Contract Insights

Effectively managing tail spend now can save your organization headaches in the long run.

What is Tail Spend?

In an organization where there are outlined procurement procedures, roughly 80% of that organization’s total spend will be strategically managed through those guidelines. Those purchases are usually lead by an experienced purchasing professional who will thoroughly vet the potential vendors. They will ensure that the purchase is in compliance with company and industry guidelines, and, once work is awarded, the purchasing professional will continue to audit that relationship. They will make sure that the terms are being met as agreed upon and will continue to rate the vendors work to justify renewing the contract.

Feel Confident About Managing Your Contracts the Right way.

When purchasing anything new for your organization, you want to feel confident that you’re making the right choice. An informed buyer is a satisfied buyer because you’re confident you did your homework. This is especially important when you’re looking to overhaul some of your current processes and implement a new way of doing things. It can be overwhelming, and when it comes to redesigning your contract management process, it can be downright scary.

Choosing the right software with the right features can make all the difference. 

Managing contracts is something that almost all industries do daily. A single company can have contracts in place for a variety of reasons which could include facilities, personnel, clients, the real estate they operate in, and so much more. Whatever the case may be, these contracts have their own stages and lifecycles that are important to stay aware of through their duration of activity.

It’s hard to imagine, with today’s advances in technology, that there was a time where manual contract management was the standard process at most organizations.  Hard copies were stored in filing cabinets and some contract administrator or designated personnel had to make a conscious effort to check in on these records and ensure things were running smoothly.

Contract management software from CobbleStone Software can go a long way towards cutting down the amount of underperforming contracts you have to deal with on a regular basis. When you deal with a large volume of contacts every day, there will always be one or two that just aren’t cutting it. Underperforming contracts can impact profits if not dealt with appropriately, so here are four tips you can use to handle a contract that isn't performing properly.

This post was originally published 9/15/17. Updated 6/5/18.

Government contract management involves forming strategic business alliances with trusted governmental agencies and other private-sector contractors who can provide goods and other services to them. Government agencies regularly track, review, and approve a multitude of different contracts each fiscal year. Many of these agreements are quite complex in nature, and often require a rigorous set of policies to guarantee their obligations and deadlines are being met. Establishing and sustaining formal business relationships with vendors, suppliers, and other providers can become problematic for many agencies without the proper contract management tools.

CobbleStone Software is happy to announce a new user interface update to Contract Insight™ Enterprise Software with Version 17 of the industry leading solution. The update will provide our clients with a more modern and configurable design that allows users to have more flexibility in creating the perfect look and feel for their organization within the system. The update gives our users an opportunity, if they wish, to change the design so they are no longer confined by the standard look that is default out-of-the-box.

Deploying and implementing a contract software system can be a challenge for any organization. You’ve completed your search for the best system, saw demonstrations, negotiated the best price, and decided on a solution. Now it is time to implement the system. Here at CobbleStone, we focus on relieving the stress of implementing your new contract management system by creating a plan and training schedule with the help of our training specialists.

Have a pile of purchase orders sitting on your desk or scattered through multiple spread sheets? Drop the hassle with a purchase order module in your contract management software. As technology continues to advance, more processes are moving towards electronic versions rather than paper-based. Using the purchase order module in Contract Insight makes the PO process more efficient for your organization.