Energy · ETRM/CTRM for energy traders
You hear about the selection when the RFP lands.
You sell ETRM or CTRM platforms, often with trade reporting, to energy trading desks. Advisers and RFIs cut the long list on track record before the RFP goes out. The RFPs you do see cost weeks of presales, and losses get blamed on price.
- Typical deal (mid-market)
- €45–445k a year Illustrative
- Sales cycle
- 3–18 months, about 9 Illustrative
- Buying group
- 6–12 people Illustrative
Updated 5 October 2026 · Based on Panelhop research, October 2026
At a mid-size trading firm or trading desk6–12 people Illustrative
The short answer
How do ETRM vendors sell to energy traders?
ETRM/CTRM vendors sell to energy traders, producers’ marketing arms and supplier procurement desks through formal selections. A long list, an RFI, an RFP and scripted demos follow, often run by a selection adviser. The shortlist usually forms before the RFP, so the buying group and its adviser must know a vendor before the long list closes.
ETRM/CTRM for energy traders · How a deal really moves
ETRM deals are decided at the long list. Then every RFP gets answered, and security reviews you last. The same deal, tracked from the first signal. A qualification model for every RFP. Security pack at long list.
One trading firm or desk, 6–12 people and an estimated 3–18 months, about 9 months, from first signal to signature.
What opens a deal
- Legacy ETRM replacement: Technology
- REMIT scope change: Regulation · EU
- Merger or new market entry: Consolidation
- New head of trading or CIO: Leadership
- Incumbent ETRM sold or cut: Technology
Signal Desk · weekly: In-market accounts, scored and mapped
Your buyer and who decides
An energy trading firm
Trader, producer’s marketing arm or supplier
2,812 active in the EU · 21,169 REMIT-registered
Panel Check · coverage baselined
- Head of trading, can Veto: A migration that interrupts live trading.
- Finance, can Veto: Implementation fees that outgrow the licence.
- IT and architecture, can Veto: Platform outages during live trading.
- Procurement, can Veto: A challenge to the award.
- Information security, can Veto: A breach through a cloud vendor.
- Trading operations: Demos that only show what works.
- Risk and compliance: Penalties for a trade reporting gap.
- Selection adviser: Being accused of vendor bias.
How the deal moves
Targeting Typical time: 1–3 months
Long list Typical time: 1–3 months
- Where it stalls
- The adviser cut the long list without you
- With Panelhop: Signal Desk
- ETRM project hiring and new leaders flagged weekly, buying group mapped
RFP Typical time: 1–4 months
- Where it stalls
- Weeks of presales on RFPs you can’t win
- With Panelhop: Leak Fix
- A fit-plus-engagement qualification model, each loss reason in the CRM
Scripted demos Typical time: 3–8 weeks
Proof of concept Typical time: 1–3 months
Security review Typical time: 1–3 months
- Where it stalls
- Security starts after trading has chosen you
- With Panelhop: Leak Fix
- Security pack requested at long list, with review status on the deal
Commercial close Typical time: 1–3 months
Implementation
Renewal
- Where it stalls
- Closed-lost, and nobody watches the winner
- With Panelhop: Panel Ops
- Lost accounts watched, with the winner’s term end, in the weekly review
Panel Ops · monthly: Scores and plays tuned against the baseline
Illustrative Source: Stages, seats, triggers and stalls from Panelhop research, October 2026; ACER (EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators); the services as described on the Services page. Note: Durations, panel sizes and cycle lengths are Panelhop estimates from our research, not measurements.
At a glance
| Typical deal (mid-market) | €45–445k a year Illustrative |
|---|---|
| Sales cycle | 3–18 months, about 9 Illustrative |
| Buying group | 6–12 people Illustrative |
| Motion | Formal RFP selection, often run by an adviser |
Source: Panelhop research, October 2026. Note: Values marked Illustrative are Panelhop estimates from our research, not measurements.
The leaks sit before the RFP and after the loss.
Where do sales pipelines leak for ETRM vendors?
ETRM vendors’ sales pipelines leak before the RFP and after a loss. In our analysis of vendor websites, we flagged single-threaded deals as a likely bottleneck for 17 of 20 vendors in our energy research panel, and late security review for 10 of 20.
Where the pipeline leaks: 4 points across 9 stages.
Your win rate looks fine because you see few RFPs
- What you see
- A respectable win rate on the few RFPs you see, and selections you hear about too late.
- Why it happens
- No early signal of selection projects, and selection advisers never briefed.
Stage Long list
Presales burns weeks on tenders you can’t win
- What you see
- Presales capacity used up by RFPs with requirements written around a competitor.
- Why it happens
- No fit or tiering model to decide bid or no-bid.
