When we say ‘right information in the right place at the right time is the key,’ it may sound clichéd, but this is exactly what is needed in a high risk market like the commodity market. The commodity market is a synonym for complexity and the involved risk and uncertainty. To manage these complexities and associated risks, commodity firms must be able to view and manage positions and exposure on a real-time basis. So it is important for organization-wide information to be processed, analyzed and made available without delay. Manav Garg knew this; he also saw the overwhelming market opportunity, and these prompted him to start Eka Software Solutions in 2004.

A decade since its inception, now the company is a leader in technology for organizations that specialize in the buying and selling of physical commodities across world markets. It has a multi-tiered architecture comprising of a front-end user interface layer, a middle layer of business logic, a back-end persistent (database) layer, and an embedded reporting tool. This selection of technologies made sure that Eka delivered on key parameters as solution flexibility, scalability, performance and security. The main focus of the company is in three areas, Agriculture, Metals, and Energy. Its Commodity Trading and Risk Management (CTRM) solution for agriculture and soft commodities provides a single, comprehensive platform for managing operations across coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton, orange juice, tea, grains, feeds, edible oils, oilseeds, livestock, and other agri-based businesses. Eka offers a comprehensive multi-commodity platform specifically designed to handle requirements of different metal products such as base metals, ferro-alloys, steel, secondarys/scrap, and addresses the needs of different participants of the metals supply chain, including miners, producers, fabricators, trading houses, distributors, scrap dealers and recyclers. In energy the company provides a comprehensive trading and risk management software solution that offers traders of crude oil, refined products, bio-fuels and coal an unmatched solution focused to manage the entire trade life-cycle including detailed management of logistics operations and physical inventory.

Eka has created its platform using deep domain knowledge & cutting edge technology with integrated business intelligence tools for custom reporting. Eka gives much emphasis on ease of use. These are precisely the factors that have attracted the customers to the company in its journey so far. Today, Eka has a client base across Europe, the U.S and Asia. And the growth story continues! “This is very unique and unlike other products in the marketplace that are ‘adapted’ from other commodity markets. Eka’s technology platform is “real” and “current’ - pure JAVA and Web 2.0. “Their professional, transparent approach to the whole engagement makes us feel very comfortable in working with them,” says Byron Collins, General Manager Technology & Business Services, AWB. Collins is one of the many satisfied customers of the company. A similarly satisfied customer, Prakash Narayanan, Finance Accounting Manager Garmco, says, “Eka’s Commodity Trading & Risk Management Solution gives us the power of real time information and overall visibility of our global risk and exposures. This essentially means that we are moving to a better managed business model where we can hedge our risks properly, provide quality service to customers, and maintain focus on our core business.