Energy Credit Best Practices – Chapter: Information Technology http://ccro.org © Copyright 2022, CCRO. All rights reserved. 6 1.2 This Chapter’s Scope: The Credit Information Ecosystem The Digitization of the credit process requires data from disparate sources from both inside and outside the organization. These sources can include a complex network of Systems and services, data, software applications, and processes. This paper refers to this amalgamation of credit data and processes as the Credit Information Ecosystem. Figure 2 below provides a visual example of what an illustrative Credit Information Ecosystem may look like. Of course, this will vary for every organization, but the basic concept is apposite. This network can engage multiple users and stakeholders, including IT and credit personnel, third-party data providers, banks, and financial institutions. It requires Security and authentication interfaces, data warehousing and reporting stores. It entails interfaces with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, General Ledgers (GLs), Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM) systems, and time- series data systems. This Ecosystem also supports critical exposure, analytic and margining calculations, which facilitate key credit-related decision-making, including credit limits and collateral management. Figure 1: Credit Information Ecosystem & Data Flow Source: Cube Logic 1.3 Industry’s Move Towards Digitalization We find that most sectors of the energy industry are today moving towards “digitalization” of their credit risk operations along with the operations of many other functions.