OTC or over the counter derivatives - these types of derivatives are contracts that are traded and privately negotiated between two parties directly, which means that they are not done through an exchange or an intermediary. The types of products that you will see in this type of derivatives are swaps, forward rate agreements and exotic options.
 Exchange traded derivatives - these types of derivatives are products that are traded through specialized Derivatives exchanges or other exchanges. These exchanges act as an intermediary to all related transactions and takes initial margin from both sides of the trade to act as a guarantee.

Here are some of the common derivative contract types:
 Futures or Forwards - these are contracts to buy or sell an asset at a specified future date
 Options - these are basically contracts that give the person holding the contract the right to sell or buy an asset at a specified future date
 Swaps - these are where two parties agree to exchange cash flows

Here are some ways that your business could benefit from using derivative securities.
 One way that your business could benefit from using them is that they can be used as a tool to transfer risk. Basically what this means is that your company can sell future contracts on a product that you are making to a certain company before you even make the product. By setting up the contract ahead of time you are guaranteeing that you will get a certain price for the product regardless of whether the market rises or falls, which is good for your business because you know exactly how much you will be making on the product. But the other company faces a risk of losing money if the price or demand of the product falls, but your company is also facing the risk of not getting the highest price if the market goes up before you sell, the person you sell the item to will see that benefit. This practice is actually called hedging.
 Another way that derivative securities can benefit for your business is that they are used to gain an economic exposure to an underlying security in certain situations, basically these situations are when direct ownership of the underlying is too expensive or is forbidden by certain laws or regulations.
 But another way that your company can use these to benefit themselves is that they can be used as directional plays. What this basically means is that you are offered the greatest possible reward for betting on whether a price of a certain asset will go up or down. This is basically guesswork, but there is a certain science to it. How your company could benefit is if they purchased a certain stock that they felt was going to increase for a low price and in the next few months it doubled in value than your company will have made a huge profit, basically doubled their investment.