Developed from the ground up using .NET, C# and standard Microsoft systems, Agiblocks takes full advantage of web- and cloud-enabled technologies. Where others talk about the cloud, they imply that their systems are in the cloud and not on on-location servers. With Agiblocks, you can actually work from the cloud – 24/7, anywhere, on any device that has a browser. But we’ve already spoken about our love for the cloud in an update aptly titled ‘Agiblocks: a true CTRM cloud pioneer’. Here, we’d like to talk about the myriad of integrations and microservices Agiboo offers so that you have everything you need in one place – from procurement, accounting, logistics and everything else ‘ERP’ to risk management, physical contract management, mark to market valuation and flexible reporting.
Agile – it’s not just a word
Our brand symbol, the hare, epitomizes agility, often considered nature’s swiftest and most nimble creature. While it might raise eyebrows when talking technology, think of Agiblocks’ functionality akin to that of a race car – both championing speed, control, and efficiency. In other words, very much suited to the task of staying ahead of the competition.
If you’ll allow us to dive a little deeper into that analogy: it’s not just about winning a single race. Rather, it’s about sustained excellence. Winning the next race too. Coming in first enough time to secure that coveted championship. In both the racing and CTRM spheres, the real challenge lies in maintaining agility and ensuring consistent performance.
It’s this agility that lets you enhance the primary version with new features, whether it’s tweaking a car’s suspension or enhancing a software application. Balancing innovation with maintaining the integrity of the foundational architecture often poses challenges. With Agiblocks, we’ve stayed true to our initial promise of leveraging the latest technologies while staying agile – a promise our users reap benefits from every day.
Just as a race car driver requires control over their vehicle and the information it provides, traders demand flexibility in their decisions and in transaction execution. They need real-time insights to gauge position and risk. Agiblocks champions this cause, allowing traders unparalleled control over their dashboards, tailoring views and preferences as they deem fit. Complexity often masks in technology, but with Agiblocks, we’ve turned it into simplicity, ensuring easy usability while packing the necessary power.
Integration in the CTRM world
Modern software solutions are in the cloud. They don’t care about what data you need, where you are, or how many there are of you. However, the benefits of cloud-based integration don’t apply to most legacy solutions. No matter how old the software is, you have to be able to integrate it – and integrate it well – with the various other tools and applications that have come to be part of your company’s ecosystem in order to run things smoothly, effectively and more efficiently and effectively.
That lack of integration, scalability and flexibility is not something that will show up on the credit side of your company’s budget statement, but it will cost you. Agiblocks supports trading as well as financial management from the same source of data and within the same, fully web-based application – accessible anytime, anywhere on any device with a browser. Its modular structure however is also designed to fit any and all company sizes, allowing implementation on the basis of desired necessity – from just the functionality you need to a full end-to-end solution. The design of our software offers a clean and simple user interface, with fast access to all the vital functions for any given task, while our technological innovations and unique industry-specific functionalities guarantee all the information you need is just a single click away – anytime, anywhere.
What are some of those vital functions, you say? What about multiple entities & intercompany trade, and multiple trade books? Physical contract management for bulk, break bulk, containers and parcels. Flexible position management (origins, specifications, premiums, certifications). Mark to Market valuation by position/parities/premiums and cost. Hedging & derivative management (futures, options, OTC, forex). Cross markets (futures/forex) and/or ratio pricing, hedging, hedge allocation. Logistic management (documentation & freight), physical inventories, sampling. Financing & collaterals, invoicing, cost accruals, profit & loss: unrealized / realized. Flexible reporting, document management, quality and trading dashboards. General Accounting API, IFRS 15 & IFRS 9 compliant.
Add-ons, add-ons, add-ons
There has been a trend towards greater flexibility in CTRM software solutions for a while now. Not too long ago, only the big firms could have it all in terms of scalability and flexibility of software solutions, as they had the time and resources to build their own platforms. Thanks to the modern approach of CTRMs as an ecosystem as well as the availability of cloud service, those previous luxuries are now commonplace.
Agiblocks consists of a suite of functional modules from which you can build exactly the CTRM you need. Because you are completely free to define your business logic, it will always fit your processes. Agiblocks will interface with your ERP or accounting system (e.g. SAP, MS Business Central, JD Edwards) or other software in your current landscape. It is perfectly scalable and will grow with you, both in functionality and scale of operations.
