Contract Insights

Annual planning is a crucial process for organizations of all sizes. It allows businesses to set goals, allocate resources, and define strategies for the upcoming year. By carefully analyzing past performances and trends, companies can make informed decisions and chart a course for success. As such, let's take a look at how to create an annual plan that alchemically turns strategic goals into gold!

Meet Malachi H., a Graphic Design Manager at CobbleStone Software that has been a member of the CobbleStone^® family since May 2019. Recently, we interviewed Malachi about his experience at CobbleStone where he kindly shared some insights into his role as well as advice he has for those considering a graphics career in SaaS/contract management software.

Contracts are an essential aspect of everyday business operations (and even everyday life in general). They govern myriad transactions and agreements – serving as the cornerstones of personal and business relationships. There are many different ways to categorize and compartmentalize contracts by type – including as unilateral and bilateral contracts.

One of the most common types of contracts that appears in business settings is a unilateral contract. What is a unilateral contract – and why does it matter?

In this blog post, we will dive into the concept of unilateral agreements and provide an example of them at work!

What is contract management in the context of the healthcare industry?  What steps, tasks, and requirements are involved?  What does your organization need to do to maintain proper healthcare contract management processes?  What tools can your organization use to centralize and streamline healthcare contract management?  

Read on to discover how to take advantage of effective contract management in healthcare with leading contract management software.

As organizations of all sizes evolve to manage evermore complex and numerous contracts, efficient contract management is crucial. Contracts are vital in establishing and maintaining business relationships, safeguarding legal rights, and maintaining compliance. However, managing contracts manually can be time-consuming, error-prone, and inefficient. That's where contract builder software comes into play. Let's explore seven ways a contract builder can meet your needs as you manage more and more complex contracts.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from March?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in April by reading the latest CobbleStone^® content.

As your business grows, so do your responsibilities - especially as they pertain to contracts.  Contract volume and contract complexity grow along with your organization.  As such, it can be easy to fall into the deleterious pitfalls of time-consuming contract mismanagement.  Your organization will inevitably reach a point at which manual contract management processes - such as those involving disparate emails, spreadsheets, shared drives, data entry prone to human error, and manual wet signatures - no longer cut it.  But change is a good thing, and you can get ahead of the damaging consequences of contract mismanagement due to a manual process.  How? It's simple: automate contracts with contract management software.  Read on to learn how to easily get started with streamlined contract lifecycle management!

Efficiency and accuracy are of vital importance when managing contracts. Many organizations fear they may fall behind as more and more of their peers embrace automation through artificial intelligence.

One notable area AI has positively transformed is contract summarization. With the advent of AI-powered contract summarizers, legal operations teams can now optimize contract lifecycle processes like never before. In this blog post, let's explore five ways contract summarization with AI-backed contract management software can change the game of legal operations.

Meet Wendy A., a Corporate Lawyer at CobbleStone Software that has been a member of the CobbleStone^® family since January 2023. Recently, we interviewed Wendy about her experience at CobbleStone where she kindly shared some insights into her role as well as advice she has for those considering a career in SaaS/contract management software.

A proper legal risk management process is critical for the preservation of a healthy contracting process. Failure to adequately manage contract risk can be disastrous. Harmful contract risk oversights affect not only legal teams – but organizations as a whole.

Your organization should work to avoid a breach of compliance, violation of contract terms, lost revenue, wasted time, lawsuits, and a damaged company reputation by addressing different types of contract risks. As such, let’s break down agreement risk management and how it can be maximized with contract management software.

Generation of legally binding contracts from verbal agreements can be challenging for contract, procurement, and legal professionals.  Manual contract generation or contract creation can be tedious and error-prone.  Moreover, a manual approach to document assembly can put organizations in the precarious position of facing:

• significant process bottlenecks.
• compliance issues.
• increased risk.
• excessive fines.

It’s time to save time and take control of contract creation.  Learn how to transform your manual generation process into a value-centric strategy. Make this transformation with the help of leading contract management software.

In virtually any business context, understanding the financial metrics that drive operational success and revenue is crucial. One such metric that plays a pivotal role in measuring the financial health of an organization is ACV (annual contract value). In this blog post, let's explore the concept of annual contract value, its importance, and how to calculate it.

Manual renewal methods with spreadsheets, emails, emailed reminders, and wet signatures may suffice for organizations with low contract volume and complexity. 

Unfortunately, organizations managing thousands of contracts of ranging types can face challenges. Moreover, such an outdated contract renewal strategy can increase the risk that a contract expires with a desired renewal having been overlooked. It's time to take control of how you manage contract renewals. Read on to learn how to leverage renewal process best practices with contract management software.

Organizations of all sizes face the need to juggle multiple digital contracts simultaneously, with each contract being at a different stage of the contract lifecycle. Leading contract management software saves time, reduces risks, improves productivity, and maximizes a contract's value. But what is CLM (contract lifecycle management)? Read on to find out!

There are many efficient contract management platforms on the market for small businesses, expansive enterprises, and those in between. As such – searching for the best contract management software with which to manage contracts can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be; you just need to know which contract lifecycle management requirements to look for when implementing a contract management system.

As such, let’s discuss ten items on a contract management system requirements checklist to look for when deciding on a CLM software solution that saves time and money for your organization.

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a crucial regulation with which healthcare organizations and professionals around the world are all too familiar. At the risk of oversimplification for expediency, it is designed to protect sensitive health information from being disclosed without patient knowledge or consent. Central to HIPAA compliance are business associate agreements (BAAs) - contracts that support a foundation of privacy, security, and integrity of patient data as it flows through the various invisible hands of the healthcare ecosystem. The stakes are high for healthcare organizations - for the legal and financial ramifications of business associate contract mismanagement can erode the reputation and stability of a business. As such, let's explore how to make overseeing these complex and critical contracts as smooth and efficient as possible.

Contract execution is a critical stage in contract lifecycle management. By this point, the terms of the contract have been negotiated. Parties involved have ensured that everything is understood and all necessary resources have approved the written agreement. From there, contract parties sign the contract to propel its execution.

Given the importance of this stage of contract management, you should know what an executed contract is and its meaning. As such, here is a brief overview of an executed contract.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from February?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in March by reading the latest CobbleStone^® content.

Mike Gormley, the Sales Department Manager at CobbleStone Software, has been a member of the CobbleStone^® family since January 2018. Recently, we interviewed Mike about his experience at CobbleStone, and he shared some brief insights into his role as well as some great information about upcoming webinars and learning events.

In the minds of legal professionals, the pressure is ON. And yes, you read the title correctly. The vast majority of legal professionals - a whopping 84 percent - experience pressure to simplify their contract processes (according to a recent survey from World CC). From contract creation to renewal, there seems to be something missing. Contract managers face immense stress from outdated contract management processes, misunderstandings, lack of efficiency, and elevated costs (to name a few). In the interest of drilling down deeper, let's thoroughly examine some of the reasons corporate counsel, general counsel, paralegals, legal departments, and others are clamoring for contract simplification.

Ineffectual procurement strategy can lead to elevated risk, dark purchasing, supplier issues, data inaccuracies, and a drawn out purchasing cycle or procurement cycle.  March is procurement month, so organizations should seek new ways to innovate the fulfillment of purchasing goals.  So stop wasting time, squandering opportunities, and mismanaging resources with a disjointed and inefficient procurement process.  March into national procurement month with your eyes open for these, the best procurement software features for your processes.

You’ve probably heard the term “NDA” thrown around in the context of contract and business processes. But what is an NDA? When should they be used? How can NDAs be managed?

Let’s uncover what you need to know about the non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

The digital age of business processes is a double-edged sword; the sheer volume of information can either be a treasure trove or a labyrinthine nightmare, especially when it comes time to manage Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and public request records.

But fear not, for there is a beacon of hope that cuts through the fog of complexity: integrated CLM and FOIA request software. Let's embark on an engaging journey through the world of public records request software - integrated seamlessly with cloud-based contract management software - to discover how this innovative tool is revolutionizing access and compliance with advanced search/visibility, increased productivity, reduced cost, and ease of use.

As contract complexity and volume grow for evolving businesses, managing contracts efficiently is more critical than ever. Thanks to almost lightspeed developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and optical character recognition (OCR), contract management software has taken a giant leap forward. AI-powered OCR technology is revolutionizing how companies read, extract, and manage data from their contract documents. This article explores the tremendous and positive impact of AI and OCR systems in contract management - highlighting how these technologies streamline processes, enhance accuracy, and save valuable time when extracting data from digital texts.

