What (the hell) is ETRM?

ETRM stands for Energy Trade and Risk Management. That is, simply put, certain software services that support energy trading and risk management. One can use these services for any part of the energy chain: from producers to suppliers, traders, and large consumers.

Eroslav Andreev is an Expert ETRM Developer and the lead of the ETRM Developers Team at ROITI. In this article, he helps clarify what (the hell) ETRM is about.

What business problems do you solve?

Like everything in the IT world, problems evolve with time. When I started working at ROITI, the main problem our clients used to face was how to get all their raw data into a single application. Many used to use multiple systems. Not all used to have working and stable interfaces between one another, or with trading exchanges.

Six years later, this has somewhat been achieved, and now the problem is what to do with that data and how to use and analyze it profitably. We try to solve specific client problems depending on their maturity level, including integrations with other core systems, automation of tasks, reporting, cost-cutting, etc. In general, trying to make their lives a bit easier. And of course, in between that, I try to teach the others from the team “a thing or two”.

What is the tech stack you use and are there any peculiarities?

This depends on the client, although we focus on .Net for applications outside the ETRM system and Java for the embedded tasks. We use a specific framework, only available for Endur, called OpenJVS. At first glance, it may seem a bit legacy, but it has its benefits over others, such as Spring, for example. Of course, SQL, DevOps, PowerShell, CI/CD, and unit testing are not new to us either.

The main difference here is that you cannot google your way around these systems, so learning is only by the try-fail-succeed experience or by the call-a-friend option.

Who is the “right” kind of person for such a role?

Me. 🙂 Joke aside, as long as one has analytical and detail-oriented thinking, the willingness to learn and develop, and not being afraid of making mistakes and solving undescribed problems, there might be a chance.

What is the most fulfilling part of the job?

Sparing someone even just 15 minutes of dull work by automating it is relieving and reassuring. At the end of the day, going home confident of the changes and implementations you have done during working hours gives you the willingness and motivation to go to the office.