Currently CMx supports below languages as part of internationalization and localization efforts, however, the goal is to support all available languages at some point.
if you think a language is missing in below list, let us know at support@sysintellects.com and we will gladly add the language in the next immediate release:
All the emails generated from CMx are by default with an email address named: “noreply@sysintellects.com”
As a CMx administrator who have access to Company Profile and Advanced Configurations, there is an option to change that “noreply@sysintellects.com” to your own company email by following below steps:
Step 1: Request your IT team to Create a new (or use existing email) SMTP email inbox for use by CMx . For example: contract-management@yourcompany.com . Make sure your IT team provides you the configuration description values especially the underlined ones.
Step 2: Add below configurations to Company Profile → Advanced Configurations
In Order to configure custom SMTP email - from address instead of using “noreply@sysintellects.com” , Go to Company Profile → Advanced Configuration and add below configurations with correct values.
Goto Manage Configurations from Logout Menu and then Click on Create New Configuration.
Following account level configurations are supported by CMx.
Contract Stage and Status
Download URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/cmx-downloads/CMxWordSetup.msi
How to install the Word Plugin
- Once the user logs into the application, by clicking on his username, a user will be able to see a menu option "Download Word Plugin". Clicking on "Download Word Plugin" will download the installer locally which can be installed.
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2. Double Click on the Installer Downloaded to proceed with the installation
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3. Click on the "Next" button.
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4. Click on the "Next" button.
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5. Click on the "Close" button and on opening MS Word, a user should be able to see the CMx plugin.
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6. The user can sign in by Clicking on "Sign-in" option from the menu. Once the user logs in by providing valid credentials, the menu options to search Clause Library, Contract, Templates etc.
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Search for Existing Clauses in the System.
Once the user has successfully signed in, Clicking on "Clause Library" will provide the user with an option to search for the Clauses created for the Organization, based on Clause text or based on Clause Category
By selecting the clause category and clicking on "Search", the application will display the clauses for the selected category
- Search by Clause Category
- Search by Clause Name
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A user can drag and drop the clause from the results to the document pane.
Search for all Existing Clauses list in the System.
Clicking on "Clause Library" will provide the user with an option to search for the Clauses created for the Organization, based on Clause text or based on Clause Category
By clicking on "Search", an application will display the list of all the clauses in the system.
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Search for existing Contracts in the system.
Clicking on "Contract Repository" will provide the user with an option to search for the Contract created for the Organization. The application provided the user to search by Contract Number, Contract Title, Contract Owners, Department, Location, Contracting Party, Contracting Party type etc.
Ex: Search by Contract Number:
Enter Contract Number in the Keyword field and select "Contract Number" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contract Title:
Enter Contract Title in the Keyword field and select "Contract Title" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contract Owners
Enter Contract Owners in the Keyword field and select "Contract Owners" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Departments:
Enter Departments in the Keyword field and select "Departments" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Locations
Enter Locations in the Keyword field and select "Locations" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contracting Party
Enter Contracting Party in the Keyword field and select "Contracting Party" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Contracting Party Type:
Enter Contracting Party Type in the Keyword field and select "Contracting Party Type" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Document Attachment Contents:
Select "Document Attachment Contents" and click on "Search".
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Ex: Search by Document Attachment File Name:
Enter Document name in a keyword, Select "Document Attachment File Name" and click on "Search".
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Search for existing Contract templates in the System
The application provides the user to search for existing Contract templates in the system, which are tied to a Contract type. The user can search for those templates, and modify those templates from the Authoring plugin
Clicking on the Templates, the menu option will provide the user with options to search for Contract types in the system.
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The user can double click on the template document attached and make modifications to the template and save the document.
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CMx Word Plugin Screenshots:
Using Generate Contract function, you can generate word documents from MS Word template embedded with custom field values (When required) with the click of a button and share it internally or externally within CMx.
See Quick Demonstration Video here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VpirdthME1VcClqgOUYCiGRii0kPXrp8/view
Follow below setup for creating a word template and annotating the word template with replaceable values wherever required within the word document:
(1) Creating a Microsoft Word Template Document.
Download Here. (Note: This is a simple .docx file with annotations which is used as a master template document for generating further documents from it)
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Note the annotations within ${}, these are the dynamic fields CMx replaces with actual values when generating the word contract document. For example ${ContractingParty} refers to the party name with whom the contractual obligation is being made.
Reserved Keywords (NOT to use in Custom Field Names)
Annotating Commonly Used Fields
Annotating using Default Main Fields
By default CMx adds below properties into the generated document when embedded within the word template document:
Annotating using Custom Fields
Use below steps to annotate MS Word document using Custom Fields.
- Create Custom Field Form in CMx without any white spaces.
- Use the same exact field name (case sensitive) to annotate similar to default main fields above
- For example, if the field name is: BillingRate, the annotated value in the template will be: ${BillingRate}
Note: Spaces and special characters are NOT allowed in custom field annotations, means no ' and ô or any other special characters.
Supported Additional Template Fields
CMx adds below properties into the generated document when embedded within the word template document:
(3) Generated Contract Document:
And the Contract Generated will have the data in tabular format once annotated correctly.
(2) Create Contract Template in CMx with the MS Word document annotated in Step 1.
Click on Contract Templates from the left navigation menu and then on Create Contract Template.
Enter a name and description for the contract template and browse for the MS Word document template created in Step1 and click on Create button.
Verify that the Contract Template is created successfully in the Manage Contract Template screen.
(3) Create Custom Field Form in CMx if there are any custom field values that are required in the generated Contract Word Document. (OPTIONAL STEP)
Click on Custom Field form on the left navigation menu.
Provide and name, description for the custom field form. Drag and drop required custom fields.
(NOTE: White spaces are not supported in custom field names for generate contract annotations. For example: "Billing Rate" is not supported. The correct field name is: "BillingRate")
Drag and drop a single line text from right to left section.
The new field will appear like above with label as "New text".
Click on the second icon pointed by the red arrow and it will bring up the Options dialog screen.
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Provide Label name without numbers or special characters or white spaces as above and click on Okay button.
Provided Label name should be visible above the custom field text as similar to below.
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Add all the required single line text fields that you need following above steps.
Once done, Scroll all the way down and click on Create or Update button to save the custom field form.
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(3) Create a Contract Type and attach the Contract Template and Custom Field Form created in step 1 and 2 above.
Click on Contract Types from the left navigation menu and click on create contract type.
Provide Name and description and select the contract template created in step 1 above and custom field form in step 2.
Click on Create/Update.
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Verify in Manage Contract Types screen that a record exists with the details of updates that you made above.
Admin User can assign permissions to the newly created and existing roles. business users can Manage and Create Permission Schemes.
Manage Permission Schemes screen displays the list of all existing Permission Schemes. To view the manage screen, click on Permission Schemes link in the menu under Administration.
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In the Manage Permission Schemes screen, click on Create button to create a new Permission Schemes, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Click here: 3. Permission Schemes for knowing more on how to Manage Permission schemes...
CMx provides ample feature for specifying Roles to different users based on the tasks they need to perform.
Admin User can Manage details of each Role. In Role business, users can Manage and Create Role.
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Manage Role screen displays the list of all existing Role. To view the manage screen, click on Role link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Role screen, click on Create button to create a new Role, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
For more Information on how to do the Create/Update/Delete Role click here: 4. Role
Users are the inevitable part of any Contract Management systems.
Admin User can Manage User details. Business users can Manage and Create User.
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Manage User screen displays the list of all existing User. To view the manage screen, click on User link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage User screen, click on Create button to create a new User, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on Reset Password button to reset the password for that particular record.
For more information on how to setup a user click here: 5. User
Admin User can Manage Company Location details.
In Location business, users can Manage and Create Location and these locations will be associated with different Departments.
Manage Location screen displays the list of all existing Location. To view the manage screen, click on Location link in the menu under Administration.
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Note: The Location associated with specific Department, if that Department is associated with particular Contract, then the Location cannot be deleted.
For information on how to do the Create/Update/Delete Location click here... 2. Location
Department is a specialized functional area within an organization or a division, such as accounting, marketing, planning, etc. where the admin user can manage company’s department details.
Admin user can manage Company department details. In Department, business users can Manage and Create departments.
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Each department is assigned to locations and Location cannot be deleted unless that department is used in any of contracts...