Many legal professionals face the daunting task of managing a growing volume of contracts efficiently and securely. The manual handling of such important documents is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors - leading to potential compliance issues and operational inefficiencies. Enter contract management software; among many other things, it is a document management solution designed to streamline the organization, access, and management of various types of documents.

While contract complexity and volume grow, navigating the contract lifecycle can feel like an evermore steep, uphill battle as organizations juggle inefficiencies, risks, and costly disputes. In the face of these challenges, understanding the landscape of contract lifecycle management becomes essential for driving strategic decisions and operational improvements. To that end, here are 20+ of the latest statistics, trends, and informed predictions in the contract management space.

The process of redlining contracts for contract negotiation can be challenging if done improperly.

Organizations that edit documents manually in Microsoft Word can increase the chances of human errors. What’s more, constant back-and-forth edits via emailed documents can result in version control mistakes and broken formats. Mission-critical clauses and sections can either be left out of a legal document or improperly positioned. Additionally, the amount of time spent on tedious, outdated redlining processes can result in lost revenue and opportunities.

Thankfully, your legal team can start saving time on the contract negotiation process with CobbleStone’s user-friendly auto-redlining tool - powered by VISDOM® artificial intelligence. Here’s how to leverage auto-redlining within CobbleStone Contract Insight® contract management software.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from January?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in February by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

CobbleStone Software introduces an interactive training experience exclusively for CobbleStone users and hosted by CobbleStone Contract Insight^® experts. With virtual and in-person options, the program features small-group training sessions with CobbleStone experts and fellow System Admins - designed specifically for System Admins to drive their most optimal route toward contract management and eProcurement success!

Extracting important information from contracts was once time-consuming and difficult. Now, automated contract extraction allows organizations to streamline processes and leverage extracted information for better contract management and improved business relationships. With the rise of digital solutions, businesses often find themselves at a crossroad between using AI-based contract extraction software or hiring professional contract data extraction services. Both of these avenues offer unique benefits and are instrumental in enhancing the efficiency of contract data extraction.

This article delves into the functionalities and advantages of both approaches, providing insights into how they transform the landscape of contract management.

CobbleStone Software introduces a free, virtual masterclass for legal, contract, and procurement professionals. This interactive learning experience is led by CLM software experts and is designed to show you the best route toward successful contract management!

In an era where "AI is coming for lawyers," the legal community is abuzz with the question: "Will AI replace lawyers?" The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in law and legal practice has led to a paradigm shift, raising concerns about artificial intelligence replacing lawyers. However, it's crucial to understand that AI in the legal field is not a harbinger of replacement but a catalyst for transformation. To that end, let’s talk about legal professionals, lawyers, AI, and business innovation.

In the grand design of a society, every structure, from the humblest home to the tallest skyscraper, begins with a blueprint. This blueprint is a promise of what will be built - providing clarity and guidance to all involved. This metaphor aptly describes the role of contracts in the business world. Just as a blueprint is vital in construction, a contract is crucial in the realm of business. But why are contracts so important, and what purpose do they serve?

Contract managers are under increased pressure to deliver value with reduced contract risks, decreased contract costs, and improved contract performance.  When you regularly measure progress and the success of contracts against contract management key performance indicators (KPIs), you can proactively readjust your contract strategy to ensure goal alignment drives critical and positive organizational impact.  Read on to learn how contract management software can help maximize three important contract management KPIs for success.

In today's fast-paced financial services sector, the ability to effectively manage contracts is more critical than ever. With the advent of advanced contract and financial management technologies, businesses are discovering powerful tools to streamline processes, enhance accuracy, and boost efficiency. Among these transformative solutions, AI-powered contract management software for financial services stands out as a game-changer. This blog post delves into how financial contract management software leverages artificial intelligence to revolutionize contract financial management, offering insights and strategies to optimize your financial contract operations.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from December?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in January by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Brian S. Quinn, Esquire is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania and the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc. – a Lawyer Assistance Program established in 1988 for the purpose of helping lawyers, judges, and law students recover from alcoholism, substance misuse and mental health disorders. We sat down with Brian to explore legal professionals’ burnout, mental health, and what can help.

We want to start by giving our warmest thanks to our CobbleStone^® team! CobbleStone Software employees are committed to offering clients and business professionals our industry-leading contract management software, vendor management, eProcurement, and eSourcing solutions with unparalleled service. Award recipients receive company-wide recognition, personalized plaques, additional paid time off, and extended lunchtime. Read the following mini-interviews with each CobbleStone Software Employee Excellence Award recipient to understand what set them apart as an integral asset to our corporate success in 2023.

Contracts are legally binding - and thus need to be executed properly.  Legal teams should equip themselves with a thorough understanding of the contract lifecycle.  The contract lifecycle is the process under which a contract is authored, reviewed, sent for signature, executed, and - potentially - renewed. 

The "lifecycle" is an archetype used to compartmentalize and understand a contract's complex evolution.  The lifecycle begins with contract requests and concludes when these requests are fulfilled - with the possibility of managing contract renewal.  Let's further explore the eight stages of the contract lifecycle below and how digital contract management software can help streamline your contracting processes. 

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on implied contracts! Whether you're a business professional, a law student, or just curious about the fascinating world of contracts, this blog is designed to offer you a fun yet professional insight into the realm of implied agreements. Let’s dive into the world where words are few, but intentions speak volumes.

Kristin R., an Account Relationship Manager at CobbleStone Software, has been a member of the CobbleStone® family since November 2019. Recently, we interviewed Kristin about her experience at CobbleStone and she kindly shared some insights into her role as well as advice she has for those considering a career in SaaS software account management.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from November?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in December by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Spreadsheet-driven contract management processes are error-prone, time-wasting, inefficient, disorganized, and lacking in security.  Such practices should stay in the past; contract management professionals should begin 2024 with practical, centralized, user-friendly, and scalable contract lifecycle management solutions.

Contract termination should involve rigorous financial analysis, contract performance data analytics, and the creation of a notice of termination.  Unfortunately, contract termination involves tight deadlines and specific terms required to terminate a contract. Organizations need a strategy to identify contracts not meeting contract KPIs, write notices of contract termination, and secure proper contract closeout. 

This article will show you how to implement this strategy readily with the help of contract management software.

With digital transformation, the way we sign and validate documents has evolved significantly. The concept of a signature block is important in the realm of business communication and legal agreements. But what is a signature line or block exactly? Often seen at the end of contracts, emails, and business letters, these blocks are more than just a space for your signature. They are a testament to your identity, professionalism, and attention to detail.

In this guide, we'll delve into signature blocks - from the basic signature line definition to its varied forms in different contexts like contracts, emails, and legal documents. Whether you're a business professional, an attorney, or simply someone looking to understand the nuances of digital communication, this blog will provide valuable insights into how signature blocks work, why they matter, and how they can be optimized for clarity and legal validity.

In the dynamic world of legal operations, the agility to adapt and extend contractual agreements is crucial. With the ever-evolving nature of business relationships, the concept of contract extension has become a central aspect of organizational operations. Whether it is discussions about an extended contract, written communications about the extension of a contract, or a formal contract extension agreement, the need to efficiently manage these extensions is paramount.

In the intricate world of contract management, the term 'executed' often emerges as a focal point of discussion and sometimes confusion. While contracting professionals juggle numerous contracts, the clarity around what exactly it means for a document to be 'executed,' and the significance of an 'executed copy,' becomes paramount. This confusion can lead to significant pain points, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings in contract management.

In the following sections, we'll delve into the meanings and implications of terms like 'executed document', 'executing a document', and 'executed letter' - providing clarity and guidance to navigate these challenges smoothly.

Union negotiations are critical for maintaining a harmonious work environment and ensuring operational continuity. Still, they are fraught with challenges. From understanding the nuanced demands of union representatives to managing extensive contractual obligations, the stakes are quite high. Organizations frequently grapple with finding the optimal negotiation style that balances assertiveness with diplomacy and efficiency with comprehensiveness. In these challenging situations, having the right strategies and tools becomes paramount.

As such - in this blog - let's explore various negotiation styles suited for union negotiations, identify common pain points, and demonstrate how leveraging the best tactics can streamline these complex processes. The right approaches can lead to more effective and amicable outcomes, and unions can receive what they deserve.

