London, September 28, 2011: Aspect Enterprise Solutions, a provider of multi-commodity trading and risk management (ETRM/CTRM) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications in the Cloud, announced today that it has been named as a “Major Player” by IDC Energy Insights in its report IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Energy Trading and Risk Management 2011 Vendor Assessment. IDC is a premier technology research and advisory firm.

The report cites the various capabilities and strengths for Aspect’s energy trading and risk management solution, AspectCTRM. It reveals Aspect’s success among small, medium and large trading houses, and how SaaS is especially important to its smaller customers who do not have the resources to deploy and support a software application in house. Major selling points cited are scalability and speed, and customers confirm that the SaaS model is quickly deployed and less costly than traditional software. Aspect also offers market data on the same platform as its ETRM application.

Other findings in the report include:

“Many energy companies that have adopted Aspects' offering went from paper- or spreadsheet-based systems that did not have a central data repository, so the ability to have all data in one place is considered one of the main benefits of the offering.”

“IDC Energy Insights expects to see growth in ETRM spending by small to mid-tier trading companies, especially as trading activity picks up for new products in new markets. Aspect is well positioned to address these needs, with the physical scheduling capabilities.”

“The company has expanded to other commodities, with customers trading metals, steel, and biofuels, which should be attractive to trading companies that are looking for one platform to trade multiple commodities.”

“We are absolutely delighted to be highlighted in this very important and recognized global research by premier advisory firm IDC Energy Insights,” said Steve Hughes, Aspect President and CEO. “Their findings confirm exactly our vision and position especially among small and mid-size trading houses who can finally gain access to and leverage a professional ETRM system. Before Web-based solutions became a serious option, these companies had no choice but to use spreadsheets. Now, they’re competing on the same playing field as larger trading firms with an affordable and powerful alternative to protect their business from risks.”

Source: The report, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Energy Trading and Risk Management 2011 Vendor Assessment (Document #EI229863).