When it first came on the scene, legal tech was a revolutionary innovation. And while it still has its uses in some cases such as small legal firms, any legal business looking for an enterprise contract management solution needs to seriously consider the value inherent in contract lifecycle management (CLM) solutions.
Especially, if you are interested is saving time and money, reducing errors and increasing productivity and profitability. This can be achieved when a contract lifecycle management software solution helps by automating and accelerating the management of contract lifecycle from start to finish. As well as standardizing and controlling contract development and creating contracts easily and quickly using pre-approved templates and legal clauses.
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5 reasons a growing number of legal firms are opting for CLM solutions
There are many, many reasons why companies are opting for contract lifecycle management solutions. We thought we would drill down and look at five of the biggest reasons legal firms are moving to contract lifecycle management solutions.
- A wider variety of contract types and the efficiency of contract lifecycle management solutions
Many companies and organizations deal with thousands or tens of thousands of contracts every year. These include service contracts, non-disclosure agreements, leases and employment agreements. To manually process the sheer volume of contracts involves countless hours of repetitive, tedious work. Which means that quite often simple mistakes are made as one contract blurs into another.
A CLM solution allows for the ability to automate the mundane, repetitive work to ensure it is done with the fewest errors possible in a timely manner. This saves hundreds of hours of staff time, allowing them to do more productive work that benefits the firm’s bottom line.
- The increased need for a centralized approach to contract management.
With the proliferation of contracts, it seems unnecessary to manually create individual contracts from scratch when templates can be used. Especially, when the contract is similar to one your organization has already drafted.
The right CLM makes it easy to create templates that can be used for a host of different occasions. This ensures key clauses are covered in a uniform fashion for consistency and accuracy across all contracts. A CLM also makes it easy to pass contracts from one department to another without anything getting lost: either in communication or in missing contracts. A centralized contract management software can make this a reality.
- Legal requirements from different jurisdictions.
As businesses become increasingly global, it’s critically important to know which jurisdiction a contract falls under (example: state, national, international).
Having this information to hand along with the ability to centralize the creation and management of a contract allows for an easier understanding a contract’s context. As well as any potential impact a contact may have on a business. For example: contract language which could be different between civil law and common law jurisdictions.
So, having the ability to understand these different legal proceedings helps to interpret legal proceedings and inform how contracts should be drafted.
- Analytics as a driver.
It’s evident that the need for transparency and improved insights into contracts is expanding. Alongside the development of Big Data, information created or collected concerning contracts must needs be placed in a centralized process. This allows companies and organizations to understand nuances and trends of contracts across the board.
The analytics features in contract lifestyle management solutions can do much of the leg work of analytics based on:
- Contract scope as well as tracking goals and remediation.
- Types of contracts, clause usage and velocity.
- Contract clauses and clause disputes.
- Analytics for obligations management.
- Predictive analytics that are related to suppliers, clauses and approval cycles
- Total cost optimization through clause driven optimization.
- Increased adoption of the cloud
Cloud-based technology has made it easier than ever to scale and improve distribution. Another important feature is the increased security measures that make cloud-based contract management such an appealing and profitable solution.
Not only do cloud-based solutions minimize risk, they also significantly increase:
- Productivity
- Security
- Scalability and growth
- Staff satisfaction in their jobs
- Overall profitability
Modernize and streamline your contract management with ContraxAware’s CLM solution
If you want easy, fast access to critical information you want a contract lifecycle management solution that not only protects your organization’s interests but also helps put it in a strong position to negotiate the best deals. ContractAware is a software that benefits companies and organizations with its high level of security, and collaboration and communication tools.
If you would like to know more about how ContraxAware can help you make the move from legal tech to a CLM solution, please get in touch today.
Contract lifecycle management FAQs
Here are some of the more frequently asked questions about contract lifecycle management we have been asked. If you have a question that is not answered either in the above article or in the following FAQS, please feel free to get in touch with our team.
Is CLM a good investment?
Yes. The right contract lifecycle management solution software can be a game changer. Contract management software allows your entire portfolio of contracts to be visible, searchable and secure. This software allows for everything from creating contracts to tracking them and ensuring all your contracts meet the compliance requirements.
It will also provide an accurate, real-time snapshot of your organization’s contracting risk and opportunities. This data saves your staff a lot of time, drastically reduces the risk of error and helps to improve cashflow and client satisfaction.
And if you are looking for a way to improve your staff’s productivity and efficiency and reduce the cost incurred by human error, contract lifecycle management software can achieve this for you. And because it is cloud-based it is incredibly easy (and cost-effective) to scale the software as your business grows.
What is the best contract management software?
And with dozens of contract management software options out there on the market, it can be hard to know which one to choose. Ideally, you want a contract management software solution that has been around for a while and has a track record of success.
Additionally, you want to find one that not only has all the standard features but also helps you stay on top of regulatory requirements. Our own ContractWorks software is quite often ranked in the top five global contract management software options on the market.
Our software lets you create a central contract repository, search contracts, and smart tag documents to ensure they go through the whole cycle smoothly and accurately.
What is the contract lifecycle management process?
The contract lifecycle management process involves automating and streamlining the contract process through key stages. These stages are:
- Initiation
- Authoring
- Process and workflow
- Negotiation and approval
- Execution
- Ongoing management and compliance
- Contract renewal
This process aims to provide better visibility into how much is spent on contract management. It also helps to create greater efficiencies in the contract process thereby lowering administrative costs.