Contract Insights

Many organizations have integrated technology to streamline processes and improve productivity but still rely on a manual approach to contract and document storage.  Storing documents and managing contracts may involve filing cabinets, massive stacks of files and papers, emails, and some rendition of a digital filing system.  This approach makes it nearly impossible to keep contracts secure, retain version control, stay on top of key dates and milestones, or enforce contract archiving and retention rules.  Storing contracts may sound like a simple task, but without a secure contract repository, organizations are missing the critical element that can support their ability to have control over contracts, reduce risk, and improve contract performance.

How can organizations identify the best contract management software? Making an informed and successful business decision to invest in contract management software SaaS or deployed requires organizations to create a strategy to get the most out of  product demonstrations.

The value of contract management software is apparent to many contract management, legal, and procurement professionals.  These changemakers know that manual contract management is not effective, and they see an opportunity to streamline, automate, and improve transparency by digitally transforming their organization’s contract management processes.  The challenge for the people managing contracts day-to-day is translating the value to get approval on the contract management software investment. 

Electronic signatures can be challenging for contract, procurement, and legal professionals. The challenges may originate with electronic signature implementation, or they may come from the shift in focus from old processes toward the new experience, reliability, and scaleability that electronic signatures can contribute to your organizations’ digital transformation initiatives. Learn how to master e-signatures in this blog.

Contracts secure and protect assets and, while doing so, should help organizations generate revenue, not lose revenue. Regardless of the intent of contracts, lost revenue is a significant challenge for contract managers.  CobbleStone launched the “Mastering Contract Management Blog Series” to address the problems that contract, legal, and procurement professionals face when managing contracts. In the fourth blog post in the series, lost revenue is discussed.

Contract Management Software can benefit any organization that needs to manage contracts or agreements, but one of the most common objections is the cost. Understandably, budgets are a considerable factor in all business decisions, but low-cost contract management comes at a higher price.

In a previous CobbleStone blog, Project Coordinator, Nash DeVita, identified the key areas that can make or break enterprise contract management software implementation success.

In this blog post, I interview Nash and dig deeper into who the contract management software administrator (who owns implementation on the client-side) should be, and what it takes on the client-side to reach the go live milestone on time with the anticipated contract management software ROI.

As organizations face increasingly complex challenges and arduous competition, Procurement Managers are expected to provide more value amidst increasing responsibilities and decreasing people resources. Procurement is rapidly expanding beyond transaction and vendor management into strategic procurement initiatives that must be aligned with organizational goals. This article examines what it will take to add value from procure to pay.