The aim of an ERP system is to create a single source of truth for an organization. The benefits of achieving this are huge, including real-time reporting, increased productivity, reduced operational costs, and improved business insights. However, an ERP system cannot do this effectively without data – and integrations are how that data gets into the system.
At Agiboo we integrate Agiblocks CTRM with a number of ERP systems. We’d like to share our top 5 of ERP systems we integrate with.
1. SAP
Our number one is definitely SAP. Founded in 1972 many of our customers run SAP. From SAP ERP 6.0 to SAP S/4 HANA, Agiblocks CTRM Integrations are available on all business levels. It has been the standard in ERP for a long time and most of Agiblocks customers with and ERP have SAP, which further cements its position at the top of our list.
2. Microsoft
The world leader for operating systems and small business software. Microsoft offers ERP through their Dynamics. Agiboo has integrated both AX or nowadays Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Dynamics Navision. This also on multiple integration levels. When organizations do require financial accounting with CTRM as one package, we bring out a pre-integrated solution with Microsoft Dynamics. Even to QuickBooks the integration is available. Moreover, we provide connectors for Agiblocks and MS Business Central.
3. Infor
Founded in 2002, Infor delivers a variety of ERP systems such as Infor BPCS/ERP LX, Lawson, M3 and ERP LN (Baan). Agiblocks CTRM integrations are available for most of the suite, and it’s exactly because of that large offering of types of ERP that Infor is number 3 on the list.
4. Oracle
With its flagship products JDEdwards and PeopleSoft, Oracle serves the ERP market with strong products. It is less common than all aforementioned solutions, but nevertheless deserving of a recommendation in Agiboo’s Top 5.
5. Sage
Sage is the world’s third-largest supplier of Enterprise Resource Planning software and used by many commodity traders. Agiblocks CTRM has technical interfaces in place to support direct integration. A fine addition to round up our five favorites.
Microservices
As an advanced operating software, Agiblocks hosts several microservices on managed containers. Microservices are an architectural and organizational approach to software development where software is composed of small independent services that communicate over well-defined APIs. These services are owned by small, self-contained teams.
With a microservices architecture, an application is built as independent components that run each application process as a service. These services communicate via a well-defined interface using lightweight APIs. Services are built for business capabilities and each service performs a single function. Because they are independently run, each service can be updated, deployed, and scaled to meet demand for specific functions of an application.
Kubernetes is a great platform for complex applications comprised of multiple microservices. Which is why it is one of our go-to solutions.In Agiblocks, we use Kubernetes (or K8s) as it allows us to deploy cloud-native applications anywhere and manage them all exactly the same. Kubernetes handles the work of scheduling containers on a cluster while also managing the workloads. It offers several of the same benefits we strive for in Agiblocks, such as its huge scalability potential. K8s’ ability to run containers on one (or several) public cloud environment(s), in virtual machines or bare allows you to deploy it almost anywhere. Deployment which in turn is made easier and faster for companies taking advantage of multiple cloud providers, allowing for growth without readjusting architecture.
Moreover, as Kubernetes has drastically innovated said architecture as well as development and deployment, you can scale a lot quicker than you might be accustomed to, while its high availability at both the application and the infrastructure levels ensures accessibility and continuity. The key focus is to have software development and operations working together, so task management and performance are a huge part of the architecture and design.
Get started today
We believe that support is the key word. The number one objective of Agiblocks has always been to make a trader’s daily endeavors more efficient, as we’ve stated time and again. We have commodity trade in our hearts and understand that technology – having new and innovative features – is an important part of a CTRM solution.
You don’t need additional complexity. We’ve got you covered – from the latest tools and functions to assisted integration (including custom connectors), fueled by industry-leading partnerships. From vertical microservices, Point in Time Recovery (PITR), Messages, JSON, RabbitMQ, OData, Azure SQL & Atlas MongoDB to Kubernetes, Linux and Windows containers, OAuth 2.0 with MFA, container orchestration on server clusters and .NET Core.
Speaking of offering what the industry needs, Agiblocks is not just the next generation of CTRM systems, but a solution that truly meets all technical as well as business needs for anyone working in the trade business. We take pride in the fact that our software matches all the intricacies of the industries it intends to support. A true multi-commodity system right out of the box, not limited to a particular commodity and built on modern technology.
