Marc Zumstein

Previse Systems is pleased to announce our new colleague Lorenzo Costantini, who has joined us as Software Developer.

Lorenzo combines two truly unique skillsets: software development in Previse Systems’ technology stack and several years of experience in energy markets and ETRM solutions. Lorenzo will increase our overall development bandwidth with a special focus on software quality assurance.

Lorenzo – welcome to the team, great to have you on board!

What is your impression of the team and work culture at Previse Systems?

The team has always been friendly and available to me since the first day. I was offered an apartment for 6 weeks in the greater Zurich area very close to my developer colleagues to avoid having a full remote onboarding, in a time when the office was not available yet. It was very useful to me to work with them in the same room at the beginning.

Apart from this initial period, Previse Systems gives you the possibility to work remotely and for many people this could be a great help in some situations. The important thing is to deliver your work, no matter where you live or where you work. So we have also some great colleagues from all over the world and I think the most diverse set of nationalities ever seen in a company, which I thought it was very cool and it was one of the reasons which helped me to decide to join this company.

Since the first days it was clear to me that I was working with a group of people who know each other very well from previous work experiences, which have fun together and with a lot of experience in the ETRM sector and in their technical domain.

All the colleagues are passionate and driven in their work and I feel a positive and optimistic mindset to succeed in our everyday challenges and in the biggest mission to help Previse Systems grow.

What can you tell us about Previse Systems’ technology stack from a developer’s perspective?

I work mainly with Microsoft technology: Microsoft Azure and its ecosystem of services (Azure DevOps, Azure Functions, Azure Batch…), C# as language for the back-end, SQL Server as database technology. But our complete stack is vast and we are open to adopt new technologies if there is a need to. Among other technologies we use I can name Vue.js, Docker, Terraform, Power BI, Cosmos DB … I remember during my first days in the company continuouslyvto listening my colleagues mentioning new technologies every day!

I am lucky to work on a modern technology stack and we are continuously working to keep everything on the latest version. For example, at the moment we are on the way to update the whole codebase to .NET 6.

Not only the stack is modern, but we also aim to follow state of the art processes on the DevOps side. We have moved last year to CI/CD as release process and I am getting more and more used to code with the help of feature flags which is a new concept to me.

The codebase is organised via microservices which can be deployed independently, and this helps code modularity, extensibility and readability of the code. During my first time at Previse Systems I had to update some shared internal libraries and to let them be used by all the other single components of the system – it was manageable for me to read and learn one component of the codebase at a time and to gradually update all of them. With a different architecture it would have been more difficult, risky and time consuming.

What are, in your view, the core challenges of ETRM development?

Markets and general requirements are constantly evolving and in order to be able to profit from a new trading opportunity the development and the entire operations team needs to keep up with those changes. That has been the main challenge also considering my previous work experience.

I have experienced that in some cases even having a periodic 2-weeks release cycle, already short compared to other realities, is not enough for traders or other stakeholders. Platform changes may be needed in a shorter time, and that’s why Previse Systems have moved on a CI/CD process. This need for a very short time to market is the reason behind most of the DevOps and processes upgrades we have been doing during the last year.

But microservices and DevOps processes alone cannot be the only answer to this problem, because also the decisions on data models and the assumptions made on the requirements can make or break a project. Having people in the team with a lot of expertise in the commodity trading sector is a great asset to build an extensible product with a sound underlying data model, reducing the risk of having impossible or difficult redesign in the future when requirements will change.

Some clever ideas have been implemented also on a lower level: the trade templates concept, the usage of a consistent CRUD approach in many APIs coupled to high level reusable patterns, or the implementation of a consistent web page styling which makes UI flexible and configurable from database helps a lot to implement in a fast way similar new features.

Previse Systems is excited to announce that Florence Hayden has joined our growing team as Product and Markets Specialist.

With several years of international experience in the delivery and integration of ETRM software, Florence now fills a much wider role at Previse Systems: beyond the classical tasks of a business analyst, Florence also owns various system components from a product management perspective, and supports sales with great product demonstrations.

Florence – welcome to the team, great to have you on board!

What does a typical workday look like for Florence?

There really is no typical day working at Previse, that’s part of the fun! My role is both customer- and product-centric, so I spend a lot of time supporting our customers who are in the process of implementing Previse Coral. This means working with front office, middle office and back office, collecting feedback on what they like, what could be improved and what enhancements we can do to ensure the platform supports their business activities in the best way possible.

In parallel, I also work with the product team designing new functionality, so a fair amount of time is spent writing specifications, collaborating with our development teams and testing new features. In addition to this, I often support the sales process in delivering product demonstrations and proof-of-concepts to potential customers. So no two days are ever the same!

Who are the customers of Previse Systems? What can you tell us about them?

The customer I currently work the closest with is Norlys Energy Trading, a European Gas and Power trading house based in Denmark who this year have grown their business at an accelerated pace whilst implementing Previse Coral to support their trading activities. We have worked hard with them ensuring platform readiness for trading various products and markets across Europe with several successful go-lives already completed this year. They are a fantastic group of people to work with and it is exciting supporting them in their ambitious journey whilst simultaneously growing and developing the Coral platform’s core ETRM capabilities.

What is special about working for Previse Systems?

So many things! Number one is the people – the team at Previse are incredibly talented, innovative and driven which is demonstrated in how much the company has achieved in such a short space of time. I also love how much responsibility and ownership each individual has, your work literally has a visible impact from day one. And finally, the opportunity to work with new technologies and be part of the journey to developing a new-era ETRM solution in the fast-changing energy markets of today is pretty exciting!

Previse Systems is excited to announce that Péter Baghy joins our growing team as Product Expert.

