The thing that made me come back to Ironclad three times was the customer experience.
Docker, an open-source technology platform that allows developers to package applications and dependencies into portable containers, faced significant challenges managing contracts across their organization. With no centralized contract lifecycle management (CLM) system, the company struggled with inefficiencies, manual processes, and lack of visibility across sales, procurement, and IT operations. By implementing Ironclad as their CLM solution and integrating it with Salesforce, Zip, and Productiv, Docker standardized their contract processes, improved compliance, and enhanced cross-functional collaboration between legal operations and IT.
Challenges in a high-growth technology company
Docker provides an open-source platform that enables developers to package applications and their dependencies into portable containers, making deployment and management easier across different environments. The company’s contract management challenges stemmed from its lean and fast-growing environment, with significant sales contract volume and no centralized system to manage agreements across the organization. Contracts were scattered across various repositories, creating inefficiencies and risks in their sales and procurement processes.
Without a CLM system in place, Docker’s sales team was using Salesforce CPQ to generate documents, but it lacked sophistication. Sales representatives had to manually remove columns and update pricing for customers purchasing through cloud marketplaces like AWS and Azure. Multi-year contracts posed particular risks when sales reps sometimes forgot to populate the correct payment amounts and schedules. The company had also recently undergone a pricing model revamp, creating confusion with old and new SKUs.
“Renewal opportunities in Salesforce are auto-generated to renew based on the previous contract, so we had a lot of renewals that were going through on the old SKU, or folks who didn’t watch our training who manually selected the old SKU. So about a month after the new pricing came out, I ran a report and saw that we actually sold a lot of new business on the old pricing model. So now, with Ironclad, I’m able to have the system flag it to me if an order form is on the old pricing and it has to go through a special approval workflow,” recalls Becca Soch, CLM Data and Automation Manager at Docker.
The absence of a centralized contract management solution resulted in potential revenue leakage and compliance issues. Without proper visibility into their contract portfolio, Docker struggled to track contract values, renewal dates, and auto-renewal clauses. The IT department was particularly concerned about managing SaaS applications and expenditures, as the decentralized procurement model made it difficult to prevent duplicate purchases and track contract details.
It could have come back to bite us if we missed those details that Ironclad now catches automatically.
Legal ops leads the way
Docker’s approach to implementing Ironclad was strategically led by their legal department, which made the unconventional decision to make their first hire a LegalOps specialist rather than another attorney. Recognizing the critical importance of contract management to the company’s overall operations, the head of legal set out with a goal of using technology to drive business value through the legal department.
“The focus is on legal innovation and using technology to do our jobs better. The implications of that are far reaching — it empowers everyone in the company to do their jobs better.” -Becca Soch, CLM Data and Automation Manager, Docker
Soch joined Docker as CLM Data and Automation Manager with a clear mandate to materialize this vision by driving the implementation of CLM, becoming an expert for documents company-wide, and establishing the LegalOps function from scratch. Most legal departments, in Soch’s words, like to throw attorneys at problems. But at Docker, the culture is to try and solve problems with automation, self-service, and leading-edge technology.
The implementation strategy was intentional. Based on her success with Ironclad at two prior companies, Soch re-evaluated Ironclad within the first month of joining Docker, signed the contract a few months later, and then focused on the procurement integration before building the Salesforce integration for sales contracts. She implemented a phased rollout with separate training for different sales teams—the growth and renewal team first, followed by the enterprise and commercial teams, and then the remaining groups. This approach helped manage the workload, as Soch was the only admin supporting more than 100 sales reps.
The integration between Ironclad and Salesforce was a cornerstone of the implementation strategy. This integration created a seamless flow from quote creation through contract generation, approval, and execution, eliminating the disjointed processes that had previously hampered efficiency. Another key integration was with Zip for procurement processes, automatically storing contract data and streamlining collaboration between the decentralized procurement function shared between finance, IT, and LegalOps.
“The thing that made me come back to Ironclad three times was the customer experience.” -Becca Soch, CLM Data and Automation Manager, Docker
Results and benefits
The Ironclad implementation catalyzed a significant transformation across Docker, with impacts extending far beyond the immediate improvements in contract management. What began as a solution to address specific pain points evolved into a cornerstone of the company’s broader digital transformation strategy, delivering both tangible operational improvements and strategic business value.
Prior to Ironclad, Docker’s contract processes were fragmented and opaque, with limited visibility into the status and content of agreements. The post-implementation landscape stands in stark contrast, with the company now enjoying unprecedented transparency into its contract portfolio. This newfound visibility has eliminated potential revenue leakage when contracts fall through cracks in a disjointed system. With all contracts now managed in a single, accessible platform, Docker can proactively monitor renewal dates, compliance requirements, and contractual obligations.
