S&P Global Platts, provider of information and benchmark prices for commodities and energy markets, announced the launch of Platts Platform. The announcement was made at its London Oil & Energy Forum. The initiative is part of a multi-phased investment plan focusing on improving the customer experience in increasingly digitised commodity markets. The Platts Platform is a web-enabled, portable and intuitive portal with an accompanying mobile app. Customers can log on with any device, anywhere in the world.
Silvina Aldeco-Martinez, Chief Product Officer, S&P Global Platts says, “Shifting geopolitics, growing focus on energy transition. Together with technology evolution, these factors are driving fundamental changes to global commodity markets. This will see levels of integration and interconnectivity across different commodities increase exponentially. And so do the expectations of our customers around ubiquity of insights to support decision making.”
Opportunities to reap digital benefits
Commodity and energy market participants have greater opportunities to reap digital transformation benefits and efficiencies compared to other asset classes. Research by McKinsey in June 2019 revealed digitisation can help the oil & gas industry cut capital expenditure by 20%. The report suggested it could improve global cash flows by $300 billion in the next five years. Participants along global commodity supply chains must digest vast amounts of new data to extract value.
“The new platform represents the first step in a vision for the commodities industry which activates the power of data. Through integrated technology and highly-interactive real-time access to relevant market information and analysis. We will provide customers with stimulating dynamic insights using technology to reduce operational friction,” added Aldeco-Martinez.
Developed by incorporating feedback from more than 150 customers who participated in early testing. A beta version of the platform is now available for the S&P Global Platts customer base.
Key features include:
- Full content integration. All S&P Global Platts proprietary price assessments, news and analytics insight are being integrated into a single platform. The platform includes commodity content drawn from hundreds of distinct applications and thousands of products.
- Cross-commodity. Delivering intraday updates across the whole spectrum of Platts commodity offerings. Oil, Gas, LNG, Power, Petrochemicals, Metals, Agriculture and Shipping.
- Intuitive. Fast delivery of tailored price assessments, news and analytics insights, presented to users. Information is presented with contextual charting displays that are aligned to their workflow and accessible with fewer clicks.
- Portable. Web-enabled device-responsive website. Fully compatible with PCs, desktops, tablets and mobile phones, the platform does not need to be downloaded. This means users can access Platts insights from any device in the world. The IOS mobile app will be extended to Android in the next few months.
The Platts Platform complements existing product delivery and forms a core part of the S&P Global Platts digital vision. This includes delivering customers market leading insights through multiple channels. In addition to the platform, the company plans to offer customers content access through machine-to-machine delivery. This will span multi-purpose APIs and data feeds and optimised delivery through third-party channel partners and a Microsoft Excel plug in.
Enterprise Times: What this means for business?
The new Platts Platform is a key component of the company’s vision to help power the commodity markets of the future. The new web-enabled, portable and intuitive platform is accessible to customers using any device. The company is beginning to sound like a retailer or B2C organisation. Trying to enhance the experience they deliver to customers through the use of digital technologies. This will require a change in the mindset of users. To enables them to address their challenges and make decisions with conviction using the new platform. Needless to say, other companies in the business intelligence sector will be watching this space. Developing similar platforms and tools, to safeguard relationships with customers.