Today, let's talk about some secondary functions of contract lifecycle management (CLM) software that you may be missing out on that can provide immense value to your business processes.

Anyone managing contracts knows about the evergreen contract. Evergreen agreements stand out for their ability to self-renew - offering a blend of convenience and continuity for both parties. However, this same perpetual nature can pose unique challenges in evergreen provisions tracking and management. In this blog, we will explore the intricacies of evergreen contracts; we will examine how sophisticated yet user-friendly tools of leading contract management software can streamline and optimize the lifecycle of these agreements.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from October?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in November by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

With rapid advancements in our ability to connect and form business relationships, managing contracts has become more challenging than ever. With the increase in the volume and complexity of contracts, the risk of inadvertently overlooking a crucial detail or deadline is on the rise. One such area of potential oversight is the uncontrolled auto-renewal of contracts, which can lead to significant financial and operational implications for a business. In this blog post, we'll explore the negative outcomes associated with uncontrolled contract auto-renewals and how contract management software can provide a much-needed and robust solution.

Legal departments trudging through manual processes for contract generation and management can be left to feel the walls closing in. With every new business opportunity comes a cascade of contracts - each demanding precision, timeliness, and impeccable oversight. But even the best can miss a beat. From accidentally overlooking a critical termination deadline to the tedious hours spent reinventing the contract wheel, the pitfalls of manual contract management become glaringly evident. And when an outdated contract version almost derails a business deal? That is the breaking point.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Many businesses find themselves ensnared in these contractual conundrums. But what if there is a smarter way out? Enter the world of contract terms automation: a beacon of hope for those drowning in paperwork. In today's post, we'll delve into the pain points faced by many who are drowning in the contract management process and showcase how contract automation might just be the lifeline your business needs.

Legal professionals are increasingly leveraging technological innovations to enhance efficiency, time savings, and accuracy. One of these powerful tools for legal work includes AI systems. AI for lawyers has become a cornerstone in transforming traditional legal practices. Legal AI is not a concept of the future but a present reality, altering the landscape of contract management and various legal processes. Such automated tools have not replaced lawyers; instead, they save time on processes such as document review and those that involve managing a large amount of data, stakeholders, tasks, and contract executions.

Effective contract management can be intricate and demanding. However, understanding the pivotal steps and integrating contract lifecycle management (CLM) software can transform this time-consuming journey into a structured and efficient process that saves time and increases revenue. In this guide, we will explore what the contract management process steps entail and how a contract management solution acts as a stairwell to success, virtually ensuring every step is streamlined and effective.

Project management is an intricate dance of planning, executing, and overseeing projects to ensure they are completed efficiently and effectively. At the core of this process are project management contracts. These vital documents delineate the terms and conditions, scope, and roles and responsibilities for a project - hopefully ensuring that all parties involved have a clear understanding of the expectations. There are various types of contracts in project management that cater to the unique needs and requirements of each project. However, managing these contracts ineffectively can lead to cost overruns, delayed timelines, poor quality of work, legal issues, damaged relationships between involved parties, and other deleterious consequences. Thankfully, an understanding of project management contracts - along with the right solution to manage them - can help drastically.

Procurement departments can encounter procurement workflow inefficiencies without the proper procure-to-pay tools – especially when implementing inefficient and disjointed contract management processes.  You can avoid risk, unreasonable vendor pricing, and vendor non-compliance by leveraging contract management processes in procurement that centralize processes, technology, and people.  Read on to discover how you can implement effective contract management software in procurement that results in maximized collaboration of various roles and responsibilities, cost savings, and more fruitful business relationships.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from September?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in October by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) software can seem like a significant investment. However, there is a high price to pay for low cost, poor contract management that will ultimately cost your organization much more in the long run. What’s more, you can plainly see the ROI contract management software provides if you know what to look for. As such, let’s take a look at 11 ways your organization can enjoy a strong contract lifecycle management ROI.

Do you have many contracts to extract data from and organize within a centralized, web-enabled contract management software suite?  Extracting contract data with a manual process - especially from hundreds or thousands of legacy contracts - can seem overwhelming and time-consuming. However, it doesn’t have to be.  Read on to learn how CobbleStone's automated contract data extraction can help streamline your contract data extraction process in three easy steps.

Managing contracts from requests to renewals can prove difficult when relying on primarily manual processes. Your organization could be sacrificing accountability, visibility, a clearly defined strategy, and actionable insights. As such, you can find yourself running into compliance issues, minimizing contract value, and encountering other setbacks. 

But it does not have to be this way. Modern advances in contract management technology can allow your organization to scale with success.

Read on to learn how to manage contracts effectively and how leading contract management software can support each of the contract lifecycle management best practices below for efficient contracting processes.

Protecting one’s organization with proper corporate legal compliance can present a complex host of challenges. Business operations regarding corporate compliance efforts present a two-fold challenge: First, compliance departments must make sure that employees do not fail to comply with internal policies and the code of conduct across departments. Second, compliance teams must ensure that federal (in the United States or elsewhere) and state rules and regulations are observed to avoid violations. You may be wondering how to manage compliance as responsibilities, rules, and corporate compliance law evolve. Thankfully, contract management software can serve as a user-friendly compliance management system.

Contract tracking can be a significant challenge for legal teams, contract managers, and other industry professionals.  Manual contract management processes may suffice for organizations with low contract volume and contract complexity.  However, when the number of contracts increases to hundreds, thousands, and beyond, contract failure rates increase exponentially.  Read on to learn how to master contract tracking with leading contract management software.

In today's dynamic business landscape, contracts form the bedrock of many business relationships – from vendor partnerships to employee agreements. Orchestrating this dance of documents and legalese is the contract manager. As businesses strive for efficiency while navigating intricate legal contract terms and conditions, the importance of understanding the duties of a contract manager cannot be overstated. This blog dives deep into contract manager roles and responsibilities, the journey to becoming a good contract manager, and the tools that empower successful contract management.

In today's rapidly evolving and automating legal landscape, the question isn't whether or not technology aids legal professionals in their goals but rather which tools and technology lawyers use to maximize efficiency and value.

In the vast jungle of business processes, managing contracts can be likened to navigating a dense labyrinth. One misstep or oversight can lead you progressively more astray. Yet, with an effective contract management system in place, the path becomes clearer and the journey smoother. Let’s delve deep as we unravel the secrets of mastering contract management.

In the baseball game of data protection, mastering the rules and strategies is as critical as practicing the fundamentals at spring training. Enter the world of data processing agreements (DPAs) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). We will learn about these agreements and regulations, as well as how contract management software helps ensure businesses don't just play but dominate in this crucial stadium.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from August?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in September by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

CobbleStone® has released its latest software update - CobbleStone Contract Insight^® Enterprise Version 22.1.2. This new release offers refreshing contract lifecycle management software tools for continuous legal operations success! Read on to familiarize yourself with next-generation contract management software features and innovations to centralize your contract administration processes!

As was detailed in our blogs on CobbleStone’s PC Helper Apps for MS Outlook and MS Word, contract lifecycle management is a multi-faceted process.  On top of that, managing all of the data points that come with contracts can be time-consuming and prone to error. If tasked with managing many contracts, employees, vendors, requests, and purchase orders, a contract management team can quickly drown in disparate spreadsheet documents, columns, and rows without a place to put them.

To help contract managers avoid these issues and more, CobbleStone provides a seamless connection between CobbleStone Contract Insight® and MS Excel. Read on to learn more.

CobbleStone Software is proud to introduce the new CobbleStone University YouTube channel for CobbleStone Contract Insight^® users! The CobbleStone University channel is the new dedicated home for CobbleStone’s instructor-led training videos, new feature training videos, and contract management software system integration videos.

Contract negotiation can create the difference between a strong or weak contract, which can directly impact the bottom line of an organization and the health of mutually-beneficial business relationships. As contract negotiation processes evolve at the speed of technological innovations, discover how leading-edge legal technology can empower your negotiation processes - including the use of robust version control, document collaboration, rules-based clause ownership, redlining software, and more.  While contract negotiations can take their necessary time, automating the process of negotiating agreements and contract terms where possible allows you to focus more on contract negotiation strategy and bargaining power.

Contract administration can bring forth a host of challenges. 

There needs to be an established plan and follow-through within a set timeline. Teams must track contract financials. There must be a plan for overseeing the contract lifecycle. Teams must have a plan for encountering risk variables.

