Trading levels are down in the US, financial liquidity is still well below thehighs of 2001 and energy companies are scrambling to re-centre their operationsaround assets. Hence, trading and risk management software vendors – manyof whom initially migrated their systems from the financial sector – arefaced with the task of adapting their operations to the new market requirements.

Some vendors have had to change more than others. Marty Makulski, a senior managerat consulting firm Accenture in