Brady Technologies
Innovations in Energy Markets Born Out of Heritage
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Bernard Delahaye, CEOMore importantly, despite the birth of commodity trading and risk management ‘CTRM’ and energy trading and risk management ‘ETRM’ solutions, the volatility of the energy marketplace only continues to grow every day, or in some cases, with the passing of every minute. Bernard Delahaye, CEO of Brady Technologies, articulates the challenges energy value chain participants face as they aspire to chart bountiful voyages in the volatile energy space.
“The challenge for existing customers is to adapt to the new short-term power trading norms, in a world where most of the current trading platforms have been built for long-term trading,” says the CEO. “What they need is a short-term trading environment that is not only agile but is also capable of responding to newer market requirements.” Delahaye’s words carry great significance in a marketplace that witnesses 15-minute settlement changes, further emphasising the need for highly responsive trading intelligence tools.
In conversation with CIOApplications Europe, Bernard Delahaye shares his insight into addressing the volatility of the ETRM space, all the while shedding light on his company’s developmental strides that enhance revenue streams for energy players. Over the last 36 years, Brady Technologies has been developing intellectual property that thoroughly comprehends the energy space, which today serves as the bedrock of innovation for many purpose-driven tools, capabilities, and solution sets.
How do you help your clients adapt to this new paradigm shift in the energy marketplace?
We are working with our customers to transform existing platforms as per the changes introduced into the energy marketplace, bringing in some new tools and capabilities. These customers are no longer limited to trading long term contracts but are instead required to deal in shorter intervals. As a result, we launched a program last year under the banner of ‘Brady PowerDesk’, which offers an entirely new tool to the industry, catering to the needs of short-term physical power trading.
Working with our customers, we define essential functionalities, the capabilities needed for various applications, and the proof of concepts before delivering the solutions. We have also recently made a significant acquisition of a platform called Igloo, which complements the PowerDesk program that we launched previously.
Igloo provides robust financial energy trading and risk management capabilities in a highly agile way through a SaaS orientated architecture.
What is the value proposition offered through the tools and capabilities developed by Brady Technologies?
All of the tools offered by Brady Technologies are the culmination of our 36-year heritage; we are one of the founding companies in this industry. Over this journey, Brady Technologies has developed a significant intellectual property (IP), which correlates to the comprehensive understanding of business workflows in energy and commodities trading. It is an understanding of data structures, risk management functions, information and the trading ecosystem that connects all stakeholders. The new tools that we have developed have stemmed from this IP, only on a much more modern cloud and SaaS-based architecture.
Tell us about the importance of risk management within the energy trading space, especially with the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources?
With a greater number of new entrants in the energy space, managing counterparty risk is undoubtedly a challenge; and more often than not, this process is carried out much later in the engagement. In contrast, counterparty risk management should be a real-time process in today’s environment. Customers should enhance their risk management function with more sophisticated scoring capabilities, evolving from counterparty risk to liquidity. As a result, we have carried out yet another acquisition of a product called CRisk, in helping customers quickly respond to the market needs without redeveloping some of the existing tools.
By working with our clients in the trading and risk management space, we drive efficiencies across the board, automating several trading activities and the highly-mundane logistics processes, which consume much time. More importantly, manual operations are risk prone, further increasing the complexity of trading. The implementation of Brady’s solutions drive better value for energy players, automating a fair share of their redundancies while capitalising on market opportunities. The amount of data that our clients deal with is enormous, and the ability to aggregate information to make the best trading decisions is fundamental today. That is where data analytics comes in, helping customers obtain actionable insights to make those decisions.
From a technological standpoint, what are some of the factors that set Brady Technologies apart from its competition?
The combination of our IP and the company’s heritage enables us to create innovative and market-focused solutions in the energy trading space. Alongside the unpredictable changes within the industry, organisations are failing to create new platforms, owing to the lack of IP and relevant understanding of the business workflows. We are very fortunate to have had 36 years of experience in the marketplace, and utilising the IP that we have developed over the years, Brady Technologies can bring such essential tools and capabilities to the marketplace. The combination of innovation and experience is at the heart of Brady Technologies, which differentiates us from the rest.
What does the future entail for Brady Technologies? Would you like to share any definitive milestones for the road ahead?