Stage RFP
A strong demo, then IT says it can build it
- What you see
- The scripted demo scores well, then IT argues it can build or integrate something better.
- Why it happens
- The deal was sold to trading while IT and compliance were never mapped.
Stage Scripted demos
Every loss gets blamed on price
- What you see
- Post-mortems blame price or one missing feature, and the same objections return in the next tender.
- Why it happens
- Win/loss is done internally rather than with the buyer, and outcomes live in spreadsheets.
Stage Commercial close
Replacements, rule changes and mergers start most selections.
What starts an ETRM selection at an energy trading firm?
Legacy replacements, REMIT changes, mergers, new leaders and vendor exits start most ETRM selections at energy trading firms. Most leave a public trace before the RFP.
The 5 events that open or close the window for a deal.
Technology
Legacy or in-house system replacement
- What happens
- A trading firm replaces an ageing or in-house system, often moving to cloud delivery.
- Where to spot it
- Public power and community choice aggregator RFP pages, ETRM project job ads and competitors’ customer announcements.
- Window
- Selection advisers are often engaged months before the RFP goes out.
Regulation
REMIT changes
- What happens
- Revised REMIT rules add scope, such as storage, balancing and algorithmic trading, and new fees per market participant.
- Where to spot it
- ACER’s REMIT publications and quarterly reports.
- Window
- Reporting and ETRM upgrades follow each scope change, and reporting providers get re-tendered.
Consolidation
Merger or new market entry
- What happens
- A merger forces one ETRM to win, or a supplier entering a new country or commodity needs trading capacity.
- Where to spot it
- Deal announcements, licence registers and new REMIT registrations.
- Window
- Selection starts at completion, or months before a market launch.
Leadership
New head of trading or CIO
- What happens
- A new trading or IT leader reviews the system estate and the vendors behind it.
- Where to spot it
- Appointment announcements and public profile changes.
- Window
- By our estimate, reviews usually happen in the leader’s first months in the role.
Technology
Incumbent ETRM sold or cut back
- What happens
- An ETRM or trade reporting product is sold, folded into another suite or cut back, and its customers review their options.
- Where to spot it
- Trade press, user group announcements and keyword alerts on ETRM and reporting tenders.
- Window
- Typically 6–24 months from announcement to tender, by our estimate.
IT and the selection adviser shape the shortlist.
Who is on the buying committee for ETRM software?
An ETRM decision involves trading, risk, IT, compliance, security, procurement and finance, often with a selection adviser running the process. IT holds a veto over cloud delivery and integration, so a deal sold only to the trading floor meets its strongest critic late.
At a mid-size trading firm or trading desk, 6–12 people sit on the panel and 5 seats can stop the deal.
At a mid-size trading firm or trading desk: 6–12 people
Head of trading
Can Veto
Chief Commercial Officer · COO
- Cares about
- A daily P&L and position view without spreadsheets.
- Worries about
- A migration that interrupts live trading.
Trading operations and middle office
Head of Trading Operations · Head of Middle Office
- Cares about
- Workflows proven on their own scenarios in scripted demos.
- Worries about
- Demos that only show what works.
Finance
Can Veto
CFO · Head of Controlling
- Cares about
- Total cost over the term, with implementation counted alongside the licence.
- Worries about
- Implementation fees that outgrow the licence.
IT and architecture
Can Veto
CIO · Head of Applications · Enterprise Architect
- Cares about
- Cloud delivery, data portability and interfaces to exchanges and market data.
- Worries about
- Platform outages during live trading.
Risk and market compliance
Head of Risk · Market Compliance Officer · Head of Market Compliance
- Cares about
- Positions, exposure and limits in one view, with complete trade reporting.
- Worries about
- Penalties for a reporting gap.
Information security
Can Veto
CISO · Vendor Risk Committee member
- Cares about
- Certificates, hosting location and a clean questionnaire.
- Worries about
- A breach through a cloud vendor.
Procurement
Can Veto
Category Manager IT · Procurement Manager
- Cares about
- A comparable, defensible selection.
- Worries about
- A challenge to the award.
Selection adviser
ETRM selection consultant · System integrator
- Cares about
- A structured selection they can defend to the client.
- Worries about
- Being accused of vendor bias.
You sell the trading stack to a countable market.
What do ETRM vendors sell, and to whom?
ETRM/CTRM vendors sell trading, risk and reporting systems to firms that trade energy and commodities on wholesale markets. The universe is countable: 2,812 firms were active on EU organised energy marketplaces in early 2026, out of 21,169 registered under REMIT.