Clearly, contract administrators have a lot on their plate. There is ample room for deleterious errors, contract risks, and bottlenecks – especially with manual contract methods.  Fortunately, contract management software can help reduce the time-consuming need for manual processes.  Here's how.

Purchasing contract management is a pivotal component of an efficient procurement process. Its prime focus is managing contracts - particularly those concerning supplier contracts and monitoring the terms and conditions. This comprehensive management ensures that businesses can effectively acquire goods and services while fostering healthy supplier relationships.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from July?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in August by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

A vendor agreement - an indispensable business contract - outlines the terms of the exchange of goods or services between a business and a vendor. This written agreement not only provides clarity of terms and conditions, but also protects both parties' interests. Here are the five essential elements every comprehensive vendor agreement should include for healthy vendor management, successful operations, and increased ROI.

Since 1967, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has preserved the public's right to request access to US Federal Agency contract records and data; the government of the United States is required to disclose federal agency records, including commercial or financial information. Learn about the Freedom of Information Act and how a public access portal for FOIA government contracts - coupled with the far-reaching power of leading-edge contract management software - can streamline requests for FOIA contracts.

The end of a contract is a crucial stage that necessitates careful consideration and handling. A contract is a legally binding agreement between parties. But the phrase "end of contract" doesn't imply that this agreement dissolves into thin air. In the world of common law, it refers to the conclusion of mutual agreement between the parties involved.

Liability waivers are indispensable for ensuring that parties involved in a business matter are aware of possible risks. However, managing liability waivers can become increasingly complex with the sheer number of participants - especially in sectors such as business and leisure events and adventure tourism. This is where contract management software becomes a game-changer - bringing efficiency and organization to the handling of these crucial documents.

Contracts are the lifeblood of the business world - acting as legally binding agreements between parties to deliver goods or services under specified terms. These contracts can be diverse, complex, and riddled with uncertainties inherent to contract performance. Today, we delve into how contract management software can simplify the management of various contract types in a business setting - discussing key topics such as fixed price contracts, cost reimbursement contracts, and time and materials contracts, among others.

In the vast realm of contract law, you'll often hear phrases like "intend to enter," "verbal contract," and "put it in writing." These reflect the nuanced stages of contract creation, fulfillment, and enforcement. In today's fast-paced world, these traditional methods are quickly being replaced by more modern, efficient processes. At the forefront of this evolution is contract management software that employs the power of electronic signatures.

In today's digitally driven world, legal operations are not left untouched. As technology continues to bleed into all avenues of life, the management of indemnity agreements - once a daunting task - has become significantly simplified with the advent of contract management software.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from June?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in July by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Effective risk management provides organizations with not only valuable business protection – but also the potential for meaningful growth. Central to a healthy approach to risk is an understanding of the risk management lifecycle. Let's delve into the five stages of this risk lifecycle - exploring the types of risks, risk management frameworks, strategies, and the essence of a risk management plan.

As the modern business environment becomes increasingly complex, corporate legal departments are under growing pressure to streamline operations, manage contracts, safeguard intellectual property, and control legal spending. In this digitally driven age, in-house legal software serves as a viable solution to these challenges.

Today's digital transformation is seeping into all business sectors, including organizations engaging in collective bargaining. One way this change manifests is through contract management software - an innovative tool that helps organizations working with unions manage their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) more effectively. In this post, we'll delve deeper into how CLM (contract lifecycle management) software can help track and manage crucial contracts and metrics - providing a comprehensive perspective of CLM operations.

Welcome to the world of supplier contract management. This world is an essential, yet often underestimated, cornerstone of effective business operations. We will navigate through the labyrinth of day-to-day supplier contract life cycle management. In doing so, we'll uncover how each element intertwines to create a harmonious symphony of successful supplier relationships, favorable contract terms, and saved money.

In the intricately woven landscape of today's business world, contract management becomes a cornerstone for operational efficiency. Contract reminder software has emerged as a vital tool in this space. It fosters a level of organizational effectiveness that is truly indispensable. So, let’s discuss how you can automate contracts with reminders galore!

Service level agreements (SLAs) are the linchpin of client and customer relationships in service-based industries. Defining the quality, scope, and performance metrics of services, these contracts are crucial yet complex elements that can be challenging to manage effectively. The increasing intricacy of modern SLAs - coupled with a growing emphasis on compliance and performance - necessitates a new approach to SLA management. This is where service contract management software steps in - offering a comprehensive solution that streamlines, simplifies, and optimizes the handling of SLAs.

When you think of managing contracts, do you visualize a never-ending mountain of paperwork and legal mumbo-jumbo? If so, it's time to change your strategy and embrace the cutting-edge world of legal document automation software. This transformative technology is revamping the traditional contract management process - paving the way for efficiency, accuracy, and ease of use.

In the fast-paced and dynamic world of retail, effective contract management is paramount for maintaining successful vendor relationships, ensuring compliance, and maximizing profitability. The retail industry faces unique challenges - including managing numerous supplier contracts and agreements with service providers and landlords. To overcome these challenges, retail organizations can leverage contract management systems tailored specifically for their needs.

In this blog post, we will delve into how contract management software addresses the specific pain points of the retail industry, streamlines contract processes, improves compliance, and empowers retailers to make informed decisions.

The use of artificial intelligence is all the buzz right now. From Microsoft Bing’s use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT to Google’s Bard AI Chat Bot - the topic of responsible use of artificial intelligence continues to trend. To add to that, generative artificial intelligence (a useful AI technology feature that generates human-like content) is being reviewed extensively - not only from a usability perspective, but from a legal work standpoint.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from May?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and source-to-contract management best practices in June by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

In the bustling business world, the arrival of electronic signatures has signaled a new era in conducting contracts and business relationships. Like a colossal, advanced ocean liner amid simple wooden galleons, the transition from traditional, paper-based processes to digitally powered signing and approvals has not just been about keeping up with the times; it’s been about setting an accelerated pace.

Electronic signature technology has transformed businesses across various sectors - establishing that pen and paper are no longer the zeitgeist of managing contracts and agreements. E-signatures can cut send-to-sign time by up to twenty percent!

It's crucial, therefore, to understand the landscape when selecting the right electronic signature platform. Consider this your nautical chart as we explore the features to look for when embarking on your digital voyage with electronic signature apps.

The contract management process has evolved drastically over the years. Managing contracts with obsolete methods is sure to make your organization fall behind. Luckily, you can automate contract lifecycle management with a contract database within contract management software. Let’s explore how a contract management database can take your contract management or legal team into the future.

Welcome – all of you wonderful contract dorks - to the thrilling new world of contract summary software! Most people would not put “thrilling” and “contract summary” next to one another, but that is simply because they are not legal experts who know just how fun contracts can be!

We're about to explore the groundbreaking utility that will restructure the way you manage contracts in your organization. After all, who doesn't love saving time, reducing contract risk, and improving the efficiency of contract processes? Let’s provide you with some benefits of contract summary software and five tips to help your legal team succeed.

In the grand galaxy of business operations, contracts serve as the gravity that supports the harmonious orbit of organizations, business partners, vendors, employees, and clients – spinning together in a vast cosmos of opportunity. However, managing contracts’ essential components in the pre-digital age of contract history was often a Herculean task - filled with countless man-hours, mountains of paperwork, and the potential for harmful human error.

Enter the era of digital contract management – a revolutionary epoch that has transformed the previously-laborious contracting process into a streamlined, efficient, and even fun experience. Let’s take flight into the future of legal ops: digital contract management.

Hello, and welcome to the "Jungle of Business Contracts" - where we tame the wild beasts of contract portfolios, deals, counterparties, and internal processes with the shepherd’s crook of legal technology. Today, we are going to embark on an expedition into the dense thicket of contract auditing. By the time we're finished, you'll be navigating this jungle like a panther - agile and confident.

ATTENTION procurement, supply chain, and purchase managers:

Your supply chain and sourcing processes play a critical role in ensuring your procurement teams have the proper goods and services necessary to operate and expand your business while fulfilling your client, operational, and contract commitments.

Brave and tame the endless jungle of contract jargon and legalese with NLP-driven contract management! Enjoy a fun and easy way to unleash your business potential for contracts and other legal documents.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from April?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and source-to-contract management best practices in May by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Cloud-based contract management is revolutionizing the way legal teams and other contract professionals handle their agreements. Cloud-based CLM supports streamlined processes, increased visibility, enhanced security, and reduced costs. As the demand for efficient, accessible, and cost-effective contracting processes grows, cloud-based approaches are emerging as the top choice for the job. Let’s explore cloud contract management via a simple, five-point plan to save time and money on legal operations.