For more details click here....: 1. Department
Contract Clause Category concerns with specific clauses.
Clause Category conceptualize the idea of grouping clauses of specific category or buckets so that it makes organizing clauses easier.
For example, all the Legal clauses can be categorized into Legal Clause.
Click here: 2. Clause Category to know more about how to Create/Edit/Delete actions are done in Clause Category.
Special Terms and Conditions for the Contracts are stored in Clause Library.
Clause Library is the central storage area where all of your organization's clause text's are stored so that they can be reused again in new or existing contracts.
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For knowing more about how to implement Create/Edit/Delete on Clause Library, click here: 1. Clause Library
These are Standard forms of contract which is usually a pre-printed contract containing set clauses.
This feature provides user to manage contract templates which can contain user-defined custom fields.
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Contract Template is the centralized area where all the template documents across the company can be stored and updated. A contract template is used in Generating Contract using CMx.
In this feature, the user can Manage and Create a Contract template.
Go to Contract Template from menu, Displays Manage contract Template page, where a user can see following columns in a grid.
1.Template Name
2. Description
3.Status
4.Action
For more details on how to work on Contract Template, click here: g. Contract Templates
Contracting Party type refers to the various types/buckets contracting party can be categorized.
This feature provides user to manage contracting party type.
For more details on how to Create/Update/Delete, Contracting Party clicks on the link : i. Contracting Party Type
Contracting Party is the business entity that enters into a legally binding contract with the current organization who creates the contract.
This feature provides user to manage contracting party details.
While creating Contracting Party user need to provide details of all the entities in the Contracting Party form along with Contact details.
Click: h. Contracting Party for more details on how to implement Contracting Party[Create/Update/Delete].
Custom Field Form is a user-defined form with multiple control definitions using a designer and a name.
Click on Custom Field Form from the menu, Manage Custom Field Form Page displays with following columns in the grid.
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Custom filed form feature helps the CMx user to customize the forms as per the user needs in an effective and easy manner.
For how to Process Custom Field Form details click here: f. Custom Field Form
Contract Types are used to classify a contract based on the functional context.
Manage contract type screen displays the list of all existing contract types. To view the manage screen, click on Contract Type link in the menu.
In the Manage contract type screen, click on Create Contract Type button to create a new contract type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
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For the step by step procedure to How to Create/Edit/Delete, Contract Type click here: e. Contract Types
Workflow is a Progression of steps /tasks that comprise a work process, involve two or more persons.
This Provides user to define a workflow for contract approvals.
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For more info on how to work with Approval Workflow, click on the link: k. Approval Workflow
Once a contract has been created in the system, contract owner can send the contract for Review as per the workflow configured for the contract
Pre-requisite: A workflow should be created in the system and the same should be assigned to Contract.
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For sending a contract for internal review click here to follow the steps involved: f. Sent For Internal Review
CMx provides options to restrict view and edit access at the contract level.
To access this feature goto Create or Edit Contract which you want to restrict access to and Click on the Lock Icon towards the top right of the Contract Screen.
This user action will bring up the Restrictions Pop Up where the user can select the user(s) and/or group(s) with whom the access of the contract is to be restricted.
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Once the User(s) and/or Group(s) are selected, click on Save Changes to finalize the changes. This action enables the contract to be visible or editable or both for the set of user(s) and/or Group(s).
CMx user can export the contracts that he has access to.
- Click on Export Contracts link from the left navigation menu and then again click on Export Contracts, page displays with existing contracts in the system.
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- Choose the contracts by checking the checkbox, which has to be exported.
- On selecting the contracts, click on "Export" tab on the extreme right side of the export screen.
- All metadata goes in as a single excel file, with all contract details.
- Each individual folder named with contract number-contract title format.
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The extracted excel file :
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CMx provides a distinguished feature to Import external Contracts and Contracting Party into the system.
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There are two options to fulfill the Import actions.
a. Basic Import
b. Import by Contracting Party
While importing Contracts user needs to correct the errors in Pre-validation Grid and Click on Import button on right side corner to import the validated contracts.
The imported actions can be viewed in Import Status Tab.
For more details on how to import a Contract or Contracting Party, click on the Link: l. Import Contracts
CMx provides ample feature for searching any type of data in CMx both text type content in text documents and from image files as well.
Advanced Search facility can be utilized by users to accomplish all the searches in CMx by both Filtered Search and Full-Text Search, thereby searching any content in contracts of CMx.
The Advanced Search Menu is linked to the Contract Repository and user can select that option to do the searching in CMx
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For more details on How to do Advanced Search, click here: b. Advanced Search
Users who have permission to delete a contract already existed in manage contacts list can be purged by the user.
The Purge Contract option is attached to Contract Number submenu in manage contract as well as in Advance search Filtered Search- Contract Number link
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Click on the following link to get more information on How to Delete a contract: j. Purge Contract
Contract Creation is one of the most important activities in Contract Management system.
Any user who have to create permission assigned to creating a contract can create a new contract by adding documents, Clauses, Milestones, Notes, Restrictions etc...
For Creating a contract user can either click on the Create Contract Button in the Manage Contract Page or can choose the direct link in Contract Repository submenu.
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For Detailed information on how to Create a Contract, click here: d. Create Contract
Manage contracts screen displays the list of all existing contracts in a centralized Grid with many features added to it for accomplishing different purposes on each contract.
To view the manage screen, click on Manage Contracts link in the menu.
In the Manage contracts screen, the user can notice different options, one to Create contract button to create a new contract, click on Contract number drop-down, where you can see different actions and Contract Settings Button to set values on contracts while create/update.
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For more information on How does Manage Contract Works, click here: c. Manage Contracts
Getting Started
This session gives the User hints on how to accomplish each action on CMx.
a. How to work on Manage Contracts in CMx?
b. How to Create Contract in CMx?
d. How to do Advanced Search in CMx?
e. How to Import Contracts to CMx?
f. How to Export Contracts from CMx?
g. How to Restrict Access At Contract Level?
h. How to Sent a Contract for Internal Review?
i. How to Create/Update/Delete Approval Workflow?
j. How to Create/Edit/Delete Contract Types?
k. How to Create/Edit/Delete Custom Field Form?
l. How to Add/Edit/Delete Contracting Party?
m. How to set up Contracting Party Type in CMx?
n. How to Set up a Contract Template in CMx?
o.How to Access Clause Library?
p. How to work on Clause Category?
q. How to Create/Update/Delete a Department?
r. How To Create/Update/Delete Locations in CMx?
s. How to Setup a new user in CMx?
t. How to set Roles for Users?
u. How to Manage Permission Schemes in CMx?
Email notifications in CMx may be configured with custom email formats in html or plain text. Please use Manage Configurations to create configuration name and description described below for customizing various email template formats:
Approval and Sign notifications:
Configuration Name:
Mandatory variables in email template (Must be available):
Example:
Configuration description:
Contract Expire notification:
Configuration:
Mandatory variables in email template (Must be available):
Share Document notification:
Configuration:
Example:
Milestone Expired notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Request Creation Successful:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
New User Invite notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Sign Request notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Sign Complete notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
The final signed PDF document will be attached to email message.
Send Contract to External Review notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Send notification on complete the Manual signature:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Contract Send for Approval notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Contract Requested Changes notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Workflow Step approval notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Task Reminder notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
Report notification:
Configuration:
Possible variables:
HTML Sample
This section provides details about the various email notifications and other types of alerts generated by CMx.
Contract Expiry Email
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Contract Review Request Email
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Approval Workflow Step
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Shared Document Notification Mail
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Milestone Review Notification Email
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Contract Sign Request Email
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Signature Completed Email
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CMx Contract Experience product is available in two versions:
(1) Cloud Contract Management Software
(2) On-Premise/ In-Office Contract Management Software
CMx provides product support for all its features and users can ask queries and sent feedback to:
Email support@contractexperience.com
Thank You!
In order to configure custom email sender address, below steps needs to be done and confirmed by someone from your IT team so that CMx can use your preferred verified sender email:
(1) Create a new email address inbox, which will be used to send automatic notification emails from Contract Management System (CMx). We do not need access to this email inbox and only you will have access.
Examples:
contracts@yourdomain.com
notifications@yourdomain.com
cmx@yourdomain.com
This shall be a “noreply” kind of email. for which you can be the “owner” of this address.
