Contract Insights

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.

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.

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.

Over the last year, our clients - legal professionals - have expressed their seemingly increased workload for reviewing contract documents, negotiating agreements, and signing contracts.  Recently, I was asked: "When do you know it is time to hire a full-time legal professional for contract management and legal review?" Considering the innumerable times I've been asked this question, I resolved to write a thorough and thoughtful response as a blog that aligns with our audience of contract management software users and prospective CLM users as well.  Discover 5 steps to determine if you need to hire a full-time legal reviewer or paralegal.

After dealing with exhausting manual contract management software best practices, you are searching online for a pleasant, relaxing stay in a contract management suite.  There are many leading contract management software platforms out there, but only leading solutions offer the amenities you need to kick back and enjoy improved legal operations.  To virtually ensure you have the best possible CLM experience, here are the amenities you should look for in your contract management suite.

Contract management teams hold a lot of responsibilities throughout the life of a contract.  Streamlined and organized contract collaboration is key to CLM success.  Without a clear-cut understanding of how the contract process should occur, contract management teams can encounter unnecessary contract risk, contract lifecycle bottlenecks, and decreased revenue.  As such, we have outlined the responsibilities of a contract management team and how these responsibilities can be centralized and organized with leading contract management software.

Introducing a new contract management software solution can be a painless process or a long and difficult one.  Taking steps to prepare for the CLM implementation helps ensure the process is efficient rather than arduous and helps guarantee success.  The following steps can help lead to successful implementation:

• Determine contract administrators for the project.
• Assess and track contract data.
• Consider contract processes and configure procedures.
• Increase security with contract management permissions.
• Define necessary contract management reports.
• Collect and clean contract management data.

Read on to discover how to leverage the above-mentioned steps to successfully implement your contract lifecycle management software.

Organizations in both the public and private sectors are experiencing an ever-increasing need to more efficiently manage their contracts as contract volume and contract complexity grow.  Each stage in the life of a contract becomes ever more critical as organizations embrace digital transformation to more effectively manage legal operations.  Before they can even begin to improve contract lifecycle management, organizations need to have a clear understanding of contract management objectives.  In this article, we provide a straightforward examination of the objectives of contract management - as well as how organizations can meet these objectives with user-friendly contract management software.