Contract management as it should be

Contracts are the lifeblood of any organization — they are key to getting business done. Organizations large and small have countless active contracts at any given time, with terms and obligations to monitor and risk to mitigate. So, how are all of these businesses storing and managing their contracts?

Some companies have “legacy” contract management software tools consisting of a series of filing cabinets in which hard-copy agreements collect dust in folders labeled ineffectively by the name of the counterparty or deal. Alternatively, more modern contract management software tools may use the digital equivalent of the file folder: a hierarchy of folders on a local drive in Microsoft® Outlook or SharePoint, or perhaps a cloud storage tool like Dropbox or Box that captures all contractual documents.

These so-called systems offer virtually no opportunity for meaningful analysis of contract terms and associated data, meaning risk isn’t tracked and value is missed.

Contract management should be more than mere compartmentalization and storage. Rather, effective contract management is a comprehensive process that requires orchestrating dozens of moving parts to work together in concert. Each phase of contract management involves multiple steps and parties.

Don’t resign yourself to wandering about in the nightmare of contracts. Learn how you can extricate yourself from the confusion with a proper contract management software tools.