never starting from nothing when documenting the current and future state
- Bringing to bear the knowledge, skills, and abilities of individuals that have been traders, schedulers, risk managers, accountants, and more in this industry
- Identifying opportunities to take efficiencies, reduce the potential for error, and increase automation
- Drawing upon our experience engaging with a wide variety of energy market participants to author risk policies, book structures, transfer prices, etc.
- Appreciating regulatory and compliance considerations
ETRM Support and Business Process Outsourcing
Opportune is one of the largest energy-focused outsourcing firms in the industry, and has repeatedly proven the ability to support scaled, highly integrated trading and risk system solutions. Our team members know that responsiveness and getting the details right consistently yields a high quality, value-added, reliable, scalable, and affordable managed service offering. We deliver this service by:
- Helping clients transition from implementation project, through hypercare, to steady state
- Providing production support for the CTRM solution set with committed quality and service levels
- Extending the value of your investment by adding new features and functions to meet the evolving needs of the business
- Incorporating the latest patches, features, and functions released by vendor
- Continuously improving execution by training users to address recurring issues and gaps
- Performing recurring operational tasks related to month-end close, daily reporting, master & reference data administration, and transaction processing
CTRM Integration, Automation, and Customization
No off the shelf trading and risk system can exist in a vacuum or addresses every business requirement. Integration is necessary to bring in crucial data sets and provide for end-to-end, straight through transaction processing from origination to settlement.
- Providing standardized and vendor approved interfaces for common needs like price feeds, forecasts, nominations, tickets, inventory, invoices and more
- Developing custom solutions to meet critical needs in areas such as cash and liquidity forecasting, working capital management, and inventory valuation (e.g., LIFO)
- Tailoring the system to specialized renewable fuels requirements and calculations to comply with RFS, LCFS, CFR and other emerging federal, state and provincial regulations
- Understanding how to utilize industry leading technologies like Azure, Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx and others to extract even more value
- Advising when customization makes sense and when a purpose-built industry solution is the right fit
ION RightAngle
Opportune has been providing expert consulting services for RightAngle since 2008, and our most seasoned implementors and developers have been working with the product for nearly 30 years. We continually invest in attracting and retaining experienced talent while also developing the next generation of experts to sustain and grow our practice
- RightAngle knowledge and expertise is the backbone of our energy supply and trading capability
- We offer a full range of RightAngle-centric services including implementation, integration, customization, upgrades, cloud migrations, bolt-on applications, and support
- No other consultancy has delivered more RightAngle projects for large midstream and refining clients
- Our professionals also have depth in Allegro, Endur, TriplePoint, and Aspect
Our experts are here
for you.
When you choose Opportune, you gain access to seasoned professionals who not only listen to your needs, but who will work hand in hand with you to achieve established goals. With a sense of urgency and a can-do mindset, we focus on taking the steps necessary to create a higher impact and achieve maximum results for your organization.
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