Turning uncertainty into innovation in the energy industry

Unprecedented uncertainty followed by low commodity prices and squeezed margins are pressing energy companies to look for more innovative and cost-efficient solutions, according to an upcoming study conducted by Commodity Technology Advisory and commissioned by FIS.

Spurred mostly by tightening regulatory compliance burdens, the financial services industry made a shift a few years ago and began adopting hybrid and public cloud solutions as they saw the benefits of faster time-to-insight, artificial intelligence and machine learning. However, energy industry participants have yet to explore ways to create efficiencies and innovate. For example, energy trading companies are spending up to 40 times more for each trade they make than their equivalents in investment banks. While their business models are different – energy companies have lower trading volumes with higher margins – there are opportunities to reduce cost-per-trade and improve margins by exploring cost efficient solutions – hosting, back-office utilities, managed services and others.