DCT
Boutique Consulting for Energy Trading, Risk Analytics and Compliance Solutions

In the recent past, unprecedented volatility in energy prices is one among the myriad of challenges faced by the energy trading industry alongside evolving regulatory compliance requirements which negatively impact bottom lines. Next-gen energy trading and risk management (ETRM) software proves to be a boon to effectively improve efficiency of commodity trading organizations. “However, technology alone cannot solve the business problems that grip the energy trading ecosystem,” observes Raj Balaguru, Vice President for ETRM and Analytics services at DCT Solutions. “It is the knack of applying business processes over technology that enables automation and effectively solves high impact business problems.” With over 120 years of combined experience, DCT brings to the table a combination of three significant proficiencies—ETRM domain expertise, analytical ability, and top-notch technology skills that enable energy companies to stay ahead of the competition curve.

“To design a long-term solution, it is imperative to understand the client’s business pains, goals and objectives— both short term and long,” says Balaguru. DCT’s methodology to design the best solution begins with an agile approach to understand, gather, and prioritize the client’s requirements. The agile approach extends across all aspects of the solution development right from the conceptualization of a strategy to delivery. Leveraging various business process modeling tools, DCT defines and suggests business process improvements and crafts solutions that best fit its clients’ business requirements. Furthermore, DCT’s analytical skills coupled with proven business expertise across various commodities (Power, Gas, Oil, Refined Products, Metals and Emissions), brings true value to its clients. The projects DCT has executed for energy companies across the globe covers all business functions including Energy trading (physical & financial), Logistics, Market risk, Credit Risk, Settlements, Accounting, and Compliance.

Balaguru points out that typically a commodity trading organization will have to engage with multiple stakeholders to set up their business processes and technology integrations.

Consistently, over the course of the evolving business and technology changes, the gap between technology and business widens, which is not conducive to remaining competitive and business growth. “Addressing this predicament effectively is DCT’s ETRMcare^®, a comprehensive managed application services for commodity trading organizations.” While ETRMcare^® manages the technology and changing business requirements, enterprises can focus on their core business and growth strategy. DCT works collaboratively with their clients to ensure that the business systems landscape is in good health to take advantage of the market and continue with their expansion goals.

DCT Solutions’ expertise can be better understood through their offering to a Tasmania-based energy utility focused primarily on renewable forms of energy. With a retail office in Melbourne, the utility wanted to take advantage of the deregulated market in Australia. Saddled with a legacy system, this organization faced a steep risk of losing clients due to slow retail offer processing for potential customers. The process took 15-20 days owing to the lack of streamlined business processes and delay in getting the data of Power load forecast, transfer pricing, additional rates for transmission and complex fees to enable offer calculations. With DCT Solutions entering the scene, the recommendation to implement a retail offer management system and automation of the processes dropped the turnaround time for complex retail offers to just two days and improved business outcomes by 30 percent.

With a keen eye for development and expansion, Balaguru foresees the massive potential for DCT to tap into larger business prospects in European, Middle-Eastern, and African regions as the production levels and trading activities rise significantly. This year, DCT also aims to utilize latest technologies like “Robotic Process Automation” (RPA) to address regulatory compliance issues specifically in Utilities. Busting the myth that ETRM is affordable only for the big players, Balaguru’s goal is to extend unbiased services to tier 2 and 3 companies in the years to come. En route their growth journey when organizations face the bottleneck of legacy systems and processes, DCT Solutions promises the small & mid-range companies, the very same computing power of a big player through their ETRMcare^® portfolio, at a very affordable cost. “That is the value we bring to the table,” ends Balaguru.