As ESG (environmental, social, and governance) variables continue to play an integral role within organizations and serve as a prioritized component within business decision-making, ESG clauses in contracts are increasingly at the forefront of contract negotiations and compliance. 

Without the right contract management tools, ESG contract clause language can elongate negotiations and cause post-award compliance tracking difficulties.

Fortunately, AI-backed contract management software offers unique tools for reducing pre-award and post-award ESG contract clause bottlenecks so your team can address ESG principles and ESG goals. Read on to learn how.

From simple deals between friends to complex business arrangements, contracts play a crucial part in defining the terms and conditions of an agreement. One common type of contract is a bilateral contract – which we will explore in this blog post!

Healthcare contract management relying on manual processes can reduce efficiency for healthcare contract stakeholders, decrease revenue, and increase liability.  Contract lifecycle management bottlenecks can decrease the efficiency of resources, compromise contract security, and disorganize crucial data.  Read on to learn how to leverage six healthcare contract management software tools for stronger contracts.

Colleges, universities, and school systems can encounter unique contract management challenges.  Educational institutions manage a large volume of contracts, vendor contracts, suppliers, and providers of goods and services.  A disorganized, risk-prone, and slow-moving education contract management system can cause:

• confusion among departments.
• wasted time.
• widened gaps between legal, procurement, and contract administrators within academic systems. 

In order to avoid these issues, we need to first address the question. What exactly is education contract management - and how can it be improved with contract management software?

Did you miss any of our blog posts from March?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in April by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Keeping track of contracts can prove challenging, especially without a centralized system.  While contract management software provides a robust solution for contract lifecycle management, a basic contract tracking spreadsheet can help you retain some oversight.  Read on to learn how you can leverage CobbleStone Software’s free contract tracker to help streamline your contract management procedures.

Conversations about artificial intelligence in a business setting are important. According to a study performed by MIT Sloan Management Review, over 80% of organizations see AI as a vehicle for strategic opportunity. Additionally, 85% of organizations view AI as a means for competitive business advantages.¹

This interest in – and implementation of – AI applies to legal teams and other contract managers as well. Manually managing and reviewing an ever-increasing number of contracts of varying complexity is stressful and inefficient. But it does not have to be.

Organizations can improve contract review with AI-powered contract management software.

Maintaining efficiency for purchase orders processing is key to organizational health. Whether your team is managing indirect procurement processes or is taking real-time action on inventory management and distribution processes – purchase order management process bottlenecks can result from:

• human error during purchase request processes and budget procedures.
• manual processes for tracking quantities received, inventory assets, and key dates.
• lack of clarity regarding approval status and personnel.

Thankfully, the proper PO management system can help. Let’s take a look into purchasing procedures that can help your organization succeed.

CobbleStone® has released its latest software update - CobbleStone Contract Insight^® Enterprise Version 22.1.1. This new release offers refreshing contract management software tools for continuous CLM success! Read on to familiarize yourself with future-minded contract management software features and innovations to bring your legal operations to the next level!

Manually managing contracts can be discouraging and stressful. It can also increase risk, decrease revenue, and drastically stifle efficiency. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way. According to market research performed by CLOC, 74 percent of legal departments already leverage contract management software to streamline legal ops and more!

In this blog post, we will cover how contract management systems can solve a myriad of contract process problems. We will also help you easily make a business case for contract management software to decision-makers.

The procurement process is a many-feathered bird that leaves a lot of opportunity for success. However – just as your organization can succeed on many fronts – so too can your team face common procurement challenges. Such challenges can result in costly pay-per-solicitation, limited outreach, redundant data entry, and association with vendors that can harm your organization with procurement fraud, scandals, product failure, and failure to deliver what was promised.

Thankfully, you can avoid these procurement pitfalls. Beware of these three procurement situations that can lead your organization down a bumpy road.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from February?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in March by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

As we begin procurement month in 2023, procurement teams should maximize their goals.  An ineffective procurement strategy can lead to increased risk, dark purchasing, data inaccuracies, supplier issues, and a longer purchasing cycle. 

So stop wasting time, opportunities, and resources with an inefficient and ununified procurement process. 

Discover how you can leverage 7 procurement tools within procurement software.  Enable procurement teams to attain cost savings and eliminate time-consuming bottlenecks in 2023 and beyond for procurement process-flow success in 2023 and beyond.

CobbleStone Software is proud to present its proprietary clause metadata field recommendation feature - ConfigAI℠. A helpful feature within VISDOM^® AI (CobbleStone's proprietary contract intelligence engine with machine learning), ConfigAI can provide proactive CLM field recommendations for metadata fields for contract clauses to streamline contract management software implementations!

Readers: don't worry; we don't really think you are dummies. We merely intend to guide you along the right path if you are new to contract lifecycle management or want to learn more.

The process of managing contracts can be challenging for even the most seasoned business professional. Even well-intentioned and well-thought-out contract processes can fall flat. Sadly, your organization can incur operational and financial risk without an ironclad strategy in place.

We are here to give you tips on how to work smarter and not harder when you deal with contracts. As such, let's go over the basics of managing contracts more efficiently and effectively!

Nearly every business relationship involves a contract. At the crux of every contract is back-and-forth negotiation. This chess-like undertaking requires purposeful and good-faith cooperation on both sides.

The cutthroat, 1980s Wall Street businessman approach of trying to steamroll one’s opponent into submission often depicted in movies does not reflect successful contract negotiation in real life. True contract negotiation requires active listening, considerate acknowledgment of both parties’ pain points, and the ability to forge a win-win agreement.

As such, here are 8 contract negotiation strategies to improve your contract negotiation processes.

The 2023 CobbleStone Roadshow Reimagined is coming to a computer or city near you this year, with monthly Contract Management Masterclass and Client Training events from February 24th through December 15th, 2023! Achieve sustainable contract lifecycle management success by attending a Contract Management Masterclass or Client Training event either online or in person - including on-site events in New York, NY; Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA; and Houston, TX. 

While the Contract Management Masterclass events offer prospective CobbleStone users an immersive and preliminary venture into contract management software, the Client Training events can help CobbleStone Admins optimize their CobbleStone Contract Insight® configurations and system processes. Read on to discover what attendees can anticipate at The 2023 CobbleStone Roadshow Reimagined!

Colleges, universities, and other education institutions draft, negotiate, and approve a myriad of contracts with vendors, partners, suppliers, and employees every year. Actively managing contracting processes and maintaining formal relationships can be difficult and time-consuming. This holds especially true for the many universities that don’t have a system in place for the contract management process.

If your organization develops products, your team does not necessarily need to tackle the manufacturing process alone. In fact, most organizations enter into manufacturing contracts. These contracts make it so another company can handle the production process so that you can sell those finished products. A manufacturing contract sets the provisions of this agreement.

But what else is involved in a manufacturing contract? How does one manage a manufacturing contract once parties agree to enter one?

Let’s explore how to define and manage a manufacturing contract.

Contracts are critical for a vast array of business processes. As such, legal teams and contract administrators must be prepared for contract lifecycle management. However, it is important to note that not everyone is positioned to engage in legally binding contracts for themselves or their organizations. As such, one of the crucial elements of a contract is the legal capacity of parties involved.

In this post, we’ll provide 3 criteria that dictate an individual’s capacity to enter into a contract.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from January?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in February by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Business automation is already sharpening professional methods across a variety of industries.  However, advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) can be particularly advantageous as they apply to contract management software systems. Contract intelligence engines built upon a foundation of machine learning just need to be fed a nutritious diet of relevant contract data.

Tracking contract management data with manual and disparate processes throughout the contract lifecycle can prove challenging.  You can waste time and energy without readily accessible contract management reports for the following.

• Contract Financials
• Contract Terms
• Workflows
• Budgets
• KPIs
• Vendors
• Compliance Data
• & Other Essential Contract Data

Fortunately, leading contract management software can provide you with contract management reports for robust contract performance management oversight.

We know. We usually talk about contract management software here on the Contract Insights blog. But what if we rewound for now to a stage that often comes before contracts: letters of intent?

What is a letter of intent? Why does it matter? What does it have to do with contracts?

Read on to find out.