The digitization of contract processes has had a profound impact on productivity and risk management. By streamlining sales contracting through Ironclad, Docker can now generate the correct language on order forms based on selected product options, implement deal desk approvals for complex products, and ensure proper documentation of payment amounts and schedules. The system also flags orders using old pricing that require special approval, a critical feature after Docker’s pricing model revamp.
Perhaps most significantly, the Ironclad implementation has enabled IT to transform from a reactive to a proactive function. The integration between Ironclad and Docker’s SaaS intelligence tool, Productiv, now provides visibility into the company’s entire application portfolio, allowing IT to track licenses, contract end dates, auto-renewal clauses, and maximize return on investment. By connecting contract data and replacing a 100-row spreadsheet prone to human error, Ironclad is enabling this important work to happen.
Ironclad was a core missing piece of the puzzle for IT. We couldn't do this work with confidence without first having Ironclad.
Beyond the operational improvements, the Ironclad implementation has delivered strategic benefits that resonate across the organization. LegalOps’ leadership in this initiative has elevated its role from a support function to a strategic business partner with expertise for documents company-wide. The structured, transparent contract management process has enhanced the company’s ability to make informed decisions about technology investments and resource allocation.
“Ironclad allows us to be proactive. We can do all sorts of interesting things with the data now that we couldn’t do before.” -Jeffrey Strauss, Director of IT Operations, Docker
Perhaps most unexpectedly, Ironclad has become a catalyst for cross-functional collaboration and process improvement throughout Docker. LegalOps has become a go-to resource across the organization, with Docker’s CFO and other stakeholders frequently requesting to put their team’s documents into Ironclad. Soch even fields Salesforce questions from sales reps, a testament to the central role LegalOps now plays.
Key Results:
Operational improvements
- Automated contract edits: Hundreds of multi-year and cloud marketplace contract edits are now automated, saving more than 15 hours per month.
- Enhanced visibility: The company gained unprecedented insight into their contract portfolio, significantly reducing contract value leakage.
- Streamlined processes: Complex workflows are now automated, with over 200 completed workflows improving efficiency across the organization.
- Risk reduction: Automated flagging of pricing and payment issues has significantly reduced legal and financial risks.
- Increased productivity: The legal, sales, and procurement teams can now handle higher volumes of agreements with the same resources.
Strategic impact
- Cross-functional collaboration: Ironclad has acted as a catalyst for increased collaboration between legal, IT, sales, and finance departments.
- IT transformation: The IT team has shifted from reactive to proactive management of SaaS applications and contracts.
- Enhanced compliance: Standardized processes ensure adherence to company policies across all regions and departments.
- LegalOps establishment: LegalOps has been established as a strategic function using cutting-edge technology that drives business value.
- Digital acceleration: The implementation has positioned Docker for success in the digital-first business environment, with AI integration enhancing operations.
Future plans
With the foundational contract management infrastructure now in place, Docker is looking ahead to further optimize and extend the value of their Ironclad implementation across the organization. The company is actively exploring additional AI capabilities within the contract management process, building on their positive experience with Smart Import and other AI tools. “Smart Import is just capable,” Soch says. “It’s better at pulling in the stuff I care about.”
When building out the clause library, Soch recognized that Ironclad’s built-in capabilities provided more consistency and reliability than general-purpose AI tools: “GenAI is going to generate something for you every time, but you can’t guarantee it’s going to be the same every time. I want consistency and reliability. Ironclad and CLM are already built to do it in a way that is much more automated, and the AI is just a bonus.”
Docker plans to continue integrating Ironclad with their core business systems to drive even greater efficiency and visibility. The IT team is particularly interested in expanding the integration between Ironclad and their SaaS intelligence tools to enhance their proactive management of technology investments. They are also exploring ways to use contract data to identify trends and make more informed decisions about resource allocation and budget planning.
Measuring success remains a critical focus for Docker as they mature their contract management practices. The company is tracking key metrics like time saved through automation, contract processing time, and the number of completed workflows to quantify the business value delivered through improved contract management. These metrics not only demonstrate ROI to executives but also guide ongoing optimization efforts.
Looking beyond immediate contract management improvements, Docker is taking a more holistic view of contract lifecycle management, focusing on end-to-end process optimization that benefits the entire organization. Rather than treating contract management as solely a legal function, they are exploring how improved contract processes can enhance sales velocity, increase procurement efficiency, and provide better visibility to executive leadership.
Contracts are how the business runs. I think people are starting to appreciate that.
Conclusion
For Docker, implementing Ironclad as their CLM solution has been transformative. By standardizing and digitizing contract management processes, Docker has improved visibility, enhanced compliance, and increased productivity across the organization. The implementation has not only solved immediate operational challenges but has also become a catalyst for broader process improvements and cross-functional collaboration.
The partnership between LegalOps and IT has been particularly powerful, demonstrating how these traditionally separate functions can work together to drive business value. As Docker continues to integrate and optimize its contract management processes, the company is well-positioned to realize even greater value from its Ironclad implementation in the future.
