Managing contracts can be challenging for legal, procurement, and contract management professionals, especially when primarily relying on outdated processes. Managing the contract lifecycle from requests to renewals can prove difficult with spreadsheets, emails, filing cabinets, and other disparate tools and systems. Without accountability, visibility, a clearly defined process and actionable insights, organisations can find themselves running into compliance issues, not realising contract value, and encountering other setbacks. Contract lifecycle management requires careful planning, the right technology, a well-planned contract strategy, and holistic contract lifecycle automation processes. Thankfully, robust contract management software with a foundation of AI and machine learning can help automate contract lifecycle management processes.
Executive summary
Managing contracts with manual and disparate tools, such as spreadsheets and emails, can make it difficult for organisations to create an efficient and effective CLM system workflow. Implementing contract automation tools within a CLM system can save time, energy, and resources. Contract managers can learn how to leverage automation contract lifecycle management processes – backed by advanced contract intelligence and machine learning – to more effectively drive contract value, reduce risk and exposure, and gain unparalleled oversight over the contract lifecycle.
Integrate contract lifecycle automation from requests to renewals
Overseeing each stage of the contract lifecycle process can consume contract managers’ time and energy while running the risk of human error in manually managing multiple documents. Contract administrators can find themselves struggling to maximise contract performance throughout the entirety of the contract lifecycle. Thankfully, intelligent contract workflow automation reduces bottlenecks by connecting the right people at the right time with virtually unlimited task reminders and contract notifications.
Organisations can leverage advanced reporting and analytics tools, contract process management, user-defined fields, audit trails, and more. Contract lifecycle automation tools can track every stage of the contract management process – including contract collaboration, contract negotiations, and approvals. AI-based CLM software allows contract managers to anticipate milestones and key dates, including contract renewals, with integrated automated alerts. Moreover, contract lifecycle management services support audit trail history that tracks up-to-date contract changes. Automated CLM process flow can help contract managers focus on contract performance management by allowing them to concentrate more on the contents of their contracts.
Implement contract lifecycle automation with a contract assembly tool
Contract generation can be challenging, especially with multiple people involved. Creating, reviewing, and revising contracts can consume large amounts of time and energy. Manual contract assembly can increase errors when static documents become obsolete, and parties involved are unaware of the most up-to-date templates and versions. Clauses, contract language, and templates that are not current or standardised increase the risk of contract managers inadvertently creating non-compliant contracts.
Fortunately, an integrated CLM tool for automated contract assembly can streamline contract management processes with intelligent contract management software that centralizes and automates the creation of agreements, contracts, and documents. Contract managers can leverage contract lifecycle management services to create compliant contracts that seamlessly merge their organization’s approved data fields and clauses. A leading CLM tool allows the merging of various document versions and templates from an organization’s pre-approved clause library, which can be exported to various file formats. Those involved in the contract drafting process can remain abreast of its evolution with version tracking tools. System administrators can also gain better control over contract access by configuring user permissions regarding contract and version access through a CLM software’s approval routing and audit trail capabilities.
Automate contract signing with secure e-signatures
Gathering required signatures for a contract can be difficult, especially when necessary signees are in different locations. Signatures finalize contracts and propel their execution. This highly anticipated step can be delayed with manual wet signatures that can require wasting paper-based resources – including physically mailing contracts to required signees. Moreover, specific signatures can require notarization, which can further delay the signing process.
Fortunately, electronic signatures – a vital contract lifecycle automation tool – can make signing contracts a breeze with contract management software that enables signees to sign in the office or on the go – with the proper electronic device and adequate internet access – with robust contract management solutions even offering signatures from mobile devices for even more diversified and convenient signing. Additionally, signees can leverage the use of digital signatures that virtually ensure a signature’s date of signing and that it was untampered with thereafter – reducing the need for a licensed notary.
Risk management – a key factor in contract lifecycle automation
Reviewing contract risk can be time-consuming and challenging. Manually assessing risk factors can cost an organisation extra time and money while increasing the risk of inadvertent human oversights. Thankfully, advanced CLM software with machine learning and AI can identify up-to-date and pressing risk variables and notify contract managers of overlooked risk factors. Sourcing and procurement professionals can also assess if their vendors are compliant under the Office of Foreign Asset Control’s national sanctions lists through an integrated OFAC search functionality offered by leading contract management software. AI-powered contract management software can also provide organisations with a risk assessment matrix that displays risk exposure and risk probability patterns in a visually engaging and easy-to-digest manner for improved source-to-contract management.
Contract tracking automation for CLM process flow success
Tracking contracts with an approach involving emails, spreadsheets, shared drives, and other manual processes can create an inefficient and ineffective contract lifecycle process. Manually tracking contracts can place an organization at risk for compliance issues, contractual failure, financial instability, and more. Contract filing and tracking processes relying on disparate folders from ranging sources can hinder version control and increase the possibility of overall loss to their organization’s bottom line. While spreadsheets can organize contracts, they cannot alert contract managers of vital opportunities and warnings, including contract version tracking alerts and opportunity alerts in upcoming contract renewals – which are crucial to post-award contract management success. These methods can undermine the contract tracking process with unclear audit trails, continually changing timelines, and other delays caused by disparate CLM processes.
Thankfully, leading contract management software can equip organizations with the proper tools to track contracts effectively and efficiently. A centralized contract management software solution provides advanced contract tracking with a secure contract repository, approved clause libraries and templates, comprehensive audit trails, performance insights, and improved collaboration. Contract managers can track contracts throughout the entire lifecycle with the help of task alerts and notifications that can be configured via email – especially with the help of an MS Outlook PC Helper-App.
Robust contract tracking features enable contract professionals to track contract compliance, obligations, and renewals with robust and timely oversight. Rather than merely utilizing a contract repository system, contract managers can leverage proven end-to-end automation contract lifecycle management processes that assist with each stage of the contract lifecycle and enable the collaboration of necessary stakeholders involved via a user-friendly CLM tool.
Your contract lifecycle automation with Contract Insight®
Contract lifecycle automation begins and ends with Contract Insight, a CLM software Leader according to Forrester, that can equip you with the necessary tools you need to drive CLM success. Contract lifecycle automation can drastically improve CLM processes. Contract managers, legal teams, and procurement professionals can leverage CLM system automation, backed by machine learning and AI, to streamline the entire contract lifecycle process. Contract Insight with VISDOM® AI – its proprietary AI engine with machine learning – can seamlessly and securely provide help along each stage of the contract lifecycle with integrated CLM process flow automation. Watch the video below to learn more about VISDOM AI.https://www.youtube.com/embed/RXvbqU5Hfc8?feature=oembed
CobbleStone’s trusted, award-winning, fully integrated contract management software streamlines the contract management process with optimal governance, reduced friction, and high flexibility from contract requests to renewals. CobbleStone Software has been a visionary leader in CLM software for over twenty years. CobbleStone’s user-friendly, robust, and scalable solution seamlessly integrates with mission-critical applications – including MS Office 365 and Google Workspace – for unified and seamless contract lifecycle management.
