CTRM software house of the year: ION

Over the past year, energy market participants have faced an array of challenges, from geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions to decentralised energy markets and shifting environmental regulations.

To optimally manage risk in this environment, commodity firms need specialised systems that can address the complexity and nuances of individual physical and financial markets. Crucially, these systems need to communicate and present a holistic view of risk across the value chain.

This is where ION, winner of Energy Risk’s 2025 CTRM software house of the year award, stands out from the competition. ION’s portfolio includes comprehensive offerings for organisations operating in energy, commodities and environmental certificate markets. In 2024, the firm experienced a standout year, welcoming a significant number of new clients. It also delivered numerous projects for long-standing customers wanting to expand their use of ION’s CTRM capabilities, as well as those adopting additional products. These included products for shipping, supply-chain optimisation and advanced risk analytics, all designed to enhance efficiency across trading, risk and end-to-end operations.

“Last year was a milestone year for ION Commodities, marked by record-breaking growth and deeper client engagement,” says Sunil Biswas, chief executive of ION Corporates. “We had significant new growth across all regions, but especially in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and expanded our solutions with current clients.”

The firm also grew its workforce, adding over 300 new professionals across key hubs in India, London and New York.

ION’s ability to offer both software as a service (SaaS) and highly customisable products, ensures its offering remains relevant and tailored to industry-specific requirements.

“We recognise that one size does not fit all, and we work closely with clients to determine the best solution for their present and future needs, considering their business model, commodities traded, complexity and desired sophistication,” says Biswas. “Crucially, as businesses grow, the scale of our portfolio ensures long-term flexibility and support for their evolving needs.”

The spread of renewables and the increase in extreme weather events in recent years, means energy firms and corporates are likely to need advanced capabilities across short- to long-term power trading to manage things such as algorithmic trading, carbon trading and power purchase agreements.

“ION’s CTRMs support high-volume, short-term trading alongside long-term bespoke contracts,” says Biswas. “They integrate with external sources for automation, such as exchanges, market data and registries, and offer predictive analytics that leverage machine learning to support decision-making.”

Over the past year, ION has made several enhancements to meet evolving market needs and harness the latest technological advances, addressing in particular the energy transition and supply disruptions.   

“In response to sustainability goals and electrification, we’ve expanded our support for renewable power, fuels, gases and carbon markets,” Biswas says. “To empower businesses navigating market volatility, we’ve strengthened our supply-chain management offering as well as real-time risk analytics and scenario modelling using streaming technology.”

The firm has also invested in AI for areas such as cash forecasting and gas scheduling and introduced chatbot functionality.

A large part of its work over the past 12–18 months has involved supporting oil majors, energy firms and commodity traders integrating renewable fuels, biogas and carbon certificates into their existing operations, creating unified systems for managing traditional and renewable energy portfolios. Working closely with each firm, ION delivered systems that could track sustainability metrics and certificate lifecycles, ensure compliance with evolving regulations and consolidate data across multiple commodities, jurisdictions and registries.

“As the implementation of these projects progresses, clients are already seeing greater supply-chain transparency with real-time tracking and automated compliance reporting,” says Biswas. “They’ve also achieved improved operational efficiency by reducing manual intervention, more accurate sustainability reporting and optimised trading strategies.”

ION has also worked with a growing number of new and mid-sized traders in recent months, reflecting continued demand from that segment. These firms need cost-effective and scalable systems with fast implementation times. Here, ION can offer its cloud-native Aspect SaaS CTRM, which most businesses can go live with within weeks, says Biswas.