What vendors of this type sell
- ETRM and CTRM platforms for power, gas, LNG, crude, refined products, freight and environmental products
- REMIT and EMIR trade reporting
- Outsourced scheduling, confirmations and trade reporting
Which energy companies buy it
- Trading desks of integrated energy groups and producers’ marketing arms
- Independent traders and aggregators
- Supplier procurement desks, plus community choice aggregators and public power in the US
- Refiners’ and oil majors’ supply and trading arms (crude, products, freight)
A formal selection sets the shape of the deal.
How does an energy trading firm buy an ETRM?
An ETRM purchase usually runs as a formal selection, often with an adviser: requirements, a long list, an RFI, a formal RFP, scripted demos and sometimes a cloud proof of concept. By our estimate, the whole cycle typically takes 3–18 months, about 9 months. Stages overlap, and a cloud proof of concept can replace part of the RFP.
Stage by stage: what you do, what the energy company does, and what changes at the 4 stages where deals stall.
| Stage | What you do | What the energy company does | Today | With Panelhop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Targeting Typical time: 1–3 months | Waits for an RFP or a demo request. | Legacy cost, a merger, a new market or a REMIT change justifies a replacement. | A pipeline of whichever RFPs happen to arrive. | A baseline of how many active trading firms in your segment the CRM holds, tiers and covers. Panel Check GTM audit · 2–3 weeks |
| Long list Typical time: 1–3 months | Learns of the selection when the RFI arrives, if at all. | Interviews stakeholders, prioritises requirements and builds a long list with an adviser. | Selections discovered when the RFI lands. Stalls: Unknown to the adviser. Selection advisers and RFIs cut the list on track record and size, so a vendor neither of them knows is filtered out unseen. | Early selection signs in the weekly batch, such as ETRM project hiring and leadership changes, with the buying group mapped. Signal Desk In-market accounts, weekly |
| RFP Typical time: 5 weeks to 4 months | Writes a long, structured response. | Scores the responses and cuts to a shortlist. | Every RFP answered on gut feel. Stalls: Every RFP answered. Bid decisions are made on gut feel, each response costs weeks of presales time and the reasons for each loss go unrecorded. | A written qualification model, fit plus engagement, that weighs the incumbent and the selection adviser, with loss reasons captured in the CRM. Leak Fix We build the fixes |
| Scripted demos Typical time: 3–8 weeks | Runs the buyer’s scenarios on its platform. | End users score each demo on a scorecard. | Trading engaged, IT and compliance unmapped. | A role map per tier, with IT, compliance and security coverage tracked on every opportunity. Leak Fix We build the fixes |
| Proof of concept Typical time: 1–3 months | Sets up a cloud proof of concept on the buyer’s data. | Tests one desk or commodity before committing. | A proof of concept with no agreed exit. | Stage exit criteria: success criteria, a budget owner and the procurement route on the deal before it starts. Leak Fix We build the fixes |
| Security review Typical time: 1–3 months | Answers the vendor risk questionnaire and sends certificates. | Security, legal and the data protection officer review hosting, sub-processors and access. | A security pack assembled after the verbal win. Stalls: Vendor risk review comes last. Vendor risk review starts once trading has chosen, and a cloud platform without a ready security pack waits for weeks. | Stage exit criteria that request your security pack at the long list stage and track review status on the deal. Leak Fix We build the fixes |
| Commercial close Typical time: 1–3 months | Negotiates licence, modules and implementation. | Finance weighs the total cost over the term, and the board approves larger deals. | The forecast is rebuilt in a spreadsheet every month. | Forecast accuracy reported monthly against the baseline, with the deal risk score and slipped close dates reviewed against board approvals. Panel Ops We run it monthly |
| Implementation Typical time: a year or more for enterprise ETRM | Migrates trades, positions and interfaces. | Runs both systems in parallel before switching off the old one. | What the RFP promised lives in a folder. | A handoff document from the deal, so implementation inherits the scope as sold. Leak Fix We build the fixes |
| Renewal | Renews or loses the account at term end. | Reviews the system at term end, after a merger or when reporting rules change. | Lost accounts are closed and forgotten. Stalls: Closed-lost means closed for years. The winner’s contract runs for years, and few vendors watch whether its implementation holds. | Lost accounts kept on a watched list with the winner and its term end, flagged as signals and reviewed in the weekly signal review. Panel Ops We run it monthly |
Reach the buying group before the long list closes.
How does Panelhop change an ETRM vendor’s pipeline?
Panelhop flags selection signs weekly, so you can reach the buying group before the long list closes, and tracks IT, compliance and security coverage on every deal. A Panel Check (GTM audit · 2–3 weeks) baselines the pipeline from your CRM first.
