|
Server : Apache/2.4.62 System : FreeBSD fbsdweb2.web.rcn.net 14.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE releng/14.1-n267679-10e31f0946d8 GENERIC amd64 User : www ( 80) PHP Version : 8.3.8 Disable Function : NONE Directory : /domains/enrgy/techcor/ |
Upload File : |
<html>
<head>
<title>Platform, Platform, Platform - Part II</title>
</head>
<body style="font-family: Arial" vlink="#808080">
<div align="center"><center>
<table border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" width="98%" bgcolor="#000000">
<tr>
<td width="100%" valign="middle"><a name="top"></a><img src="../images/pmamagsm.gif" alt="PMA Online Magazine" border="0" align="right" WIDTH="229" HEIGHT="100"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</center></div><div align="center"><center>
<table border="0" cellpadding="8" width="98%">
<tr>
<td width="28%" valign="top" align="center"><!--webbot bot="ImageMap" rectangle="(14,297) (97,322) http://www.powermarketers.com/adrates.html" rectangle="(11,230) (95,257) http://www.powermarketers.com/pmajobs.htm" rectangle="(12,163) (96,189) http://www.powermarketers.com/main.htm##_parent" rectangle="(12,95) (96,121) http://www.powermarketers.com/power2.htm##_blank" rectangle="(11,29) (96,54) ../pmamag.htm" src="../images/magmenu.gif" alt="PMA OnLine Magazine Menu" border="0" align="center" startspan --><MAP NAME="FrontPageMap"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 297, 97, 322" HREF="http://www.powermarketers.com/adrates.html"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="11, 230, 95, 257" HREF="http://www.powermarketers.com/pmajobs.htm"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="12, 163, 96, 189" HREF="http://www.powermarketers.com/main.htm" TARGET="_parent"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="12, 95, 96, 121" HREF="http://www.powermarketers.com/power2.htm" TARGET="_blank"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="11, 29, 96, 54" HREF="../pmamag.htm"></MAP><a href="../_vti_bin/shtml.dll/techcor/9811frst.htm/map"><img src="../images/magmenu.gif" alt="PMA OnLine Magazine Menu" border="0" align="center" ismap width="110" height="350" usemap="#FrontPageMap"></a><!--webbot bot="ImageMap" endspan i-checksum="21744" --><p><a href="../searchpma.htm"><img src="../images/archives.gif" alt="Archives Search" border="0" align="center" WIDTH="70" HEIGHT="40"></a></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial"><strong><small>About The Author:</small></strong></font></p>
<font size="3"><p align="left"></font><font size="2">Jeffrey Frost, a PMTC Senior Partner,
has years of experience as a banking treasury executive, trading room technology
innovator, and Internet electronic commerce pioneer. </font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="2">While Jeffrey's prior executive and entrepreneurial roles
have demanded numerous skills, much of his career has revolved around one simple theme:
The use of new computing technologies applied to existing information to create profitable
new business alternatives. </font></p>
<p align="left"><font size="2"><a href="http://www.pmtcweb.com/" target="_blank">The Power
Marketing Technology Consortium</a> is an IT and electronic commerce power marketing
consulting organization which integrates and supports technologies related to energy
trading and marketing.</font></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="9811frst.htm#top"><img src="../images/b-t-top.gif" alt="Back To Top" border="0" WIDTH="71" HEIGHT="35"></a></td>
<td width="75%" valign="top"><img src="..\images/techcor2.gif" alt="Technology Corner" align="top" border="0"><p> </p>
<p><b><u>November 1998</u><br>
</b><font size="6"><strong>PLATFORM, PLATFORM, PLATFORM<br>
PART II</strong></font></p>
<p><strong>by Jeffrey Frost -- Power Marketing Technology Consortium<br>
</strong><font face="Arial" size="2">(<em>originally published by PMA OnLine Magazine:
11/98</em>)</font></p>
<blockquote>
<div align="center"><center><table border="2" width="80%">
<tr>
<td width="100%"><font size="3"><strong>Note:</strong> This is an opinion article. Email
responses are welcome from persons holding alternative points of view. All readers need to
reach their own conclusions based upon their own good judgement.</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</center></div>
</blockquote>
<p align="left"><font size="3"><br>
</font><font size="2">I</font><font face="Arial">n <strong>Platform, Platform, Platform -
Part I</strong>, middleware is identified as a "must have" component of a good
wholesale energy software architecture or platform. Part II will develop this theme
further.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">First, middleware is further defined and described. Second, some
benefits of middleware are listed, specifically ones relating to wholesale energy merchant
activities. Third, examples of specific wholesale energy application requirements are
described. Finally, the current Risk Management and Transaction Processing (RMTP)
application suite market is reviewed from the perspective of its middleware utilization.</font></p>
<font FACE="Arial" SIZE="4"><b><p>Middleware Definition</b></font><font SIZE="2"></p>
<p></font><font face="Arial">Middleware has been defined by numerous experts on numerous
occasions. Here is one good definition:</font></p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p><font face="Arial">Middleware is an enabling software technology that resides between
business applications and the underlying layer of heterogeneous platforms and network
protocols. It enables elements of applications to interoperate network links in spite of
the variety of underlying communication protocols, operating systems, hardware, system
architectures, databases, and other applications.</font></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p><font face="Arial">Middleware is specialized software which allows autonomous