(2) “n order to configure the sender email in CMx instance, there are few steps that need to be done by your IT or someone who can access to your domain (yourdomain.com) DNS records:
The steps include verification of the domain, DKIM and SPF settings of the sender domain which is explained in detail in below URL , so the person should have access to make additions (adding TXT records) to the existing DNS records.
Below is a sample of our current configuration for "noreply@sysintellects.com" for which you can see that it is verified (all green checks) , DKIM Valid and SPF Valid.
(3) Once above 2 steps are done please confirm back to us at : support@sysintellects.com and we will check and make sure it shows green and do the rest of the configuration.
For best user experience with CMx, enabling below browser setting is recommended:
- Add your CMx URL to trusted sites in your Browser.
For example if you are using IE 11 , follow below steps (Note: In different browsers , this setting will be usually in Browser Options or Browser Preferences)
In IE 11, Click on the Tools Settings icon → Internet Options → Security Tab → Trusted Sites → Click sites button
This section covers all best practices, standard operating procedures, and troubleshooting for specific issues in CMx Contract Experience Platform.
Contact: support@sysintellects.com in case if you are not able to find a resolution for your specific problem here.
Browser Support:
By default, CMx Supports all modern browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Opera. However, due to the differences in browser implementations, there may be a need to change few settings in some of the browsers and this knowledge base captures them all.
Only Admin can View and update the company details in Company Profile page.
How to View and Update Company Profile page:
- Click on the Company profile link from menu under Organization Setting
2.Company Profile Page displays with the Following sections-
a. Organization Details
b. Primary Contact Details
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Organization Details:
Under organization detail we have following Default entry fields.
- Name
- Company Website
- Address Line 1
- Portal URL Short Name
- Address Line 2
- Select Industry Type
- Select the Country
- Select State
- Company Phone
- City
- Zip Code
- Primary Contact Details:
- Under primary Contact Details we have following Fields
- Primary Contact’s First Name
- Primary Contact’s Last Name
- Primary Phone
- Alternate Phone - This is not a mandatory field, however alternate phone and primary phone cannot be the same.
- Logo : There is a logo section in company profile, click on "Choose file" where company administrator can update the cropped company logo . This logo is visible in the custom account login page.
Company logo is saved .
All the above fields are default entries,you can view and update the changes and Click on "Submit" button.
If there are no changes,and get back to the Dashboard page click on "Cancel" button.
Admin User can Manage details of each Group.
Different Users can be assigned to groups for specific activities.
Manage Group
Manage Group screen displays the list of all existing available groups.
To view the manage screen, click on Group link in the menu under Organization Settings.
In the Manage Role screen, click on Create button to create a new Group, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Group
To Create a new Group
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Group Type.
- Check/Unchecked Is Active button.
- Click on Create button
- New Group is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Group.
Edit Group
To edit an existing Group:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Update Group screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description, or GroupType.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Group are updated in the system
Delete Group
To delete an existing Group:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Group record is deleted in the system.
Admin User can Manage User details.
Business users can Manage and Create User.
Manage User:
Manage User screen displays the list of all existing User. To view the manage screen, click on User link in the menu under Administration.
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In the Manage User screen, click on Create button to create a new User, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on Reset Password to reset password.
Create User:
To create a new User:
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- Enter the First Name,Last Name,Email and Primary Contact Number.
- Select Location,Department and Role.
- Click on Create button
- New User is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created User.
- Once user is created successfully in the system an email is sent to the user containing CMx URL and Email along with a temporary password.
- when the user clicks on the CMx URL and login using Email and temporary password ,“Terms Of Use” page and change password screen is displayed.
- On changing the password successfully , a message is displayed and the user is navigated to the Dashboard.
Edit User
To edit a existing User:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- User edit screen is displayed
- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the User are updated in the system
Reset Password
Admin can reset password for existent users.
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- Click on Reset Password button in Manage screen
- System generated user password will be reset and "Successful" alert will be displayed.
Admin User can Manage details of each Role.
In Role business users can Manage and Create Role.
Manage Role:
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Manage Role screen displays the list of all existing Role. To view the manage screen, click on Role link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Role screen, click on Create button to create a new Role, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Role:
To create a new Role:
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Permission scheme.
- Click on Create button
- New Role is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Role.
Edit Role
To edit a existing Role:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Role edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description,or Permission scheme.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Role are updated in the system
Delete Role
To delete a existing Role:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Role record is deleted in the system.
Admin User can assign permissions to the newly created and existing roles. business users can Manage and Create Permission Schemes.
Manage Permission Schemes:
Manage Permission Schemes screen displays the list of all existing Permission Schemes. To view the manage screen, click on Permission Schemes link in the menu under Administration.
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In the Manage Permission Schemes screen, click on Create button to create a new Permission Schemes, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Permission Schemes:
To create a new Permission Schemes:
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Assign the permissions for each Scheme.
- Click on Create button
- New Permission Schemes is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Permission Schemes.
Edit Permission Schemes
To edit a existing Permission Schemes:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Permission Schemes edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description,or Permissions.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Permission Schemes are updated in the system
Delete Permission Schemes
To delete a existing Permission Schemes:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Permission Schemes record is deleted in the system.
Admin User can Manage Company Location details.In Location business users can Manage and Create Location.
Manage Location:
Manage Location screen displays the list of all existing Location.
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To view the manage screen, click on Location link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Location screen, click on Create button to create a new Location, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Location:
To create a new Location:
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- Enter the Name ,Description,Address 1(Mandatory),Address 2(Optional ).
- Select Country and State.
- Enter City and Zip code.
- Click on Create button
- New Location is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Location.
Edit Location
To edit a existing Location:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Location edit screen is displayed
- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Location are updated in the system
Delete Location
To delete a existing Location:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Location record is deleted in the system.
Note:The Location associated with specific Department,if that Department is associated with particular Contract,then the Location cannot be deleted.
Admin User can Manage Company department details.In Department business users can Manage and Create departments.
Manage Department:
Manage Department screen displays the list of all existing Department.
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To view the manage screen, click on Department link in the menu under Administration. In the Manage Department screen, click on Create button to create a new Department, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Department:
To create a new Department:
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- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Location.
- Click on Create button
- New Department is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Department.
Edit Department
To edit a existing Department:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Department edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name, Description,or Location.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Department are updated in the system
Delete Department
To delete a existing Department:
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Department record is deleted in the system.
CMx ElectroSign provides inbuilt Signature support, follow the below process to send documents for signature:
Note: cmx.electrosign.sendsigneddoc = true in advanced configuration is required to send the final signed pdf to multiple recipients
Terminologies
Package: A Signature Package is a set of documents sent to one or more recipients for electronic signature.
Status: Prior to the signature, the status of a document is either created or pending. After Signature it becomes Signed or Executed.
Electronic Signature Security
By default CMx Electronic/Digital Signature offers below forms of security to make sure it's validity across different geographies and global laws. In United States, this process follows the e-sign act :
Pre-Signature Security Considerations
- In addition to sending links in emails for signature, there are many other multi-factor authentication mechanisms can be configured with CMx including below:
- Sending a unique code of very short validation prior to signing to make sure the signing code is retrieved from the user email ( whose email is secured by a password) and it is applied before signing.
- Requesting a unique code from MFA (Multi-factor authentication) mechanisms like Google Authenticator prior to signing.
- Text or SMS to the users mobile number prior to signature. This depends on which part of the world the user is located.
- Terms and conditions for each contract type can be customized and displayed to the user prior to using CMx electronic signature.(Default Behavior)
- Request a unique verification code from email prior to signing. So when first time if the user is external, the external user has to sign up first time, create an external user account with CMx providing basic details like useremail,password , validation of verification code and 2 security questions in case if the user forgets the password. After first time, the user can login to the CMx system every time they want to do electronic signature and every time when they sign a unique verification code needs to be entered after successful login and prior to the signing electronically..(Default Behavior)
Post-Signature Security Considerations
- CMx ElectroSign is based on public/private key pair of signatures based on PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) which ensures the signed document cannot be forged or changed after it is signed.
- Signed documents are sent to the emails of relevant parties and kept in safe records storage for future reference.
Manage Signature Packages
From the left navigation menu, click on Signature menu option to start the send signature process.
All the packages that have already sent for signature by the user are listed in this screen. This page also displays the status of each package, the date sent for signature and the recipients who are signers of the documents in the package.
