Creating, negotiating and monitoring contracts over their life-cycle are processes which spark little joy among all but the very few who are tasked with them. However, their impact on individual projects and organizations as a whole is surprisingly significant. Contracts are the string that binds together all the various elements of a business, from staff and intellectual property to dealings with vendors and outside contractors.
Many “talk tour” professionals and salespeople will talk about the importance of the engine of a business, but, the engine counts for little if the rest of the vehicle isn’t strongly held together. This is how contract management software is changing the way many firms do business, by streamlining how the whole structure works. If you’re new to contract management software and are wondering what advantages it delivers, well, here are just a few.
Find the documents and sections you need faster
One of the biggest advantages of CMS is that it makes all of the contracts you have uploaded easily searchable by words or figures. While it would be great if contract management software also served coffee, its normal functionality is already quite amazing. Its use of machine learning technology means that the search function also applies to paper hard copies, saving huge amounts of labor hours per year.
Access contracts from anywhere
Single-server repositories, either on an individual’s machine or a company server are not only vulnerable to security risks, they also slow down business in action. If a team member needs access they most likely want it asap and waiting for it to be sent via email won’t do. Having cloud-based contract management software makes all of your important documents accessible from anywhere, whenever people need them.
Streamline the contract creation and implementation process
Legal departments are vital for any mid-sized and above business and they don’t come cheap. Contract management software allows companies to speed up their contract creation process by enabling easily-buildable, Legal approved, standard templates, such as NDAs. It also provides tools that take the load off legal when it comes to bespoke contracts with negotiation changes tracked and putting standard clauses at their fingertips.
Reduce project wastage
Misalignment of project focus between management levels is one of the greatest productivity killers in business, with the PMI estimating that over 10% of all project investment is wasted because of it. Having greater transparency and access to what’s happening at every level of a business, through greater contract control, greatly reduces wastage and ensures that productivity is kept focused on the unified goals of the company.
Automated calendars and updates
Keeping track of the important milestones, deadlines, end-of-life and renewal dates of the many contracts a business deals with is an entire admin job in itself, yet it generally falls on management to keep track of them. Contract management software extrapolates all of these key dates and creates a contract calendar to track them, with the added ability of sending reminders and updates for upcoming milestones and contract changes.
Easy integration with other applications
With so many core applications running modern business, such as Salesforce or SAP, control of assets like contracts and data requires time and effort. Having contract management software which seamlessly integrates with the rest of your business’s tools is essential for the flow of everyday tasks and ensuring that all activities work at the ease and speed that modern business requires.
HEY ! I’m Nil (Founder of OnlineDrifts.com), Digital Marketer, Affiliate Marketer and a blogger writing about blogging tips, SEO, Tech Tips etc.