applications to share data and interact with each other across LANs and the Internet. In
other words it is a key means of integrating applications.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Middleware comes in several flavors and can be used for a variety of
purposes. Since many excellent articles have been written suggesting different
categorizations and different descriptions, this author will not invent a new schema. Most
relevant here is "message oriented middleware" (MOM) - a class of middleware
widely employed and well established.</font><font FACE="Arial" SIZE="4"><b></p>
<p>Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) Benefits</b></font><font SIZE="2"></p>
<p></font><font face="Arial">Here are thirteen benefits of MOM which are applicable within
the merchant energy world.</font></p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li><font face="Arial">Superior application integration.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="2"><font face="Arial">Improved scalability.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="3"><font face="Arial">Supports distributed computing within LANs and
over the Internet. The Internet may require the use of additional object oriented
middleware such as DCOM from Microsoft or CORBA from OMG.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol start="4">
<li><font face="Arial">Separates information producing applications from information
consuming applications eliminating the need for the maze of direct point-to-point
connections shown in Part I of this article.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="5"><font face="Arial">Uncouples business logic programming from more
complex infrastructure and systems programming.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="6"><font face="Arial">Provides for interoperability between legacy
and other applications running under a variety of protocols and operating systems.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol start="7">
<li><font face="Arial">Allows asynchronous messaging.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="8"><font face="Arial">Lowers network bandwidth requirements via
publish and subscribe type messaging.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="9"><font face="Arial">Supports event based notification and
eliminates reliance on database request/reply interaction.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="10"><font face="Arial">Provides for a single set of standardized
API's employable by all applications.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="11"><font face="Arial">Particularly for a real-time information
environment, offers distinct performance advantages.</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="12"><font face="Arial">Minimizes the effort and maximizes the
flexibility for integration of future applications</font></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li type="disc" value="13"><font face="Arial">Provides a beneficial standard for enterprise
software application integration.</font></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<font FACE="Arial" SIZE="4"><b><p>Energy Industry Specifics</b></font><font SIZE="2"></p>
<p>T</font><font face="Arial">here are a variety of key wholesale merchant energy
applications. You hold a critical strategic advantage if your key applications are
integrated via a message oriented middleware platform which provides for sharing of
information between otherwise autonomous systems.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Figure 1 below, Merchant Energy Software Architecture With
Middleware, provides a generalized middleware based merchant energy architecture.</font></p>
<p align="center"><img src="../images/pma1198.jpg" alt="pma1198.jpg (33280 bytes)" WIDTH="480" HEIGHT="361"></p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote>
<div align="center"><center><table border="2" width="90%">
<tr>
<td width="100%"><font SIZE="2"><p align="left"></font><font face="Arial" size="3"><strong>Figure
1</strong> depicts information sharing between a GENCO EMS (Energy Management System)
system and a MERCHANT ENERGY RMTP (Risk Management and Trade Processing) system as well as
a variety of other applications. Clearly there are some organizations where this type of
information sharing is presently prohibited by legal and regulatory constraints. But who
can predict with a high degree of certainly just when the situation will change? It is
necessary to be ready.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Building and planning applications
architectures utilizing middleware will allow a much smoother and more rapid integration
as the legal and regulatory climate does change. If your developers or your applications
procurement teams were only planning for today's known information flows, you would have
much bigger problems than just the lack of middleware! Few of us can be visionary, but all
of us can demand forward looking IT plans using flexible and well tested middleware based
software architectures.</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</center></div>
</blockquote>
<font FACE="Arial" SIZE="4"><b><p>Energy Requirements Demanding Middleware Based Solutions</b></font><font SIZE="2"></p>
<p></font><font face="Arial">The number of specific application requirements which demand
a solid middleware solution is growing all of the time in the merchant energy trading and
marketing industry. Here are a few examples to highlight the type of activity demanding a
middleware solution.</font><font SIZE="2"></p>
<p><strong>MANAGEMENT & RISK MANAGERS ARE OR WILL BE SAYING THAT APPLICATIONS:</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li></font><font face="Arial">Must update all positions and all limit monitoring INTRADAY
based upon forward curves and OTC option prices continuously recalculated from a variety