Peter comes equipped with more than 10 years of application management experience in the ETRM software world, which make Péter a great asset for Previse for the complex role he fills. Péter – welcome to the team, great to have you on board!

Q – what was most appealing to you about joining Previse?

It is hard to identify a single factor here, as there are actually several (not in the order of priority/importance): it is using modern cloud technology and a modular approach in ETRM which I strongly believe is the way forward, it is the opportunity to be strongly involved in the product design and development and be “creative”, and of course the opportunity to be part of an awesome team, to work with people who have the best knowledge in the business and are just great to work with!

Q – how does modern technology make your job easier at Previse?

Using the latest technology for product development allows us to dramatically shorten the “design to delivery” process quicker. This is of course a huge plus for our customers, as it gives us the ability to quickly adapt to changing market circumstances and new requirements. On the support side, the technology and modern design makes our software very intuitive for our customers to understand. This reduces training requirements and allows for an efficient interaction with the support team to find the best and quickest solution for customer queries.

Previse Systems welcomes Anna Zalucka, who strengthens our team as Master Data Product Owner.

Anna’s wide skill set around operations management, business process analysis and project coordination provides Previse Systems with an important growth lever – great to have you on board, Anna!

What makes Previse Systems an attractive employer? What is different to other places you worked at before?

I am particularly taken by the importance which Previse Systems puts on building a fantastic company culture. A culture which supports professionalism, healthy relationships in the team as well as creating opportunities to grow and learn more every day. In Previse, no matter what field you work in, passion and drive for excellence is unbeatable!

Previse Systems with its flat structure is free of micro-management, politics and redundant processes. It emphasizes employee independence, focuses on an open and transparent communication and celebrates employee and company successes! The company is proud of its diversity and encourages its employees to challenge status quo!

In Previse, no matter how much the company grows, you still feel like family. … and it is the only company I know which serves Gammel Dansk for breakfast!! 😊

What are the main challenges in your day-to-day work?

The role of Master Data Product Owner seems extremely interesting to me as I have a history of working in very demanding and dynamic software companies in the past. These have resulted in me being comfortable performing in dynamically changing circumstances. The main day-to-day challenges will be to quickly learn highly advanced, innovative system which uses latest technology and bring value to the team from day one! I believe that very collaborative, highly specialised working environment makes it extremely interesting and challenging the same time.

What are you mid-term perspectives at Previse Systems? Where would you like to see you role develop to?

Personally, I think the higher targets you have for yourself, the lower limits you impose on yourself. Because why not go high!? The only thing that may inhibit us from this, it is your own, usually irrational beliefs. Personal development is one of the elements of my life, which I pay special attention to. That’s probably why I can say that I do not limit myself in what I can actually achieve. Ultimately, I’d like to assume more data product management responsibilities and later get involved in operational project management.

I do not like to sit still hence it is important for me to know how I can progress and develop professionally. It’s important to me to continue learning and exercise my past experience to bring the best results for Previse Systems and our customers.

Previse Systems is very pleased to announce that Christine Clemons has joined our team as Product and Markets Specialist.

Christine brings a wealth of experience in consulting and implementing energy software to Previse Systems. With her extensive knowledge of gas and power markets combined with her solid understanding of the underlying challenges energy companies face day-to-day, her market expertise is a valuable addition to our customer delivery team.

It’s great to have you on board Christine!

Christine: Thanks, I’m super excited to be joining the [dream] team!

Q – What is special about Previse Systems?

A – Previse Systems has truly set itself apart from the rest. It has taken what are the downfalls and challenges of other vendors in the space and has realized them into tangible, competitive advantages. Instead of being a heavy, clunky piece of software – it is light, agile, fast, and super user-friendly. Its seamless front-end design and real-time position visualisation genuinely makes the system fun to use! Efficiencies never seen before in the space are introduced through the use of a common trade repository, predefined standard market data, and nimble development built on top of cloud-based infrastructure which is optimized for high performance. The bottom line – its cutting-edge technology rethinks the way ETRM software can and should be used.

Aside from the software itself, its team have an unparalleled passion for what it does, and this really shines through in its people and the product – this, to me, is incomparable to anywhere else in the space.

What do you see as the main challenges for energy trading companies in the coming years?

Not only are these challenges of the future, but they are also extremely current. Given the nature of the industry, energy trading companies are finding it harder than ever to stay current and keep up with advancing technologies and the innovations being made in trading industries. There are few obvious reasons for this, one being that apart from the expensive initial investment into an ETRM software, also the implementation and support costs are often even more expensive and usually takes years.

In addition to this, a lot of effort is sunk into defining standard market data and building market data interfaces, as well as to keep compliant with regulatory reporting requirements, etc. This is done by each company individually over and over again, burning valuable resources and time which could be better directed elsewhere. After all this time and money has been spent to realize benefits identified years ago, the market could very well have evolved since then and the benefits could no longer be as relevant.

How can Previse Systems support companies with these challenges?

Previse enables energy companies to become leaders of innovation in the energy space, while realizing benefits in a faster and more efficient way than ever before. By cutting standard implementation time down from years to months, initial implementation costs and general overhead to support the system are significantly reduced. Subsequently, reduced implementation time and costs better positions energy companies to address and keep up with evolving markets.

With the use of the ChorusLink common trade repository, a market-facing trade is captured only once as a single data object, allowing for the automatic confirmation of a deal inherently with both market-facing parties. Additionally, as standard market data is already predefined in ChorusLink, time and effort are saved by each company having to define and build market data interfaces themselves. This uniquely positions ChorusLink as the energy industry’s central backbone for master data.

Swift implementation, together with the benefits of a centralised data repository and the distributed development option of the Coral Ecosystem, ensure the fastest possible time to market for any innovations or response to changing requirements.