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Starting Signature Process
From the top right section, click on New button to send a new PDF document for signature. In the first screen of prepare for signature, select the PDF document that should be sent for signature by clicking on the Choose button. Once the selection of the document is made, Click on Upload button so that the document is uploaded to the server. In the next step, add the recipients who should be signing the document.
You can add one or more recipients for signature process.
- Once both the document and the recipients are entered, click on Next button in the top right section of the screen.
- Next step is to prepare the document for the Signature process by marking the places where the signature should be placed.
- Drag and drop the icon with pen in the document where it should be signed by the recipient. (See below screenshot).
- You can navigate to any page in the document by clicking on the Previous or Next Button in the document bar and place the Sign Here tab.
Once the document is prepared for signature by placing the Sign Here tabs, click on the Send Button on the top right section. This completes the process of sending for Signature by CMx and all the recipients receive an email with a unique URL requesting for signature.
A new signature package record is created and should be visible in the Manage Signature Packages screen:
Signing Ceremony by Recipients
Each recipient receives an email which looks similar to below:
The recipient clicks on the unique signature URL in the email which takes them to the Signing page in CMx:
On clicking Sign Here, the recipient can affix the electronic signature.
Finalize the Signature Process by clicking on the Save button, accepting the terms and conditions checkbox and clicking on the Complete Signature button.
Once the signature is finalized by the recipient, the document status is changed to Executed and the signing process is complete.
Exiting User can Change the password using Change Password Link.
How to Change the Password:
- Click on Change Password link from the menu.
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- Page displays with "Enter Old Password", "Enter New password", "Re-Enter New password" fields.
- Enter old Password, New password, Re-enter New Password.
- Click on "change password" button.
- The old password will be updated with a new password.
To delete and go back to Dashboard page click on "Cancel" button.
Audit Report -
- Displays all user activities that is done using CMx.
- Makes the life of auditors or users with audit role easier.
- All functionalities like User Login, Contract creation, Updation, Deletion and every detail of user activities are recorded in the Audit Trail List with time and date specified.
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CMx provides ability to combine or merge multiple word documents (Note: PDFs are not supported) and create an amended document as a result.
Follow below steps for creating an amendment:
From any contract which already has two word documents (docx files) ,from the contract number menu , click on : Create Amendment option and select any 2 documents:
Once the documents are merged , the combined document is generated and displayed in a window:
Export Metadata
All metadata from CMx contract records including custom field values can be exported from CMx from the Export page and clicking on the Export Metadata button.
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Export contracts
CMx user can export the contracts that he has access to.
- Click on Export Contracts link from the menu, page displays with existing contracts in the system.
- Choose the contracts by checking the checkbox, which has to be exported.
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- On selecting the contracts, click on "Export" tab on the extreme right side of the export screen.
- All metadata goes in as a single excel file, with all contract details.
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- Each individual folder named with contract number-contract title format.
Once the import is submitted, a message is displayed to the user stating "Import Job is successfully scheduled"
- Click on the import Status option from left side menu , "Import Status" screen is displayed to the user.with below columns:
- Import Job Number
- Import Date : (Date and Time Stamp) - Most recent first.
- Contract Metadata Excel File Name
- Successfully Import Record Count
Displays the number of records that was successfully imported. - Failed Import Record Count
Displays number of records that failed was failed in the import.
Import Status Tab
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CMx user can import the Contracting Party lists either bulk or single lists that he has access to.
- User clicks on Import contracts link from Menu and then click on Basic Import
- File drop zone area page displays.
- Drag and drop the excel file into the drop zone area or click on the arrow icon, select the file and open.
- Only one excel file can be dropped into drop zone on each import. Error displayed to the user If there are more than one excel file dropped.
- Also, the template of the excel file should be same as in download sample template and otherwise it will result in import error.
NOTE : When importing Contracting Party using metadata excel, keep only Contracting Party sheet in the metadata excel and remove/delete the Contracts sheet.
If this step is not completed, then an error will be displayed in Import pre-validation grid which will prevent the import of contracting parties.
Downloaded Import Sample Template
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- After clicking on Import button on right top of the page a confirmation alert message is displayed and the user can confirm "Start import Job" action button.
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- Once the contracting party list is imported successfully, the user can view the imported list in the Manage Contracting Party Grid.
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CMx user can import the contracts that he has access to.
- Click on Import contracts link from Menu,
- Download the sample template by clicking on the "click here" link and extract the contents to a new folder.
- Extracting to a new folder is important since we have found that without that and dragging and dropping directly from compressed zip file does not show the files in the import zone sometimes.
- Also, note that the metadata file has to be named: cmx-metadata.xlsx
- File drop zone area page displays.
- Drag and drop the excel file and all attachment documents into the drop zone area.
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- Wait for the pre-validation grid to show records
- correct all red cells.
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- click on Import button on the right corner to view the list of imported contracts in the Import Status page.
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- After Importing the imported contracts will be get displayed in the Import Status Tab
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- By clicking on the "+" link, the user can see the Contract Number, Contract Title, Attached documents name and Status of import.
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Workflow is the series of activities that are necessary to complete a task. Both Simple and Complex Workflows can be configured within CMx Approval Workflow:
Complex workflow approvals , for example like the one below between multiple departments and external reviewers can be automated using Approval Workflow.
Manage Workflow :
Manage Workflow screen displays the list of all existing Workflows .
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To view the manage screen, click on Workflow link in the menu. In the Manage contract type Workflow screen, click on Create button to create a new Workflow , click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Workflow
To create a new Workflow :
- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Contract Approver name or Role and click on "Add Workflow Step".
- Add Approver steps with or without delegate option as needed.. Either User Step or Role Step can be added, if role step is added all users of that role with "Is Approver" option selected in User will be notified for review.
Department Review:
If Role Step is "Department" based , meaning if CMx has to automatically find the department based on Contract Record-> Department field value , Create a new Role with word "Department" in it and it as a Workflow Step wherever required. For example create a new Role with a permission scheme that provides no permissions and name that Role as "Department Reviewer" , add the "Department Review" as the Workflow Step.
External Review:
For External review workflow step, create a new Role with word "External" in it. For Example : "External Review". And if the Contract Record has Contracting Party added, CMx will send the contract for review to all the external party contacts for the selected contracting party.
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- Once the required workflow steps are added , click on create workflow button.
Note: The Roles with names "Department" or " External" are dynamic system roles. So these roles are special roles and MUST NOT be directly assigned to any user and their use is limited only in the workflow steps.
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- New Workflow is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Workflow.
Edit Workflow
To edit a existing Workflow :
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Workflow edit screen is displayed. Change Name and/or description as necessary.
- For Adding Workflow Steps, note down existing workflow steps and click on Clear Steps button, add the workflow steps back again before clicking update button.
- Add Approver steps with or without delegate option as needed.. Either User Step or Role Step can be added, if role step is added all users of that role with "Is Approver" option selected in User will be notified for review.
Department Review:
If Role Step is "Department" based , meaning if CMx has to automatically find the department based on Contract Record-> Department field value , Create a new Role with word "Department" in it and it as a Workflow Step wherever required. For example create a new Role with a permission scheme that provides no permissions and name that Role as "Department Reviewer" , add the "Department Review" as the Workflow Step.
External Review:
For External review workflow step, create a new Role with word "External" in it. For Example : "External Review". And if the Contract Record has Contracting Party added, CMx will send the contract for review to all the external party contacts for the selected contracting party.
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- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Workflow are updated in the syste
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Delete Workflow
To delete a existing Workflow :
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Workflow record is deleted in the system
Contract clause category helps to group clauses into specific category or buckets so that it makes organising clauses easier.
For example: All Financial clauses can be grouped under clause category named "Finance".
Manage Clause Category:
Manage contract type screen displays the list of all existing contract types. To view the manage screen, click on Contract Type link in the menu.
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In the Manage contract type screen, click on Create button to create a new contract type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Clause Category
To create a new Clause Category:
- Enter the Name and Description
- Click on Create button
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New Clause Category is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Clause Category.
Edit Clause Category
To edit a existing Clause Category:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Clause Category edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the Name or Description,
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Clause Category are updated in the system
Delete Clause Category
To delete a existing Clause Category:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Clause Category record is deleted in the system
Clause Library is the central storage area where all of your organizations clause text's are stored so that they can be reused again in new or existing contracts.
