The major challenge is risk management

Can you tell us how the idea for creating solutions for commodity trading
evolved?

The idea for developing specialized software for commodity trading came from
my personal experience as a commodity trader in Singapore. Most of the trading
houses were using outdated technology or spreadsheets which were prone to
errors. The lack of availability of a commodity trading solution, which is easy
to use and fulfills all client requirements, prompted me to create a solution
which can cater the needs of all commodity-trading companies.

How important is IT for commodity trading?

The major challenge for companies in commodity trading is to understand how
to manage their risk properly, as commodity price has risen twice in the last
three to four years. Our products help them to manage risks properly, to take
quick and real time decisions.

If you are using multiple systems, spreadsheet or a word document, there is a
lot of duplicity of data. Ekas system helps in using a single sheet to enter
the entire data. There are solutions which can help companies to manage their
profit and loss without much error in data. The major benefit of such a solution
is that the companies can cut their cost by reducing the number of employees.

How big is the market in India for the solutions you are offering?

The estimated Indian market is about $25-30 mn. In India we have not yet
started selling our products. We are planning to start it quite soon. India is a
growing market and we are in discussions with major commodity traders and
corporate houses. Indian companies are becoming global, so they also have to
adopt technology to manage the risks in commodity trading and operation.

Who are your major customers? Whats their response?

We are getting good responses from our customers. We develop our product on
a domain perspective, and users feel very comfortable in using it. Our product
is superior in terms of quality, as visibility and good domain knowledge has
been incorporated into it. Currently we are focusing on the global market and to
increase our customer base we have opened an office in the US and plan to open
another in Europe.

Pradeesh Chandran

pradeeshc@cybermedia.co.in