of trader, middle office and market data service price updates in real time.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Must update native load and owned generation incremental/decremental
cost curves for local service territories and for aggregate market generation and load in
neighboring NERC regions. Forecasts must allow for weather driven updates and transmission
constraint updates. INTRADAY updates and scenario analysis against existing portfolios and
existing forward curves will be required.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Must identify when limits of any type have been exceeded, INTRADAY,
with real time alerts to all affected parties in the front, back, and middle office.</font></li>
<li><font face="Arial">Must automate the OASIS interface and tagging process both right away
and in a manner that accommodates the greatly expanded Transaction Management Systems
(TMS) now in place in MAPP, FRCC, and SPP as well as the planned standardized, national
TMS to be implemented starting next year.</font><font SIZE="2"></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p></font><font face="Arial">Technical debate can and does erupt over the issue of whether
middleware is really required in a particular context. The fact that performance,
scalability, real-time event notification, and integration enhancements of a significant
nature are at stake is reason enough for most informed people to consider it a "must
have".</font><font FACE="Arial" SIZE="4"><b></p>
<p>Current Energy Software Applications Assessment</b></font><font SIZE="2"></p>
<p></font><font face="Arial">When you analyze third party vendor applications, a given
pair of vendors might both state that they can accomplish an event notification, e.g. an
alert message to indicate that a counterparty credit limit has been exceeded. But vendor
claims must be explored to understand how this notification will be accomplished. A
process driven by good middleware is quite a bit different than a process driven by a
database trigger. If you care about integration, performance, and scalability then you
care about the "how it is done" issues.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">Approximately forty percent of the twenty-two most significant RMTP
(Risk Management & Trade Processing) packages for the U.S. domestic energy market have
some type of middleware base. Definitely beyond the scope of this overview article is a
discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of differing classes of middleware for an
energy trading organization. Certainly some of the approaches taken by certain vendors
represent a compromise over the best choices. Those compromises might even be advantageous
to the user in terms of time to bring new software product to market, total costs, etc.
And then again the compromise solutions may just have been in the developer's best
interest, not yours.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">If one or two stellar RMTP suites emerge in the coming year, you can
be certain that they will be middleware based. Guaranteed. In the absence of a truly
excellent integrated suite, most companies will be forced to choose best of breed plus
in-house developments, all integrated as well as possible. Either way (integrated single
vendor suite or best of breed plus in-house developments) a middleware platform is the
place to be. This is especially true as we move toward true enterprise wide computing
environments in the wholesale merchant energy business.</font><font SIZE="2"> </p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
</font><blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<font SIZE="2"><blockquote>
<blockquote>
</font><blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<div align="center"><center><table border="2" width="80%">
<tr>
<td width="100%" align="left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Note Of Caution:</strong> Being
"middleware compliant" is not the same as having a middleware platform. Also be
skeptical of claims that "our application can do all of the same things as a
middleware based application." As in any industry there are vendors whose short term
success is based primarily upon marketing and others whose success is based primarily upon
product excellence.</font></td>
</tr>
</table>
</center></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><font size="3"><em><strong>Disclaimer</strong></em></font></p>
<blockquote>
<p><font size="3"><a href="http://www.pmtcweb.com/" target="_blank">The Power Marketing
Technology Consortium</a> (PMTC) consults on applications, but has none of its own. Nor
does PMTC have any financial interest in the recommendations it makes to its clients
regarding particular vendors. PMTC funded and performed this research solely as a means to
better serve its target market.</font></p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<hr color="#FFFF00">
<blockquote>
<font size="3"><p>Jeffrey Frost, a PMTC Senior Partner, has years of experience as a
banking treasury executive, trading room technology innovator, and Internet electronic
commerce pioneer. While Jeffrey's prior executive and entrepreneurial roles have demanded
numerous skills, much of his career has revolved around one simple theme: The use of new
computing technologies applied to existing information to create profitable new business
alternatives. </font></p>
<p><a href="http://www.pmtcweb.com/" target="_blank">The Power Marketing Technology
Consortium</a> is an IT and electronic commerce power marketing consulting organization
which integrates and supports technologies related to energy trading and marketing.</p>
<p align="left">Jeffrey C. Frost may be contacted at (802) 864-9903; e-mail: <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a></p>
</blockquote>
<hr color="#FFFF00">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</center></div>
<p align="center"><a href="9811frst.htm#top"><img src="../images/b-t-top.gif" alt="Back To Top" border="0" WIDTH="71" HEIGHT="35"></a></p>
</body>
</html>