Manage Clause Library:
Manage Clause Library screen displays the list of all existing Clause Library.To view the manage screen, click on Clause Library link in the menu.
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In the Manage Clause Library screen, click on Create button to create a new Clause Library, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Clause
To create a new Clause:
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- Enter the Clause Name and Text.
- Select Clause Category
- Click on Create button
- New Clause Library is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Clause Library.
Edit Clause
To edit a existing Clause:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Clause Library edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Clause Library are updated in the system.
Delete Clause
To delete a existing Clause
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen.
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action.
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box.
- Clause Library record is deleted in the system.
Electro Sign Terms and Conditions Conventions:
For signing with electronic signatures, Terms and conditions are displayed to the user who is signing. This terms and conditions can be customized for each contract type by following below conventions and CMx automatically displays the correct terms and conditions for each contract type.
"Contract Type" appended with text " Terms"
For example:
if the contract type is "Fixed Contract" , naming a clause as : "Fixed Price Terms" will set the electrosign terms and condition automatically.
Contracting Party type refers to the various types/ buckets contracting party can be categorized.
Manage Contracting Party type:
Manage the Contracting Party type screen displays the list of all existing Contracting Party type. To view the manage screen, click on Contracting Party type link in the menu. In the Manage Contracting Party type screen, click on Create button to create a new Contracting Party type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Contracting Party type
To create a new Contracting Party type:
- Enter the Name and Description
- Click on Create button
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- New Contracting Party type is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Contracting Party type.
Edit Contracting Party type
To edit an existing Contracting Party type:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
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- Contracting Party type edit screen is displayed
- Edit the Name or Description.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Contracting Party type are updated in the system.
Delete Contracting Party type
To delete an existing contract type:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Contracting Party type record is deleted in the system
Contracting party is the business entity that enters into a legally binding contract with the current organization who creates the contract. where the user can manage contracting party details.
Manage Contracting Party:
Manage the Contracting Party screen displays the list of all existing contracting Party. To view the manage screen, click on contracting Party link in the menu under External Parties.
In the Manage contracting Party screen, click on Create button to create a new contracting Party, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
Create Contracting Party
To create a new Contracting Party enter the following fields.
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- Contracting Party Name*
- Select Contracting Party Type from the drop-down.
- Description*
- Address Line 1*
- Address Line 2
- Select Country from Dropdown.*
- Select State*from Dropdown.
- City*
- Zip Code*
- Primary Contact :
- Email ID*
- First Name*
- Last Name*
- Business Phone
- Mobile Phone
- Active (Y/N)
- Click on Create button
- New Contracting Party is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created Contracting Party.
Edit Contracting Party
To edit an existing Contracting Party:
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- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Contracting Party edit screen is displayed
- Edit the required field.
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Contracting Party are updated in the system
Delete Contracting Party
To delete an existing Contracting Party
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- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Contracting Party record is deleted in the system.
Contract Template is the centralized area where all the template documents across the company can be stored and updated. The contract template is used in Generating Contract using CMx.
In this feature, a user can Manage and Create a Contract template.
Go to Contract Template from menu, Displays Manage contract Template page, where a user can see the following columns in a grid.
1.Template Name
2. Description
3.Status
4.Action
The user can see a Live Editor Icon, Update Icon Button, Delete action Button in the Manage Contract Template Page.
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On click of "Create Contract Template" page displays with following fields, where the user must input values to create a new Contract template.
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1.Contract Template name
2.Description
3.Template Document attachment field
Input values in the above fields and click on "Create" button, Contract Template creates successfully and displays in Manage contract Template grid.
Example Contract Template Creation Steps
Click on Contract Templates from the left navigation menu and then on Create Contract Template.
Enter a name and description for the contract template and browse for the MS Word document template created in Step1 and click on Create button.
Verify that the Contract Template is created successfully in the Manage Contract Template screen.
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Custom Field Form is a user defined form with multiple control definitions using a designer and a name.
Click on Custom Field Form from menu,Manage Custom Field Form Page displays with following columns in the grid.
Manage Custom Field Form
Search Field and show entries drop down on top of grid where user can input the custom field name and search.
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- Custom field name
- Description
- Status
- Action(Edit/Delete)
In Manage custom Field Form admin users can view, edit, delete all the existing custom field form and also create new custom field forms.
Create Custom Field Form
Click on Create custom Field Form in the manage Custom Field Form page.Screen displays with following fields.
- Custom Field Form Name *
- Description
- Custom Schema- with below section with 3 tabs: Designer , View and Code .
Custom Field Form Designer with below Types in right most section
Number
Single line text or String
Multi line text
Drop Down Select
Check box
Radio Group Field
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To Create new Custom Field Form:
- User enters custom field form name
- Drags and drops and designs the required custom field form.
- Clicks on settings of each control for further control level functions such as required field or not required field , field name etc. Saving the custom field form generates the json schema and saves it in db.
- User selects the contract types, for those selected contract types,the custom field forms will be displayed in the contract create/edit screen
- On Submit, custom field form is created in the system and displayed in the Manage Custom Fields Form grid.
Edit Custom Fields Form
To edit a existing Custom Fields Form
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Custom Fields Form edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the required Filed
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Custom Fields Form are updated in the system
Delete Custom Fields Form
To delete a existing Custom Fields Form:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Custom Fields Form record is deleted in the system
Example Custom Field Creation Steps
Click on Custom Field form on the left navigation menu.
Provide and name, description for the custom field form. Drag and drop required custom fields.
(NOTE: White spaces are not supported in custom field names for generate contract annotations. For example : "Billing Rate" is not supported. Correct field name is: "BillingRate")
Drag and drop a single line text from right to left section.
The new field will appear like above with label as "New text". Click on the second icon pointed by the red arrow and it will bring up the Options dialog screen.
Provide Label name without numbers or special characters or white spaces as above and click on Okay button.
Provided Label name should be visible above the custom field text as similar to below.
Add all the required single line text fields that you need following above steps.
Once done , Scroll all the way down and click on Create or Update button to save the custom field form.
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Contract Types are used to classify a contract based on the functional context.
Manage Contract Type:
Manage contract type screen displays the list of all existing contract types. To view the manage screen, click on Contract Type link in the menu. In the Manage contract type screen, click on Create button to create a new contract type, click on Edit button to update an existing record, click on delete button to delete the record.
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Create Contract Type
To create a new contract Type:
- Enter the Name and Description
- Select Contract Template and Custom Field Form
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- Click on Create button
- New Contract Type is created in the system and navigates to the Manage screen, displaying the newly created contract type
Edit Contract Type
To edit a existing contract type:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Contract type edit screen is displayed
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- Edit the Description, Contract Template and Custom Fields Forms
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Contract Type are updated in the system
Delete Contract Type
To delete a existing contract type:
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Contract Type record is deleted in the system
Example Contract Type Create/Update Steps
Click on Contract Types from left navigation menu and click on create contract type.
Provide Name and description and select the contract template created in step 1 above and custom field form in step 2.
Click on Create/Update.
Verify in Manage Contract Types screen that a record exists with the details of updates that you made above.
To Create a Contract:
- Click on Create Contract link from menu,or go to Manage contract,click on Create contract Tab.
Create/edit contract screen is displayed with different tab sections as mentioned below.
(1) Main :
(2) Custom
(3) Documents:
(4) Clauses:
(5) Milestones :
(6) Notes:
(7) Access Restrictions:
(8) Enter Tags:
- Under "Main" Tab,create contract page displays.
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- Enter contract number and Title.
- Select Contract Type and Contracting Party
- Choose an effective date
- Enter the description
- Select the Risk level,Department and Contract owners.
- Choose an Expiry date(optional)
- Enter contract value and select the currency.(optional)
- Select Notification list and workflow (optional)
- Enter renewal term in days.(optional)
2. Click on Custom Tab displays Custom Tab with any custom fields configured for the contract type.
For example NDA (non disclosure agreement) may have different custom fields than HR Agreement.
Refer: Custom Field Form
3.Now Click on Documents tab.
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- Click on Choose files,select the file which has to be uploaded for the specific contract,enter file description if any .
- If there are more than 1 file,click on Add file,and attach the document .
- Click on "Create" button.
- Attached files are displayed in a grid in the same page.
4. Click on Clauses tab.
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- On click of Clauses tab,page displays with Contract clauses grid and Add clauses tab.
- Click on Add clauses tab,displays list of clauses which are pre loaded.