Unfulfilled contract obligations can create a post-award contract management nightmare that can escalate to stressful legal action – such as issuing a cease and desist or suing your counterparty. 

So, how can you avoid this? 

By clearly defining the obligation of contracts between you and your counterparty and leveraging contract management software tools to receive timely alerts for each obligation of contracts, you can retain contract obligation accountability instead of meddling with unnecessary disputes.

Contract review is a crucial contract management stage.  Unfortunately, far too many organizations overlook this process or leverage out-of-date methods that can increase unnecessary risk.

Thankfully, we can establish a contract review processes checklist and manage the life of a contract with leading contract management software.  Let’s get started.

At the heart of healthy business relationships are contracts. In an ideal world, contract parties perform obligations, they renegotiate or renew, and all are happy with a longstanding and fruitful business relationship…

…but unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world.

Sometimes, one party fails to perform. As such, a breach of contract occurs. Time and money are wasted. Opportunities and value go “poof.” Crucial business processes are delayed or destroyed. Trust between parties is maimed.

With all of these negative effects, a breach of contract should clearly be avoided. Parties should have the right tools to identify contracts’ failure to perform and prevent breaches of contract. Thankfully, contract management software can help.

Signed, sealed, delivered...What comes to mind when you imagine a "signature" being performed on a document? Most likely, you picture a wet signature - meaning a handwritten signature.

The iconography of the wet signature is pretty ubiquitous, but what does a signature do? What is a wet signature? Why is it so obsolete? What's a better option than a wet signature?

Read on to find out.

You have likely heard the term “digital transformation” in a professional context. This term has become ever more prevalent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital transformation initiatives have been leveraged to transform business processes and business outcomes.

But what is digital transformation really – and why does it matter? Read on to find out!

Did you miss any of our blog posts from December?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and source-to-contract management software best practices in January by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

CobbleStone Software is proud to share that we have helped transform contract lifecycle management and procurement in 2022 in various ways. Additionally, we have experienced record-breaking growth this past year.  From broadening our client base and partner network to providing leading contract management software innovations and more, here are some noteworthy CobbleStone® successes from 2022.

Managing contracts can be challenging for legal, procurement, and contract management professionals, especially when primarily relying on manual processes.

Managing the contract lifecycle can prove difficult with spreadsheets, emails, filing cabinets, and other disparate tools.

Contract lifecycle management requires careful planning, the right technology, a well-planned contract strategy, and holistic contract lifecycle automation processes.  Thankfully, robust contract management softwarewith a foundation of AI and machine learning can help automate contract lifecycle management processes.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from November?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and source-to-contract management software best practices in December by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Contracts are essential in supplementing business transactions, business relationships, and business growth; naturally, so are those who manage those contracts. But what does a contract manager really do – and what makes a good contract manager? Read on to find out.

We hear about contracts all the time. They power business relationships across sectors, industries, and nations. Individuals, businesses, and societies at large use contracts to fulfill wishes and needs. Contracts keep our world moving.

Contract drafting is a multi-faceted and complex process.  Document collaboration, contract authoring, negotiation, terms and conditions, and other relevant steps can be challenging. They are all the more challenging if you are relying on manual tools - such as shared drives and emails.  Leave tedious, manual contract drafting methods in the past by embracing robust contract management software.

Traditional paper contracts were replaced long ago by better contract processes. The paper document has been foregone in favor of digital contracts. However, not all computer-based contract management processes are created equal.

As a government contract manager, it's helpful to stay up-to-date with the latest government contract management, purchasing, and sourcing tools - especially as the industry keeps evolving through 2023 and beyond. 

Read on to discover six user-friendly government contract management software tools you can leverage to streamline your public contracting processes.

Managing contracts can be challenging - especially when primarily relying on outdated tools such as spreadsheets, emails, and shared drives.  Without accountability, visibility, and actionable insights, you can find yourself confronting contracting workflow bottlenecks.  Enterprise contract lifecycle management (CLM) requires careful planning, the right technology, and a well-planned contract strategy.

To gain the most out of enterprise contract management, take advantage of seven best practices.  Enterprise contract management best practices involve contract lifecycle management software. CLM software digitally unifies processes from contract requests through renewals. It provides a centralized, web-enabled, single source of truth for contracts. 

Read on to learn more.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from October?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in November by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

What is a digital signature? Is it not the same thing as an electronic signature?

We inhabit an ever-evolving technological landscape in which new and updated terminology and functionality are constantly presented. It can be confusing to know the differences between terms such as the two mentioned above. However, those differences are actually quite simple!

Familiarize yourself with these two terms. Discover how to utilize both eSignatures and digital signatures to establish a process that is:

• secure.
• user-friendly.
• compliant.
• and rapid.

CobbleStone Software's latest version – CobbleStone Contract Insight® Enterprise 22.1.0 – has arrived for a refreshing contract lifecycle management experience!

Read on to acclimate yourself with next-level CLM features and innovations to bring your contract management software platform into the future of legal operations!

Government contract management is divided into three stages: procurement or acquisition planning, sourcing, and post-award contract management. 

The first two stages have had the most focused time and financial investment for improvement.  This approach leaves post-award management as a secondary duty for contract officer representatives (CORs) and contract managers within legal teams. Consequently, they are left unsupported for compliance, risk management, and opportunity realization. 

Arguably, contract processes after acquisition and sourcing are the most crucial stages for public-sector and private-sector contract managers. However, these stages notoriously lack proper visibility and resources.  This article will address the challenges and present actionable post-award contract management best practices with the help of contract management software.

We would venture to say that all businesses from various industries in the public and private sectors need vendors. Vendor relationships help power business processes. Vendors can provide supplies, services, maintenance, and raw materials for generating products. As such, it is important that organizations maintain business relationships with third-party vendors.

Unfortunately – as is the case with most things – there is a right and a wrong way to go about vendor management.

Contract and procurement teams need to sidestep spend leakage, detrimental terms, and soured vendor relationships. On the other hand, proper vendor contract management can set the stage for positive growth and opportunity realization. Here’s how.

As your organization grows, so do the complexity and volume of your contracts. Your contract management process needs to expand with your company. This is where a contract management system comes in.

But how can your business users prepare for growth with a better way of managing contracts?

Read on to find out!

Contracts and agreements power every industry. We would even venture to guess that virtually every business utilizes contracts in some form or another. As such, organizations must ensure that their contracts are properly prepared and legally enforceable.

Let’s review what makes a contract legally binding, and how to manage legal contracts to ensure that they are virtually airtight from contract execution to contract renewal.

Document, contract, and record management require a secure and accessible way to access necessary documentation and data. Unfortunately, this is not observed by some organizations – causing them to fall behind.

Outdated document storage methods that rely on file cabinets, shared drives, and locally-saved documents no longer cut it. Document scanning and subsequent file share can waste time and decrease oversight.

Thankfully, organizations no longer need to face storage limitations and decentralized file management. With enterprise content management within contract management software, organizations can up their storage game. Here’s how.

From services contracts to consulting agreements to employment contracts – contracts are an essential part of business relationships across industries. However, writing even simple contracts from scratch can seem daunting.

Without a starting point, drafting contracts can prove time-consuming and challenging. Your contract team can suffer from critical inaccuracies and missed opportunities.

Thankfully, your organization can leverage easy-to-customize and mergeable contract templates to save valuable time and maximize accuracy.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from September?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in October by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Managing various documents across business processes can be difficult. Without document controls and a development process for the management of business documents, your organization can expend valuable time and effort chasing down paper documents and those within disorganized digital storage. Without easy accessibility, your organization can suffer from document loss and misplaced versions.

Fortunately, your organization can compartmentalize the stages of a document lifecycle to better understand the document management process. To that end, let’s explore the three stages of the document lifecycle!

Oh no!  It happened: contract lifecycle process failure.  Something went wrong during contract lifecycle management - resulting in contract failure.  But fear not; as a contract management professional, you are a worthy investigator.  It is time to put on your detective hat, grab a notepad, and piece together the clues as to why your contract lifecycle process failed.  You can also inspect how this tragedy could have been avoided with contract management software.  Let the investigation begin!

Managing documents within an unorganized and insecure document repository can slow down your document management processes and leave your organization exposed to undue risk. Relying on manual and disparate systems - such as shared drives, emails, and spreadsheets – can cause you to fall into document mismanagement pitfalls.  Considering how organizations ranging from small businesses to global enterprises leverage document repositories daily, discover how contract management software can empower you with secure yet flexible document repository tools.

