Adding Contract Tools to Your Company’s Tech Stack

Welcome to the world of streamlined and efficient contract management! As an IT professional, you have the power to revolutionize your company’s contract processes by seamlessly integrating contract tools – a.k.a. contract lifecycle management (CLM) software –  into your existing tech stack.

Imagine a future where contracts flow effortlessly through your systems, where data synchronization is automatic, and where cross-functional collaboration thrives. By harmonizing your contract tools with your current applications, such as ERP, CRM, and document management systems, you’ll unlock a new level of efficiency, visibility, and control.

When implementing a legal tech tool, it is important to consider how it fits into your company’s entire tech stack. Here are some aspects to keep in mind.

Contract tools should integrate seamlessly with other systems already in use within your company’s tech stack. This includes enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer relationship management (CRM) software, document management systems, and any other relevant applications. Integration allows for data synchronization, streamlined workflows, and a unified view of information across systems.

All organizations have unique contract management processes and requirements. Configuring the CLM software to align with your specific needs and workflows may require customization. Balancing customization requirements with maintaining a standard and scalable system can be a challenge. It’s important to assess the flexibility and customization capabilities of the contract tools during the selection process and involve relevant stakeholders in defining customization requirements.

Verify whether the contract tool provides an application programming interface (API) or other mechanisms for data exchange. APIs enable smooth communication between the CLM software and other systems, facilitating the transfer of data, documents, and metadata. This integration allows for a more efficient and connected tech stack.

Consider whether the contract tool supports single sign-on capabilities or can integrate with your company’s existing authentication systems. SSO allows users to access the CLM software using their existing login credentials, enhancing security and user experience.

Understand where the contract tool stores contract data and documents. Determine whether it aligns with your company’s data storage policies and complies with relevant data protection regulations. Additionally, assess whether the software is hosted on-premises or in the cloud and evaluate the implications for data security, accessibility, and scalability.

Evaluate how the contract tool scales as the company grows. Ensure that it can handle increasing contract volumes, users, and data without compromising performance. Consider whether the software architecture aligns with your company’s scalability requirements and IT infrastructure.

Determine whether the contract tool provides reporting and analytics capabilities. Integration with business intelligence tools or reporting systems in the tech stack allows for comprehensive contract data analysis, generating insights that support decision-making and process improvement.

Assess how the contract tool’s user interface aligns with your company’s overall user experience standards and design guidelines. Ensure that it is intuitive, easy to navigate, and compatible with different devices and browsers.

Consider the ongoing support and maintenance requirements of the contract tool. Understand the vendor’s support policies, response times, and availability of updates and bug fixes. Verify whether the software can be easily upgraded or customized to meet changing business needs.

Successfully adopting CLM software requires user buy-in and active engagement. Users need to understand the benefits of the software, its functionalities, and how it integrates into their daily work. Providing comprehensive training and ongoing support to users, along with clear documentation and resources, can facilitate user adoption and ensure effective utilization of the new contract tool.

Overall, integrating contract tools into a company’s tech stack requires evaluating compatibility, interoperability, security, scalability, and user experience considerations. By aligning the new tool with existing systems, your team can establish a cohesive and efficient tech stack that supports streamlined contract management processes.

Cloud-based contract tools offer several advantages to consider.

Accessibility and Flexibility

Cloud-based contract tools allow users to access contract data and tools from anywhere with an internet connection. It offers the flexibility to work remotely and enables collaboration among distributed teams, making it ideal for organizations with remote or geographically dispersed employees.

Scalability

Cloud-based contract solutions are scalable, allowing organizations to easily accommodate changing contract volumes, user numbers, and storage requirements. The cloud infrastructure can adapt to business growth without the need for significant upfront investments in hardware or infrastructure.

Cost Savings

Cloud-based contract tools eliminate the need for your company to make additional investments in their own servers, data centers, and IT infrastructure. Instead, they can subscribe to a cloud service, paying only for the resources and features they require. This cost-effective model reduces upfront costs and maintenance expenses associated with on-premises solutions.

