This release comes from the Enverus site and announces a new solution called OpenInsights. Enverus is a 1999 startup based in Austin that specializes in data, software, and insights focused on the energy industry, delivered through a SaaS platform. The solution is targeted for service and supply companies in this embattled sector, and provides analytics for better daily working capital decisions. The energy sector is of course suffering from the double whammy of a pandemic and crude oil demand/price issues.
‘“If you’re an oil field services company and a major customer cuts capex, what does that mean for your volume of work and cash-flow predictability? What’s been the customer’s pattern of payment and how do you adjust in an environment where there’s less activity? This is what OpenInsights for Suppliers helps to answer,” said Akash Sharma, product manager at Enverus. “We can provide transparency where companies previously had to guess about their next moves.”
The timing for the product release is certainly good, given the crisis and renewed broad interest in efficient cash cycle management, a critical need for many companies. We cover this in a recent member report on trade finance,which is focused on finding and maintaining liquidity in an environment where world trade in goods and services is expected to severely decline through 2022. So having suppliers able to analyze DSO through the timing and payment habits of rig operators allows them to better forecast revenue. The connective tissue is transforming to digital financial processes, which in turn allow companies to optimize their use of data across financial operations.
“Service and supply companies competing in this challenging market must have a way to analyze and make choices where they see the highest likelihood of success,” said Colin Westmoreland, Sr. VP and general manager of Market Research at Enverus. “Suppliers may have customers that provide a high volume of business, but due to slow payment, are reducing cash flow, while other, smaller customers may be paying on a more predictable schedule. When caught in this predicament, users of OpenInsights will know whom to choose. Understanding this allows for more accurate forecasting of revenue and better structuring of contracts. And, this solution will help companies operating within extremely tight margins get paid faster.”
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group