We are highly focused on our customers’ success, helping them adapt to this ongoing revolution within the energy space and all the new developments brought in by renewable energy trading. Additionally, with the net-zero agenda driving us to 2050, I believe we can still contribute much more to the industry. We are already a carbon-neutral company, and our culture is wholly dedicated to the new world of energy.
Brady, in its heritage, has entered into a new chapter of growth, following the acquisition of the company by Hanover Investors. Considering the next growth phase, seeking investments was a step in the right direction to capitalise on market opportunities; Hanover Investors spotted this opportunity and acquired Brady at the end of 2019. A noteworthy part of this acquisition story is that Hanover brings not just the investment but also the expertise needed for the future. This formidable ownership allows us to procure the right technological tools from the market, as demonstrated by our recent acquisitions – Igloo and CRisk. Through these acquisitions and our PowerDesk solution, Brady Technologies has put together all the right pieces needed for our organisational growth and the future of the energy trading space.
What is the value proposition offered through the tools and capabilities developed by Brady Technologies?
All of the tools offered by Brady Technologies are the culmination of our 36-year heritage; we are one of the founding companies in this industry. Over this journey, Brady Technologies has developed a significant intellectual property (IP), which correlates to the comprehensive understanding of business workflows in energy and commodities trading. It is an understanding of data structures, risk management functions, information and the trading ecosystem that connects all stakeholders. The new tools that we have developed have stemmed from this IP, only on a much more modern cloud and SaaS-based architecture.
Tell us about the importance of risk management within the energy trading space, especially with the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources?
With a greater number of new entrants in the energy space, managing counterparty risk is undoubtedly a challenge; and more often than not, this process is carried out much later in the engagement. In contrast, counterparty risk management should be a real-time process in today’s environment. Customers should enhance their risk management function with more sophisticated scoring capabilities, evolving from counterparty risk to liquidity. As a result, we have carried out yet another acquisition of a product called CRisk, in helping customers quickly respond to the market needs without redeveloping some of the existing tools.
All of the tools offered by Brady Technologies is a culmination of our 36-year heritage; we are one of the founding companies in this industry
By working with our clients in the trading and risk management space, we drive efficiencies across the board, automating several trading activities and the highly-mundane logistics processes, which consume much time. More importantly, manual operations are risk prone, further increasing the complexity of trading. The implementation of Brady’s solutions drive better value for energy players, automating a fair share of their redundancies while capitalising on market opportunities. The amount of data that our clients deal with is enormous, and the ability to aggregate information to make the best trading decisions is fundamental today. That is where data analytics comes in, helping customers obtain actionable insights to make those decisions.
From a technological standpoint, what are some of the factors that set Brady Technologies apart from its competition?
The combination of our IP and the company’s heritage enables us to create innovative and market-focused solutions in the energy trading space. Alongside the unpredictable changes within the industry, organisations are failing to create new platforms, owing to the lack of IP and relevant understanding of the business workflows. We are very fortunate to have had 36 years of experience in the marketplace, and utilising the IP that we have developed over the years, Brady Technologies can bring such essential tools and capabilities to the marketplace. The combination of innovation and experience is at the heart of Brady Technologies, which differentiates us from the rest.
What does the future entail for Brady Technologies? Would you like to share any definitive milestones for the road ahead?
We are highly focused on our customers’ success, helping them adapt to this ongoing revolution within the energy space and all the new developments brought in by renewable energy trading. Additionally, with the net-zero agenda driving us to 2050, I believe we can still contribute much more to the industry. We are already a carbon-neutral company, and our culture is wholly dedicated to the new world of energy.
Brady, in its heritage, has entered into a new chapter of growth, following the acquisition of the company by Hanover Investors. Considering the next growth phase, seeking investments was a step in the right direction to capitalise on market opportunities; Hanover Investors spotted this opportunity and acquired Brady at the end of 2019. A noteworthy part of this acquisition story is that Hanover brings not just the investment but also the expertise needed for the future. This formidable ownership allows us to procure the right technological tools from the market, as demonstrated by our recent acquisitions – Igloo and CRisk. Through these acquisitions and our PowerDesk solution, Brady Technologies has put together all the right pieces needed for our organisational growth and the future of the energy trading space.
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