Automatic Software Updates

Cloud-based CLM providers often handle software updates and maintenance, ensuring that organizations have access to the latest features and security patches without requiring significant IT involvement. This relieves IT professionals of the burden of managing software updates and allows them to focus on other critical tasks.

Data Security and Disaster Recovery

Reputable SaaS-based contract tool providers implement robust security measures and disaster recovery mechanisms to protect contract data. They often have dedicated security teams, backup systems, and data redundancy protocols in place to ensure data integrity and minimize the risk of data loss.

Contract migration is typically a critical part of integrating contract tools into an organization’s existing systems. Contract migration refers to the process of transferring existing contracts from legacy systems, paper documents, or other storage methods into the new contract tool.

During the CLM integration process, contract migration involves converting contracts into a format compatible with the contract tools and transferring the relevant data and documents into the new system. This migration ensures that all contract information, including contract terms, parties involved, key dates, and supporting documents, is accurately captured within the contract tools.

The contract migration process may vary depending on the complexity and volume of contracts. It may involve manual data entry, document scanning and uploading, data extraction and mapping, or integration with other systems to import contract data.

Contract migration is essential for achieving a centralized and comprehensive contract repository within the CLM software. It allows you to leverage the full capabilities of the contract tool for effective contract management, reporting, and analysis.

It’s important to plan and execute the contract migration process carefully, ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and data integrity during the transition. Considerations should be made for data cleansing, data mapping, and validation to ensure a smooth and successful migration. You may opt to migrate contracts gradually in phases rather than all at once, to manage the process effectively.

When evaluating contract tools for your company, there are several benefits to choosing a system with generative AI capabilities. Here are some examples.

• Enhanced contract analysis: AI-based contract tools can analyze contract terms, clauses, and metadata, extracting valuable insights and identifying risks or opportunities that may be challenging for humans to detect manually.
• Improved contract search and retrieval: AI algorithms can enable powerful search capabilities, allowing users to quickly locate specific contract provisions, key terms, or related documents within a large contract repository.
• Intelligent contract review: AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) can automatically review and extract relevant information from contracts, expediting the review process and reducing manual effort.
• Risk mitigation and compliance: AI-based CLM software can help identify contractual risks, such as non-compliance with regulatory requirements or missing critical clauses, enabling organizations to take proactive measures to mitigate potential risks.
• Contract performance insights: By analyzing contract data, AI can provide you with insights into contract performance, including metrics such as contract cycle times, renewal rates, or financial performance, enabling data-driven decision-making.
• Contract intelligence and recommendations: AI algorithms can provide intelligent recommendations or suggestions for contract terms, pricing, or negotiation strategies based on historical contract data, market trends, or predefined rules.
• Enhanced contract drafting: AI-powered CLM software can assist in contract drafting by providing template suggestions, clause libraries, and ensuring consistency across contracts, reducing errors and saving time.
• Streamlined approval workflows: AI-based CLM can automate approval workflows, routing contracts to the appropriate stakeholders based on predefined rules, ensuring efficient collaboration and reducing bottlenecks.
• Increased efficiency and productivity: By automating manual tasks, AI-based CLM software frees up time for contract professionals to focus on higher-value activities, improving overall productivity and efficiency.
• Scalability and adaptability: AI-based CLM solutions can handle large volumes of contracts and adapt to changing business needs, allowing you to scale contract management processes effectively.

These benefits demonstrate the potential of AI-based CLM software to enhance contract management, improve decision-making, reduce risks, and drive operational efficiency within your company.

However, introducing AI-based CLM into an organization may face resistance or skepticism from users, particularly if they are unfamiliar with AI technology or have concerns about job security. Effective change management strategies, user education, and clear communication are essential to address these challenges and ensure successful adoption.

Get ready to embark on a journey where contract management becomes a seamless part of your company’s digital ecosystem, empowering your teams to drive growth and success. Contact our team to pave the way for a future where contracts are managed with ease and excellence.