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- check the clauses which are to be added for the specific contract,click on Add.
- The selected clauses are added and displayed in the grid.
5. Click on Milestone tab.
- On click of Milestone tab,page displays with Milestone grid and Add Milestone tab.
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- Click on Add Milestone tab,displays Milestone entry field,end date and Milestone reminder check box.
- Enter the Milestone of a contract and end date.
- On Checking the Milestone Reminder check box,Alert Before Days filed pops up.
- Enter Alert before days and click on "Save" button.
- The created Milestone are displayed in the grid.
6.Click on Notes Tab
- On click of Notes tab,page displays with Notes grid and Add Notes tab.
- Click on Add Notes tab,displays Notes entry field.
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- Enter the Notes of a contract .
- Click on "Save" button.
- The created Notes are displayed in the grid.
7.Click on Access Restrictions Tab(Unlocked Icon in Right top Corner of Create Contract Page)
- Click on Unlocked icon and page displays with Access Restrictions tab.
- User can Specify both View Restrictions and Edit Restrictions for Particular Contracts
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8.Click on Enter Tags Tab(Text area at Right top Corner of Create Contract Page)
- User can enter different tags to attach with the contracts.
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After entering all these click on "Create" button.Contract creates successfully and displayed in the Manage contract Grid.
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Pre-requisite: cmx.create.amendment configuration is set to true in Manage Configurations
CMx provides Create Amendment feature to quickly clone a document and make edits to any existing document of a Contract Record. With this feature , user is able to identify the last modified contract document and then use the existing document of a contract to create a new document and, make changes.
(1) Click on Create Amendment option for a contract that has more than one document available.
(2) Select an existing document in the contract
(3) Click on Submit button to generate a new document from existing document and make quick edits and amends. Optionally the file name can be changed to reflect the most accurate name for the amendment that is being made.
(4) The newly added/amended document is now part of the contract record and the changes made are automatically saved.
- Purge Contract functionality is used to Delete a particular Contract ..
- For deleting a contract , find the contract that needs to be deleted by clicking on search button in Manage Contracts/ Global Search box in CMx.
- From the drop down menu , select Purge Contract to delete the contract and the contract will be deleted and no more get displayed in Manage Contracts.
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Cancel Contract action is done on contracts for making it to Inactive state and there by cancelling the contract.
After clicking on Cancel Contract the Particular contract will get cancelled or goes to Inactive state and "Success Message" will be displayed on Manage Contract page.
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User can see the Cancellation scenario in the Contract as Stage and Status changed to Closed/Discontinued and Inactive/On Hold respectively..
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CMx provides inbuilt Electronic Signature support, follow the below process to send a PDF OR DOC or DOCX files for signature one at a time.
Terminologies
Package: A Signature Package is a set of documents sent to one or more recipients for electronic signature.
Status: Prior to signature, the status of a document is either created or pending. After Signature it becomes Signed or Executed.
Sent For e-Signature
From the Manage Contracts, click on Sent For e-Signature menu option to start the send signature process.
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Starting Signature Process
From the top right section, click on New button to send a new PDF document for signature. In the first screen of prepare for signature, select the PDF document that should be sent for signature by clicking on the Choose button. Once the selection of the document is made, Click on Upload button so that the document is uploaded to the server. In the next step, add the recipients who should be signing the document.
You can add one or more recipients for signature process.
- Once both the document and the recipients are entered, click on Next button in the top right section of the screen.
- Next step is to prepare the document for the Signature process by marking the places where the signature should be placed.
- Drag and drop the icon with pen in the document where it should be signed by the recipient. (See below screenshot).
- You can navigate to any page in the document by clicking on the Previous or Next Button in the document bar and place the Sign Here tab.
Once the document is prepared for signature by placing the Sign Here tabs, click on the Send Button on the top right section. This completes the process of sending for Signature by CMx and all the recipients receive an email with a unique URL requesting for signature.
A new signature package record is created and should be visible in the Manage Signature Packages screen:
Signing Ceremony by Recipients
Each recipient receives an email which looks similar to below:
The recipient clicks on the unique signature URL in the email which takes them to the Signing page in CMx:
On clicking Sign Here, the recipient can affix the electronic signature.
Finalize the Signature Process by clicking on the Save button, accepting the terms and conditions checkbox and clicking on the Complete Signature button.
Once the signature is finalized by the recipient, the document status is changed to Executed and the signing process is complete.
To Send a contract for Manual Signature to the Contracting Party.
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After clicking on Sent for the Manual Signature button from options the following screen appears
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The user can enter details into Contracting Party Email and select a contracting party from the drop-down list which is associated with that particular contract.
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Once the documents are sent for manual signature and its processed successfully, an alert will be displayed in the Manage Contract Page.
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Once a contract has been created in the system, contract owner can send the contract for Review either Internally or Externally.
Pre-requisite: A workflow should be created in the system and the same should be assigned to Contract.
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- Navigate to Manage Contracts Page, and search for the Contract that needs to be sent for Internal Review.
- Click on Contract number and from the menu click “Send For Internal Review”.
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3. An email is sent to Contract Approver and the Contract is listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver.
4. Contract approver logs in and Clicks on the “Contract Id” from the Pending Tasks widget.
5. Reviewing the contract User clicks on “Approve Contract” button. (Assuming no changes are required )
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6. The status of the contract should become approved and the status of Workflow can be verified by clicking on “View Version History” for the contract observe the revision history for the Contract.
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Scenario 2:
One level Workflow – When the approver has requested for changes to the contract
- Navigate to Manage Contracts Page, and search for the Contract that needs to be sent for Internal Review.
Click on Contract number and from the menu click “Send For Internal Review”
2. An email is sent to Contract Approver and listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver.
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3. User Enter the Review comments and clicks on “Request For Changes”
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4. An email is sent to Contract Owner to review task and Review Task is listed in Pending tasks when Contract Owner logs in.
5. Clicking on “View Version History” user can check the status of the workflow and also the status of the contract will not be approved.
Two level Workflow – Approve Contract:
Pre-requisite: Create a workflow which has 2 level of approvals and assigns the same to a Contract
Once the contract has been created, the contract can be sent for multiple levels of approvals by assigning the contract to a workflow which has multiple levels of approvers. In this contract will only go to an approved state, when both the approver's has approved the contract.
- Navigate to Manage Contracts Page, and search for the Contract that needs to be sent for Internal Review
2. Click on Contract number and from the menu click “Send For Internal Review”
3. An email is sent to Contract Approver1 and listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver1.
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4. When Contract Approver1 clicks on “Approve Contract”, an email is sent to Contract Approver 2 and listed in “Pending Tasks” in the dashboard of the Contract Approver2.
5. Contract Approver2 clicks on “Approve Contract”, and the workflow status can be verified from the version history
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Edit Contract functionality is to update an existent contract in the Manage contract list.
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After clicking on Edit Contract the Update Contract page will get loaded and user can Modify or Edit the contracts and click on Update Button on the right top corner of the contract page.
Once the Update action is successfully completed user can get an alert message on that in Manage Contract page.
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CMx provides users with Share File Option so that they can share the documents with other users in CMx in Live Editor.
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When the user clicks on Share File and select the particular document to be shared, the below screen gets displayed and the user can select users list to whom the file has to be shared.
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When the user clicks on the text box a drop-down list box appears and they can select the email_id of the users to whom the file has to be shared.
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The user can select the user's email id and share the documents.
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After selection, once the user clicks on Share button Success Alert will be displayed and the file gets shared to the recipient user.
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Edit File Online functionality help the CMx user to update the attached documents with contracts Online.
The user needs to click on the Edit File Online option from various sub menus in Manage contracts tab.
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After clicking on Edit File Online option the below screen appears and the user can edit the attached documents of any type.
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User Can do the editing in the editor sheet and save the changes
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After updating and saving the file user can close the document file. (user can close the document file by clicking on the red x icon on the top right corner.)
The updated content can be viewed in the document attached to the contract by downloading the file.
The particular file type will be opened outside the CMx and user can view it.
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- By clicking on Contract Number on Manage Contract Page grid, the user can view different submenus for different functionalities.
- To Create a new spreadsheet file to attach to the contract as document user can select Create New Spreadsheet from the sub-options.
- After clicking on Create New Spreadsheet option the following screen appears and the user can create a new spreadsheet file to add with existing contracts documents.
