Hello team  - 

How does Enron define their back office processes?  It seems that every 
organization has their own definition of "back office" and the processes that 
fall within it.  So, I was curious to know if we had a consistent breakdown 
for Enron.  What I'm wondering is if there is a "common language" across 
Enron.  

Let me explain where I'm going with this question - I know that there will be 
participants from many parts of Enron at the session so we might have a risk 
of different definitions or assumptions being used during the conversations.  
If the groups define processes differently, even slightly,  there could be 
some confusion if we start a conversation at the session around the kinds of 
services to be offered.

To give you an idea of what I've seen, here are some different breakdowns or 
"models" used:

In Derivatives Strategy magazine's annual technology assessment, the 
following breakdown is used to evaluate software products:
Deal Capture
Special Deal Entry
EOD Mark to Market
P/L Calculations
Settlement
Confirmations
Payments
Payment Netting

The Bloomberg model, as depicted in Wall Street & Technology, January 2001, 
has the following high-level components:
Trade and Order Management
Electronic Trade Confirmation
Trade Allocation
Settlement Instructions
Electronic Settlement Links

Let me know your thoughts on this.  If you think there is a significant risk 
of different groups using different definitions for Enron we might be able to 
build in an exercise early on to get us over the hurdle.  

Lisa P
5-6352