What we baseline and report
- Selections entered at long-list stage rather than at RFP, against the baseline
- Win rate per RFP bid, by segment and incumbent
- Roles engaged per open opportunity, with IT and compliance included
Other vendor types in energy.
What other vendors sell to energy companies?
The same energy companies buy from these vendor types too, through different panels and pipelines.
- Vendor type
Renewable and storage portfolio platforms
SCADA, asset performance, portfolio software and storage optimisation for owners of wind, solar and battery storage portfolios.
Read the pipeline - Vendor type
Methane measurement and MRV
Methane sensors, aerial and drone surveys, emissions models and MRV software for oil and gas operators facing OGMP and EU rules.
Read the pipeline - Vendor type
Billing and customer platforms for energy retailers
Billing, meter data, tariff and customer platforms for competitive electricity and gas suppliers in GB and Europe.
Read the pipeline - Vendor type
Charge point management and payment back ends (CPMS)
Charge point management, payment and roaming back ends for charge point operators, from specialist networks to oil majors’ charging arms.
Read the pipeline
The words your buyers use, defined.
What do terms like “ETRM/CTRM” and “REMIT” mean?
Plain definitions of the terms that come up when you sell ETRM/CTRM to energy companies.
- ETRM/CTRM
- Energy or commodity trading and risk management software: the system that captures trades, positions, risk and settlement for power, gas, oil, freight and other commodities.
- REMIT
- The EU regulation on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency. Market participants register with their national regulator and report trades and orders to ACER, usually through a registered reporting mechanism.
- Registered reporting mechanism (RRM)
- A firm registered with ACER to report trades and orders under REMIT on behalf of market participants.
- EMIR
- The European Market Infrastructure Regulation: EU rules that require counterparties to report derivative contracts, including energy derivatives, to trade repositories.
- RFI
- Request for information: an early, lighter questionnaire that a buyer or its adviser sends to cut a long list down to the vendors invited to the RFP.
- Scripted demo
- A demo run on the buyer’s own scenarios and data and scored by end users on a scorecard, instead of the vendor’s standard walkthrough.
Answers before your next energy company deal.
What do vendors of ETRM/CTRM ask about selling to energy companies?
How do energy trading firms shortlist ETRM vendors?
Energy trading firms usually shortlist ETRM vendors through a formal selection, often run by an adviser. Stakeholder interviews produce a requirements catalogue. An adviser and an RFI then cut the long list, and a formal RFP leaves a shortlist for scripted demos. Track record and references weigh heavily at the RFI stage, so unknown vendors are often cut before the RFP.
How do you get on an ETRM long list before the RFP goes out?
ETRM vendors get on the long list by being known to the trading firm and its selection adviser before the RFI. That means tracking early signs of a selection, such as ETRM project hiring, a merger, a REMIT change or a new head of trading. It also means briefing advisers early and reaching IT and risk as well as the trading desk.
Who signs off an ETRM purchase at an energy trading firm?
At an energy trading firm, the head of trading or COO usually signs off an ETRM purchase, and the board approves larger deals. Trading operations champions it, while IT, information security, procurement and finance can each veto it. A selection adviser often runs the process, and risk and market compliance test the reporting. By our estimate the buying group has 6–12 people.
Should an ETRM vendor bid on every energy trading RFP?
No. An ETRM vendor should bid only where fit, the incumbent and the adviser relationship give it a real chance, because each RFP response costs weeks of presales time. A written bid/no-bid score and loss reasons gathered from the energy trading firm, rather than guessed internally, show which tenders to drop next time.
How long does it take to sell an ETRM system to an energy trader?
Selling a mid-market ETRM to an energy trader typically takes 3–18 months, about 9 months, by our estimate. An adviser-led selection, a formal RFP, scripted demos and a security review set the pace. A cloud proof of concept that replaces part of the RFP shortens it, and an IT-led modernisation lengthens it. By our estimate, enterprise implementations then run a year or more.
How should an ETRM vendor brief selection consultants?
An ETRM vendor should brief selection consultants before a selection starts, because advisers build long lists from vendors they know and can defend to their client. A useful briefing covers track record by commodity and segment, references and delivery capacity. Advisers are one route onto the long list, so reach the energy trading firm’s IT and risk teams directly as well.
Where the numbers come from.
Sources
Sourced figures link to their source below. Figures marked Illustrative, and figures given as estimates, are inferred from Panelhop research. Vendors appear only as types, never by name.
- ACER (EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators), ACER REMIT Quarterly Q1 2026 (2026)
- Panelhop, Services (2026)
- Panelhop research, October 2026: our analysis of the vendors, buying panels, pipelines and triggers for ETRM/CTRM in energy, from public sources. Vendor names are not published.
Find where your pipeline to energy companies leaks.