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- After entering the data into the spreadsheet, the user can save the file and close the spreadsheet file. (user can close the word file by clicking on the red x icon on the top right corner.)
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- Spreadsheet file will be added to the contract document list with ".xlxs" extension type file.
- Click on Manage Contracts from the left navigation menu bar and the user can view the particular contract where New spreadsheet file is added in the documents tab.
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- By clicking on Contract Number on Manage Contract Page grid, various sub-options appear.
- To Create a new word file to attach to the contract as document user can select Quick Create Document from the sub-options.
- After clicking on the Quick Create Document option the following screen appears and the user can create a new word file to add with existing contracts documents.
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- User Can Select either create New Blank document for creating a new word document or can create a document from Template.
- After entering the data into the word file, the user can save the file and close the word file. (user can close the word file by clicking on the red x icon on the top right corner.)
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- word file will be added to the contract document list with ".docx" extension type file.
- Click on Manage Contracts from the left navigation menu bar and the user can view the particular contract where New Word file is added in the documents tab.
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Manage contracts screen displays the list of all existing contracts. To view the manage screen, click on Manage Contracts link in the menu.
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In the Manage contracts screen, click on Create contract button to create a new contract, click on Contract number drop-down, where you can see the following actions.
- Quick Create Document-To Create a new word file to attach to the contract as documents and create a document from Template.
- Create New Spreadsheet-To Create a new spreadsheet to attach to the contract as documents.
- Edit File Online-To edit the documents attached to the contracts online.
- Share File-To share the file with other users of CMx (both internal or external). For sharing to external users just add the new email similar to google document sharing.
- Edit Contract - To update an existing record.
- send For Internal review-To Send the contract for approval for a person within the organization.
- Send for Manual Signature-To send a contract for manual signature to the Contracting Party.
- Send For Signature-To send a contract for signature to the Contracting Party.
- Renew Contract-To send a contract for Renewal.
- Cancel Contract -To Cancel the Contract.
- Purge Contract - To Delete the particular contract.
- On Login to CMx product,Dashboard is displayed with menu on left hand side
- Click on "Advanced Search" from left menu.
- There are two sub-categories
a. Filtered Search
b. Full Text Search
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Filtered Search
- The Filtered Search page is displayed with a text box to enter keywords, Select Search filters drop-down box and a search button.
Search Filters:
a. Contract Number
b. Contract Title
c. Contract Owners (Users)-User Name
d. Departments-Name
e. Locations-Name
f. Contracting Party-Name
g. Contracting Party Type-Name
h. Contract Type-Name
i. Document Attachment Contents
j. Document Attachment Types (Example: PDF, MS Word etc)
k. Document Attachment File Name (Example : Filename* )
- User enters search name in the text box and chooses appropriate option from filter and then clicks on search button.
For example: user enters contract number in the search field and chooses "Contract Number" from filter and clicks on search button. - Results are retrieved and displayed in a search results page.
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- user can enter the keywords and select a particular category from the filters and click on search button for retrieving search results.
- Results are retrieved and displayed in a search results page.
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Full Text Search
- The Full text search also works similar to searching content texts in the CMx files and documents.
- Full text search is displayed with a text box for entering text to be searched and a Search button to accomplish the tasks.
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- when the user enters the search keyword and click on Search button ,then the searched text will be highlighted in yellow and displayed in the search window as follows.
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Manage Requests
All the requests in CMx is being tracked using this screen.
User is able to create new requests using "Create Request" , update existing requests using "Update Request" on edit mode and Delete existing Requests using "Delete Request" on Delete mode.
Create Manage Request
Click on Manage Request in the Manage Requests page.Screen displays with following fields.
- Request Id *
- Name*
- Quote ID
- Order Id
- Contracting Party
- Effective Date
- Description*
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- Enter the values in the field areas
- Click on Create button
- New Request is created in the system and navigates to the Manage Request screen, displaying the newly created Request.
Edit Manage Request
To edit a existing Request:
- Click on the Edit button in the manage screen
- Manage Request edit screen is displayed
- Edit the fields that needs to be updated
- Click on Update button
- Changes to the Requests are updated in the system
Delete Request
To delete a existing Request
- Click on the Delete button in the manage screen
- A Message box is displayed for confirmation of delete action
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- Click the OK button in the displayed message box
- Request record is deleted in the system.
Contract Repository Stores and Manages all contracts in CMx System
This feature provides businesses to manage contracts. Contract Repository is again Classified to different Submodules for performing unique functionalities of CMx.
Contract Repository Main Classification is as Follows:-
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Main Module in the Contract Repository is the Manage Contracts where all the Contract features are accessed and managed.
CMx Dashboard has the following sections, different dashboard widgets are displayed to different users (Executive, Administrator, User) based on the user role and permission scheme that the user is assigned to. CMx Administrator by default has all access. :
1. Contract Analytics Widget -Contract Analytics Widget is a drill-down widget which represents pie charts based on the selection from drop down.
Dropdown values:
1. Contracts by Contracting Party: % Distribution of Number of contracts by contracting party(Pie Chart) (Default Selection), On click of the portion of the pie, re-directs the user to the specific contracts.
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2. Contracts by Contract Type: % Distribution of Number of Contracts by Contract Type
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3.Department: % Number of Contracts by Department (Pie Chart)
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4.Location: % Number of Contracts by Location (Pie Chart)
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5. Contracting Party Type: % Number of Contracts by Contracting Party Type (Pie Chart)
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6. Contract Risk Levels
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7.Contract Value
a.% Contract Values by Contracting Party Type (Pie Chart)
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b. % Contracts Value Per department
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when clicked on above values from drop down, it has to display actual numbers/values of the specified percentage value.
2. My Tasks Widget-User is able to view and work on the assigned tasks. My Tasks Widget in the dashboard is to retrieve all the tasks for the logged in user.
On clicking on the Task Name link, the user will be redirected to the associated entity, Task Name is linked with a contract number and. On clicking on the Task Name, the user is redirected to the review page for contracts.
1. Once the task is assigned, the task status displays" pending "by default in My Task widget grid.
2. On completion of review activity, task status changes to "Completed" by the system and same is updated and displayed in My Task widget grid.
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3. Audit Trail Widget- Audit Trail section displays the real-time of activities performed by the user and other users for whom the user has authority on are recorded. The administrator can see all the activities performed by all the users, whereas User can see only the contract related feeds if the user is part of the notification list for the contract.
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4.Expiring Contracts Widget -.This section displays all Expired/Expiring Contracts ( within 30,60, and 90 days) in descending order of the contract expiry date in the grid. when clicked Contract Number (hyperlink) show take to the edit view of the specific contract.
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Forgot Password allows existing user to retrieve their password,If a user has forgotten their password.
Pre-requisites
Navigate to the User Profile page and Set the Security Questions (Logout Menu -> User Profile ->Security Questions section)
Note: Please take a note of the Security Questions and Answers as these will be required while resetting the password using 'Forgot Password"
Forgot Password steps:
1.click the Forgot Password link on the sign in page.
2.Enter the Email ID and click on submit.
3.Email is validated and security question is displayed as text.
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4.Enter an answer for the displayed security question.click on submit.
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5. On Submit, If the information entered is valid then a message stating that” Your password is sent to your email” else “Please review your entries and provide all required fields”.
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6. The system will send you a recovery code so that user can change your password.
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7. Click on the Recovery Code hyperlink in the email.
8. Enter and confirm your new password.
Two steps are involved in MFA login.
Step 1:Provide user name and Password.
Step 2:On Successful Login,enter MFA 6 digit code .
MFA settings:
- Click on Manage Contract Link from Menu,Manage contract Screen displays with "Settings" Tab on top right hand side of the screen.
- Click on settings,Click on "Multi Factor Authentication settings" Tab.
- Admin can select the users from scroll box, for whom the MFA needs to be enabled and clicks on save.
To Set Google Authenticator Application:
- Download Google Authenticator Application in your mobile..
- Open Google Authenticator App , Select Menu Option Click on Setup Account.
- Now Scan a barcode and point to the above barcode in the screen till you hear a beep sound which indicates successful registration of bar code in Google Authenticator App.
- You can register barcode of more than one users in Google Authenticator App and it will display different 6 digit numeric codes for each user registered
- Once barcode is successfully registrated,
- enter the 6 digit numeric code for the user registered from google authenticator app to the input text box and click on send button.
