Who Needs A Contract Management Software Solution?

The title of this post might seem like a rhetorical question to some, but to others it turns out to be a very valid question. Keep in mind that business transactions are almost always expressed in legal terms, and described in contracts, and agreements.

A company’s legal contract repository is, therefore the best source for information on revenue projections, as well as, financial liabilities.
Without even discussing the different types of solutions available, their merits or their pitfalls I can comfortably declare that: A well-chosen Contract Management software platform, will make any organization that uses it, regardless of size, perform better, and spend less. Oh, and it also helps organizations be nicer, let’s see why:

Better Performance with Contract Management

A well designed contract management system will automate, monitor, and streamline the life-cycle of any contract entered into it. As a result, contracts are easier to negotiate, create, locate, and administrate. An automated centralized solution will sport reporting tools that regularly provide unprecedented perspectives on your business, that would otherwise require , considerable efforts, and manpower to produce. Some systems enable an organization to integrate its workflow with that of others, thus creating more growth opportunities. Here are a few highlights:

• Streamlined contract process ensures events take place on time.
• Rigid audit trails ensure accountability, and higher performance.
• More people in the organization enjoy easier access to contract information.
• Less time Xeroxing, printing, filing and locating, means more time for coming up with productive ideas.
• Event reminders mean no more missed deadlines.
• Smart DSA (Document Structure Analysis) provides a better understanding of contract commitments and term enforcement.
• Better Risk/Revenue control.
• Improved contract negotiation, and renewal process.
• Inadvertent Corporate contract branding by virtue of using a centralized system

Reduce Costs with Contract Management Software

By definition, automated systems reduce the man hours required to perform certain tasks. Managing an organization’s contracts is no exception to this rule. Asides from the obvious reduction in administrative overhead there are several other cost related benefits associated with the use of a contract management solution. Here are just a few:

• Reduced administrative contract management expenses
• Stricter contract term monitoring ensures that contract terms are enforced
• Eliminates task redundancy involved with hard copy contract repositories
• Advanced search and compare capabilities make for better negotiation tools

In the case of subscription based SaaS (Software As A Service) such as openSource many other cost related benefits come into play, here are but a few:

• No hardware overhead
• No IT overhead
• No software upgrades
• No catastrophic hardware failure risks
• No licensing quotas due to pay-as-you-grow scalability
• Minimal integration and sharing overhead

Well now, what did I say about being nicer? This might not be a universal sentiment but I’m sure most of you agree that any work process, in fact, any life process that eliminates the need for mountains of paper qualifies one to be considered nicer, at least to the planet.

Obviously there is much more to Contract and Document management systems, then just the issues of improved performance and increased efficiency. But I argue that even with all other factors weighed in, and I will get to those in future posts, adopting a good solution is the right way to go, no matter what size organization you are a part of.

Next Post will discuss SaaS as the preferred model of Contract Management Software Solution.