Contract drafting can be a multi-faceted and tremendously tricky process. This difficulty especially holds true for those new to corporate law and contract management. Before we can get into how to draft contracts correctly, we must know what we should avoid. As such, here are four examples of lousy contract drafting – followed by four ways to draft contracts better.

CobbleStone Software's in-person user conference will be hosted in Austin, Texas, from Wednesday, October 12th, through Friday, October 14th, 2022.  The 2022 CobbleStone Conference will include engaging breakout sessions and dynamic speakers to enhance your contract management software experience.  Considering that the 2021 CobbleStone Virtual Conference received tremendous positive feedback, we eagerly anticipate continuing our successful user conference track record by engaging with CobbleStone Contract Insight users and prospective users in person soon!  Prospective CobbleStone users can register for a one-day-only complimentary contract management conference on October 13th. The 2022 CobbleStone Conference is proudly sponsored by Four Business Solutions. Read on to see what you can expect to gain from the 2022 CobbleStone Conference, so you can secure your seats before registration closes on October 1st, 2022!

The age of digital transformation has forged a path of opportunity for analyzing vital information to improve business processes. This phenomenon strongly applies to contract data as well. Unfortunately, many businesses managing contracts fail to maximize contract data points to learn from mistakes and improve contract processes. As such, they fail to reduce risk, optimize contract terms and language, proactively recognize growth opportunities, strengthen the contract review process, and more.

Thankfully, you can avoid falling victim to contract lifecycle process failure and stagnation with contract management software.

Contract clauses and contracts themselves are built into the identity of the United States and so many other great nations. With the help of historic Supreme Court rulings, the contract and the contract clause were weaved into the cultural fabric of US society.

Utilizing manual sourcing methods - such as gathering item prices in spreadsheets, corresponding with prospective bidders individually via email, leveraging paper-based RFPs, and collecting numerous data separately from pontential suppliers - can cause you to face a time-consuming challenge in sourcing quality and cost saving goods or services.  Without the proper tools, sourcing professionals within your procurement team could fail to determine formal bids, RFPs, budget allowances, stock levels, current contracts, and contingencies in purchase order releases.  Fortunately, you can utilize the following seven essential eSourcing software tools for seamless source-to-contract management success.

In April 2022, we announced CobbleStone's exciting million-clause initiative to nourish and enhance VISDOM® AI - CobbleStone Software's proprietary contract intelligence engine with machine learning.  In June 2022, we announced that 330K contract clauses had been fed to VISDOM contract AI.  Now, we are thrilled to announce that over 500,000 clauses have been "fed" to VISDOM thus far!  This stage in the momentous 1,000,000 contract clause project is just one of many testaments to why CobbleStone® has been hailed as the leader in contract management software.

With new advancements and options for effective contract management continually evolving, we’ve detailed five essential tools contract managers must empower themselves with to navigate the ever-changing landscape of contract management best practices going forward.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from August?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in September by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

A contract amendment is a modification of the terms and conditions of a contract or subcontract.

Though we will explore contract amendments more in-depth, it is worth noting that changing the structure, duties, obligations, or rights of a contract requires increased oversight.

To that end, let's explore contract amendments and how disparate, important, and sensitive information can be managed, and contract amendments can be executed smoothly for effective contract management.

Business relationships power various industries within the public and private sectors. At the crux of virtually every business relationship is a contract. Contracts serve to cement the obligations, duties, and expectations of two or more engaged business parties.

But what are contracts really? How do they work on a fundamental level?

Let’s explore six key elements of a contract that are widely applicable to almost every business relationship – and why they matter for effective contract management.

Contract drafting is essential in helping capture the purpose of a contract in written form. Haphazard drafting of a contract can result in pushing outdated contract versions to collaboration and negotiation. Additionally, the lack of a centralized and informed process can result in incorrect language being introduced into the review process. Unfavorable terms, missed obligations, and legal disputes can follow.

To help you avoid these consequences and more, here are five practical contract drafting tips for more effective contract management.

CobbleStone Software is proud to introduce the CobbleStone University Certification Program (CUCP)! The program will strengthen and verify our Partner Network’s expertise in CobbleStone Contract Insight^® Enterprise. The program is comprised of a series of live training sessions and videos with accompanying documentation, and culminates in assessments to earn your certification. Read on to learn more!

Contracts are legally binding agreements that define and govern the exchange of goods or services. A contract’s journey – from creation to fulfillment and completion – is complex and leaves room for errors and oversights. As such, a process has been generally agreed upon for the handling of contracts. This process is referred to as contract management.

But what is contract management, and how can it be approached? Here’s what you need to know.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from July?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in August by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Contract compliance is crucial for the success of a contract – and sets the stage for contract renewals. Unfortunately, many organizations are (sometimes unwittingly) exposing themselves to financial risk, breaches of contract, and legal penalties. Contract compliance mistakes can lead to contract failure, data leakage, a shattered reputation, lawsuits, and more.

Contract managers need to know their mistakes in order to correct course. As such, here are six contract compliance mistakes you might not know you’re making.

Digital transformation is the future of contract management – whether legal operations professionals like it or not. Organizations not leveraging contract intelligence may very well encounter a bleak contract lifecycle management future.

Gathering signatures for a contract or agreement can be difficult without the proper tools. Outdated and slow signing methods can cause signature bottlenecks that delay contract execution. What’s more, high costs for wet signing and postage can decrease your bottom line.

Fortunately, there is a better way. Let’s discuss why electronic signature software within contract management software is awesome for your contract processes.

As contract management continuously evolves amidst ongoing digital transformation, it's important to pursue smart goals that can keep up with the times.  Rather than fall behind with manual contract management processes that require disparate tools - such as email, spreadsheets, and shared drives – read on to see how you can leverage future-minded contract management software tools to fulfill your contract management goals successfully.

Gathering contract signatures can be a challenging task, especially when working with multiple signatories in various locations.  Signatures finalize contracts and propel their execution. This highly anticipated step can be delayed with manual processes that include scanning signed documents, emailing scanned contracts, signing with wet signatures, mailing contracts with wet signatures, and reorganizing signed contracts in shared drives - to name a few. Moreover, specific signatures can require notarization, which can further delay the signing process.  Read on to learn how eSignature software within contract management software can make contract signing quick and easy.

Contract authoring is essential.  An inefficient process can hinder organizations and result in error-prone contracts with missing or misplaced clauses.

Additionally, overlooked key dates and milestones and a confusing process can stall the contract lifecycle.  Luckily, leading contract management software can provide intelligent authoring.  Read on to learn how to simplify and modernize the contract writing process.

The age of legal operations digital transformation continues in 2023, with even more exciting digitization tools for business process automation available.  The more contract administration tools available to legal teams and contract administrators – however – the easier it is to fall behind.  With that said, let’s examine six tips for effective contract management in 2023 to get ahead with contract management software.

Contractual compliance management can be challenging when leveraging primarily manual methods, such as spreadsheet management – especially when tracking multiple contracts with varying compliance standards.  Fortunately, contract lifecycle management (CLM) software tools can help you retain contractual compliance.  Read on to discover how you can streamline three key contractual compliance management areas with leading contract management software.

A study examining the reasons for contract management process failure found that key indicators of contract mismanagement include (among others) poor contract lifecycle planning and scheduling, late or improper contract submission and approvals, weak leadership, and lack of counterparty collaboration and communication (Mohamed, Norazida, et al., 2019).  Luckily, with leading contract management software and the proper contract management services, your organization can streamline contract management, decrease risk, increase revenue, and much more.  To that end, let's examine our top eight contract management services for more robust contract lifecycle management.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from June?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in July by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

In April, we announced CobbleStone Software's momentous million-clause initiative to enhance and nourish VISDOM® AI - CobbleStone's proprietary contract artificial intelligence engine with machine learning.  Now, we are excited to share that - in just two months - over 330,000 clauses have been "fed" to VISDOM contract intelligence thus far!  This momentous 1,000,000 contract clause initiative is just one of many reasons that CobbleStone® has been celebrated as the leader in contract management software.

The contract analysis process is a many-feathered bird.  Between tracking and gaining insights from clauses, tracking contract status, and managing risk variables - there is ample room for mistakes and bottlenecks.  Luckily, organizations can manage contract analysis better with contract artificial intelligence within contract management software.

