The Perils of Traditional ETRM
Previously, I wrote about the chronic misapplication of ETRM systems within natural gas companies because of businesses believing a traditional ETRM system will serve their needs when, in fact, multi-commodity ETRM functionality lacks many key operational capabilities. I described how these traditional ETRM products require significant customization, specialized personnel, and expensive custom support plans to serve the wholesale requirements of natural gas LDCs, Marketers, and Utilities and entirely lack retail natural gas functionality.
After posting, I received feedback from several existing ETRM users who reported personal experiences that echoed my own, supplying details of the downside of attempting to customize a traditional ETRM system to handle natural gas business requirements. Thereafter, remarkably, a global ETRM vendor launched a marketing campaign with an opening paragraph that reads:
“CTRM software has a reputation for being difficult to implement with long, time-consuming, and expensive implementations, often resulting in a suboptimal result. To an extent, this reputation is probably deserved as CTRM software is highly complex and configurable, designed to meet any number of scenarios for different commodities and types of businesses. The industry is littered with inadequate and failed CTRM implementations as a result.”
What a statement! What does it say when a global ETRM vendor itself calls out “inadequate and failed CTRM implementations” as commonplace? Part of me feels as though a tip of the hat is deserved, yet ETRM software vendors like this one continue to market their products to the inexperienced and unsuspecting. The business owner in me recognizes the importance of shining a light on this and assuring Natural Gas companies this need not be their reality.
Whether you are a natural gas business requiring a “rescue plan” or are one of the few who have thus far avoided the failed multi-commodity ETRM experience, know that a purpose-built for Natural Gas ETRM and retail operations solution exists! It’s off-the-shelf, offering completely integrated, end-to-end functionality, eliminating the time, cost, and risk of traditional ETRM software customizations. Its functionality spans all day-to-day business operations requirements, from wellhead to pipeline to city gate to meter. It houses all retail and wholesale operations data in one central repository, simultaneously accessible to all business users via a standard user interface. It requires no IT management, no specialized application consultants and has been in production use for 20+ years. Its name is nGenue.
Natural Gas End Users, LDCs, Marketers, Pipelines, Producers, and Utilities face increasing competitive and compliance pressures, requiring increased operational efficiency, data integrity and process improvement. Their operational systems must support this, but most don’t. Engage us and we’ll show you how to make a breakthrough. It’s what we do for natural gas companies, and we are experts in our field.
nGenue enables Natural Gas Operational Excellence!
~ Ken
