ZAI*NET Announces the Acquisition of Positron at PowerMart '98
Energy risk management & trading leader ZAI*NET informed Power Online that it has recently acquired Houston-based Positron, a high-end risk-analysis software tool company. The announcement comes on the heels of ZAI*NET's release of version 6.0 of it's risk management and trading software. Both companies were enthusiastic about the acquisition. ZAI*NET's software captures trades, schedules purchases and sales of electric power, and generates a great deal of useful data that is stored for later use. Positron's analysis software picks up where ZAI*NET's software leaves off and enables users to do something meaningful with the data.
According to ZAI*NET President Brian Scanlan, "Positron will provide high-end analysis to the ZAI*NET product." Both products are based on a C++ software architecture that will make integrating them into a single product much faster and easier. ZAI*NET officials hope to have the two packages integrated into a single package by the end of this year. According to Scanlan "Positron was selected because it offers high-performance implementations of current risk-management methodologies."
Positron President Corwin Joy said that "No other product currently available offers users both the ability to capture and schedule trades, and then go back and analyze the data for risk exposure in the same application." Joy, who helped to design Enron's risk-management software, formed Positron two years ago. ZAI*NET has been in the business since 1985, and has earned the reputation of being the one of the best known risk-management companies in the industry. Both companies are privately held and no details of the private acquisition were disclosed.
According to Joy , "This is a key strategic alliance which will allow both companies to create exciting, real-time tools that will revolutionize this segment of the industry." He also added that, "One of the things that makes this a great partnering is that both companies use the same tools and technologies. This architecture will generate significant leverage when the next generation of products is designed."
The new acquisition and the release of version 6.0 of its trading and risk management software has made October a very successful month for ZAI*NET. Some of the features of the updated version 6.0 software include:
- A new interface. The new GUI is backed by the same logic that has driven the ZAI*NET software for more than ten years. It reduces the amount of trade entry required and creates a more efficient means of viewing information. Different functions allow the front office staff to customize their screens to their individual needs and define any regularly used deal as a template for future use.
2. Simplified data entry for complex deals. The new version permit users to enter a physical deal with an option spread and permits the deal to be entered as one rather than two separate deals. In addition, the ZAI*NET Report Writer allows the user to easily view and analyze complex deals.
3. Improved transmission reporting. Transmission is now captured on the physical trade entry screen as a spread between two locations rather than entering the transmission portion as its own trade. Transmission deals are able to seamlessly interface with the Power Scheduling module.
4. Improved power scheduling. Clients can now price power on actuals rather than nominals specifically during peak hour trading.
5. Enhanced power entry. The trade entry functionality has added support for paths and NERC tags.