Contract administration can be a daunting process when relying on primarily manual tools - such as spreadsheets, shared drives, and disparate emails.  Without accountability, visibility, and a clearly defined contract administration plan, you can find yourself running into compliance issues, minimizing contract value, and encountering other setbacks.  Read on to learn how you can create a strong contract administration plan with the help of leading contract management software.

Within the healthcare industry, keeping documents and files up-to-date is crucial to maintaining compliance.  Healthcare agencies, such as the FDA, NHS, and Health Canada, are continually monitoring hospitals, physician's offices, and other healthcare facilities to ensure healthcare professionals, administrators, and providers are keeping up with legal requirements.  The maintenance of healthcare compliance and healthcare CLM efficiency requires significant time and resources invested in signing processes.  With so many documents and versions to sign, there is room for error - and healthcare compliance can be jeopardized.  Luckily, healthcare contract management software can provide mass eSignatures for maximized healthcare compliance and efficiency.  Here's how.

Navigating your CLM Platform can be difficult if you aren't equipped with a thorough understanding of the contract lifecycle.  The contract lifecycle is the process under which a contract is authored, reviewed, sent for signature, executed, and - possibly – renewed.  The "lifecycle" is an archetype used to characterize and understand a contract's complex growth.  The lifecycle voyage begins with contract requests and ends when said requests are achieved – with the feasibility of contract renewal.  With so many complex processes involved in contract lifecycle management, it can be easy to sail toward the treacherous waters of contract mismanagement.  With a strong sense of how to leverage leading CLM software, however, you can quickly get your legal operations sea legs!  Read on to learn how you can set sail toward better contract management.

As a legal operations professional, you hold a tremendous responsibility within your organization – especially in managing internal and external stakeholder processes.  Relying on manual contract management processes such as spreadsheets, emails, and shared drives can create inefficient contract management processes that can decrease revenue, waste time, and increase risk.  Read on to learn how legal operations software and contract management software can empower your day-to-day legal operations.

Managing contracts can be challenging when you rely on primarily manual processes. Managing the contract lifecycle from requests to renewals can prove challenging with spreadsheets, emails, and other disparate tools.  Without accountability, visibility, a clearly defined process, and actionable insights, you can find yourself running into compliance issues, not realizing contract value, and encountering other contract management setbacks.  Contract management workflow requires careful planning, the right technology, and a well-thought-out contract strategy.  Read on to discover five key advantages of contract management workflow automation within contract management software.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from May?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in June by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

Organizations may be hesitant to move from on-premise to software-as-a-service (SaaS) contract management solutions due to misguided presumptions. Such “myths” can be misleading and discouraging to potential software users, leaving them exposed to contract data loss, contract management software user errors, and the complication of contract lifecycle management process centralization. Conversely, cloud-based contract management software can streamline, unify, and automate legal operations. To that end, let’s set the record straight and debunk five prevailing myths about SaaS contract management.

What is e sourcing?  Why is it important?  What can I do to get started with a suitable eSourcing process?  Read on to define "eSourcing," discover the troubles of manual sourcing processes, and learn how to optimize your eSourcing process in the age of digital transformation with a centralized and user-friendly integrated eSourcing software and contract management software platform.

It remains true that general counsel and paralegals continue to encounter growing contract complexity and volume.  An ineffectual legal contract management process makes obstacles for legal departments tough to overcome.  Here’s how to leverage seven legal contract management software tools for a streamlined legal contract lifecycle, reduced risk, and minimal contract lifecycle bottlenecks and delays.

Managing your CRM (client relationship management system) separately from your CLM (contract lifecycle management system) can cause sales contract management bottlenecks - such as disorganization, miscommunication, and increased risk.  Fortunately, leading contract management software can help you achieve sales contract management success by seamlessly connecting your CLM and CRM.  Read on to learn how connecting your CLM and CRM can help expedite your sales contract management process by sharing relevant and timely information between sales and contract management teams efficiently – helping close sales deals quickly and track post-signature responsibilities effectively until renewal.

In the age of digital transformation, organizations from a vast array of industries are switching from on-premise to web-based SaaS (software as a service) software deployment to streamline business operations.  Those using contract management software are no exception.  There are times when on-premise (deployed) contract management solutions are applicable.  However, on-premise solutions can leave organizations exposed to contract data loss, contract management software user errors, and the complication of contract lifecycle management process centralization.  Conversely, cloud-based contract management software can streamline, unify, and automate legal operations.  To that end, here are some perks of switching from an on-premise to a SaaS contract management software solution.

Onboarding and training your next generation of employees can prove time-consuming and somewhat stressful for most organizations.  Turnover in your legal team, compliance, and other key roles can create friction that affects your bottom line.  Fortunately, CobbleStone Software is dedicated to protecting your source-to-contract management workflows from process bottlenecks by creating a smooth learning experience for your new contract management software users.

Purchase orders play a vital role in ensuring you have the goods and services necessary to operate and expand your business.  With robust purchase order management software, you can lower administrative costs, boost accountability, enhance communication and asset management, and assist your organization in achieving successful operations - all while enjoying seamlessly integrated contract lifecycle management.  Read on to learn five key electronic purchase order software tools within contract management software.

Efficient contract management is essential for the health of organizations in all industries - including the energy industry.  Energy sector companies need to work with many contracts, bids, vendors, suppliers, and contractors to maintain operations and increase revenue.  Tackling these different processes in a fast-paced business environment can prove quite challenging.  With a decentralized approach involving contracts stored in filing cabinets, costly payments per solicitation, limited vendor and supplier outreach, tedious collection of vendor responses through email, contract lifecycle inefficiencies, and easily-missed key date reminders, organizations in the energy sector can quickly find themselves "unplugged" and "out of battery" with decreased revenue, increased risk, and missed opportunities.  Luckily, integrated contract and procurement software can help.  Read on to learn how energy contract management software can supercharge energy industry contract and procurement operations to keep organizations "on the grid" of digital transformation.

Managing contracts can be challenging - especially when primarily relying on outdated tools such as spreadsheets, emails, and shared drives.  Without accountability, visibility, a clearly defined process, and actionable insights within a contract management software platform, you can find yourself confronting contract management bottlenecks.  Contract lifecycle management (CLM) requires careful planning, the right technology, a well-planned contract strategy, and robust contract lifecycle management processes.  To gain the most out of contract lifecycle management, you need to ask key questions in order to find the right answers.  Read on to discover seven key questions to consider when implementing contract lifecycle management, including key features to look for when leveraging a CLM software platform.

Did you miss any of our blog posts from April?  Don't worry; we have outlined each of them for you.  Stay up-to-date with industry topics, real-world case studies, and contract management software and procurement best practices in May by reading the latest CobbleStone® content.

An antiquated contract signing process can be exhausting and overly complicated.  However, tedium and headache are not the only consequences.  Organizations relying on paper-based printing, signing, wet signatures, drawn-out mailing times, and costly postage fees are essentially guaranteed to lose out on revenue, opportunity, and timeliness.  But why?  What's so good about a more modern contract signing solution anyway?  Read on to learn about what you are missing if you lack an advanced electronic signature software solution within contract management software.

Tracking contract management data with manual and disparate processes throughout the contract lifecycle can prove challenging.  Without readily accessible contract analytics software tools for contract financials, workflows, budgets, KPIs, vendors, compliance, and other essential contract metadata, you can waste time and energy.  Fortunately, leading contract management software can provide you with contract analytics software tools for robust source-to-contract lifecycle management oversight.

There is an almost limitless abundance of wildlife within the animal kingdom.  And yet, some zoologists can recognize thousands of species, along with how they function within their ecosystems, how they behave, what they eat, where they obtain shelter, etc.  But how do zoologists come to know so much about the creatures around us?  The answer is through repeated exposure to and study of such beasts.

Similarly, contract artificial intelligence within contract management software can come to recognize almost countless different types of clauses within contracts - if said contract intelligence engine is fed a "nutritious diet" of various contract clauses and terms.  Such is the idea behind CobbleStone Software's million-clause initiative to nourish and enhance its proprietary contract artificial intelligence engine with machine learning - VISDOM® AI.

It is easy to make your case for contract management software and its ability to positively transform contract lifecycle management processes.  With so many user-friendly contract management software features at your disposal, it can be overwhelming to plan precisely how to utilize contract management software for your organization's needs.  But it does not have to be.  To that end, here are four fundamental contract management software features to get you started with better contract administration in the age of legal operations digital transformation.