To Login Using MFA:
- Hit the CMx URL,provide valid username and password in the login screen.
- On successful Login result in CMx prompting for the MFA 6 digit code in a second subsequent screen.
- where user needs to enter the correct MFA 6 digits code for the user from the mobile application Google Authenticator.
- On all subsequent login of the same user , no QR/bar code registration required in the Google Authenticator App. Only the 6 digit numeric code needs to be entered in for successful user login.
The user is able to successfully login to the CMx system using a valid username and password.
To Login CMx System:
- Goto your unique CMx Url in the browser and you will see the Login Page displayed with Email Id and Password Field.
- Enter the registered Email ID (Not Case Sensitive) and Password (Case Sensitive).
- Click on "Login" button.
- if the credentials provided are correct then the user is able to login to the CMx product, else an error message is displayed stating “Invalid Credentials”.
Note:
1. If the user keys in an incorrect password and tries to login for 3 consecutive times, then Simple Captcha is displayed.
2. If the user keys in an incorrect password and tries to login for 5 consecutive times, then the user account will be locked and displays a message stating “ The User Account is locked, Please contact the administrator”.
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the process of controlling, coordinating, and streamlining all stages in the life cycle of a contract. Contract life-cycle management (CLM) software helps firms create, manage, and achieve maximum value from business contracts with customers, suppliers, vendors and dealers.and is a key piece of the business technology agenda.
7 Stages of Contract Life Cycle Management
- Requesting contract - The contract management process begins by identifying contracts and appropriate documents to support the contract’s purpose, where user requests for initiating a contract to be executed with contracting party.
- Authoring - The “authoring” process is about setting up contract templates and clause libraries to empower business users and legal users, respectively, to create new contracts in a fast but controlled fashion. Writing a contract by hand is a time-consuming activity, but through the use of automated contract management systems, the process can become quite streamlined.
- Contract Negotiation - Upon completion of drafting the contract, employees should be able to compare versions of the contract and note any discrepancies to reduce negotiation time by half when contract processes are automated and streamlined.
- Approval Process - The instance in which most bottlenecks in contract processes, automated contract management allows users to preemptively strike by tailoring approval workflows, including parallel and serial approvals, and keep business clipping along at a rapid pace.
- Contract Execution - Automated contract execution allows users to control and shorten the signature process with eSignature and Manual Signature. Contracts executed are effectively managed from the effective date to expiry date.
- Auditing & Reporting - Automated contract management processes utilize a full range of valuable audit and reporting tools such as contract compliance alerts, audit tracking, on-demand report generation and easy integration with third-party reporting tools.
- Contract Renewal and Amendment - Using manual contract management methods can often result in missed renewal opportunities and business revenue lost. By automating contract management processes, a business can quickly identify contract renewal candidates, allowing plenty of time to act, and automatically create new contract drafts based on the previous contract. Automated systems provide a single, effective view of a business relationship across multiple contract amendments.
- Company Profile-Concise description of a firm,or details of a firm is stored where admin can view and update company profile
- Change Password-This feature allows existing user to change their password.
- Location -Location is a place where an organizational business operations occurs. This Provides admin user to manage company location details.
- Department-Department is a specialized functional area within an organization or a division, such as accounting, marketing, planning, etc where admin user can manage company’s department details.
- User -The people employed by a particular organization are so called User /Staff, where admin is able to view, edit, delete all the existing user details and also create new user.
- Role - Role is an expected behavior associated with a particular position in an organization, This feature provides admin user to manage and create new Role.
- Permission scheme- Users have permission to access the system through assigned permission schemes. Admin can Assign Permission Scheme to a Role , only one permission scheme can be assigned to a Role any point of time.
- Contract Type-A particular kind of Agreements between two entities like Incentive contract, Fixed Price contract, Purchase order etc. where in this feature provides users to view, edit all the existing contract type details and also create new contract type.
- Custom Field Form- Custom Field Form is a user defined form with multiple control definitions using a designer and a name. This feature provide admin user to create, update and manage the custom field form.
- Contract Templates-These are Standard forms of contract which is usually a preprinted contract containing set clauses. This feature provides user to manage contract templates which can contain user defined custom fields.
- Contracting Party - Contracting party is the business entity that enters into a legally binding contract with the current organization who creates the contract. This feature provides user to manage contracting party details.
- Contracting Party Type- Contracting Party type refers to the various types/buckets contracting party can be categorized. This feature provides user to manage contracting party type.
- Clause Category-Clause categories are grouped under Clause Library. This feature provides user to create new contact clause category which can be attached to a Clause Library by choosing from dropdown.
- Clause Library- A Clause Library is an online repository of pre-defined and approved legal clauses that can be inserted in to contracts. This feature provides user to create new contact clauses which can be attached to a contract type by default.
- Work Flow- Work flow is a Progression of steps /tasks that comprise a work process, involve two or more persons. This Provides user to define a workflow for contract approvals.
- User Profile- A user profile is a record of user-specific data that define the user's working environment. This feature allows existing user to view and update their profiles.
Introduction to Contract management
Contract management is the process of managing contract creation, execution and analysis to maximize operational and financial performance at an organization, all while reducing financial risk. Organizations encounter an ever-increasing amount of pressure to reduce costs and improve company performance. Contract management proves to be a very time-consuming element of business, which facilitates the need for effective and automated contract management system.
Contract Management Software
While the tradition is normally to manage contracts manually through folder and file cabinet storage, the practice is riddled with inefficiencies that can only detract from an organization’s overall efficiency. Integrating with an automated contract management service will help free up countless man hours and automate countless processes associated with managing a contract, thus creating more value for a company.
High-level features of CMx - Contract Management Software
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Simplify your enterprise Contract Life Cycle Management (ECLM) Process with below features:
1. Enterprise Level Configurations
a. Organization Provisioning
i. Company Profile
ii. Location Provisioning
iii. Department Provisioning
iv. Staff Provisioning
v. Role & Permission Provisioning
vi. User Groups Provisioning
2. Contracts Configuration & Extensibility
a. Contracts Settings
b. Contract Level Security Permission
3. Contract Repository
a. Central Contract Respository for Managing Contracts and Document Attachments
b. Search & Advanced Search
i. Sub-second Response with Millions of Contract Records and Content types of files attached with contracts.
c. User Defined Custom Fields
d. Configurable Custom Workflow
e. Internal & External Reviews
f. e-Signature
g. Contract Types
h. Custom Contract Templates
4. Collaboration Features
a. Collaborate and author contracts
b. Internal Review with Team Members
c. External Review with Subject Matter Experts (SME) and Lawyers, keeping track of every change on the go.
5. Analytics & Reports
a. Audit Trail
b. Contract Analytics
c. User Task Board
d. Recommended Contracts for Review
6. Enterprise Scalability & Cost Effectiveness
a. Leverages strengths of Open Source Stack combined with powerful document authoring and collaboration features
b. Scalable Design with the latest and greatest technology stacks to provide you the best possible User Experience (UX)
7. Security
a. SSL
b. HMAC Request Level Security
8. Import & Export
a. Self Service Import of Existing Contracts using Excel Template
b. Export Existing Contracts - Administrator
9. On-Premise Vs Cloud SAAS Version
10. World Class Support
CMx is a complete end-to-end Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution which can be deployed across all departments/locations/subsidiary (child companies) within an organization. CMx is designed based on below diagram which represents the true CLM stages.
More details on these stages can be found here: https://www.contractexperience.com/resources/resources-main.html
Contract Life Cycle Management (CLM) simply means effectively managing contracts or agreements and relationship between entities by properly planning all the contract management stages resulting in reducing, eliminating or mitigating financial, legal and procurement risks.
Contracts play a critical role in any multi-party transaction, documenting terms such as critical dates, pricing, external/internal party information, and signatories. Losing visibility to your critical contracts and terms can lead to missed deadlines, penalties, overpayment for services, timely payments collection from external vendors, and much more which has a high impact on your business operation and profit margin. It is essential for companies across all industries to better manage their contracts at an enterprise level. However, far too often multiple business units within an organization have their own drives/directories or other data stores where contracts are kept. This can lead to confusion, disarray, and potential loss of critical information. Forward-thinking companies will smartly centralize their repositories with an efficient contract system that creates a single source of record for their enterprise-wide contracting needs and CMx perfectly follows this vision.
Why CLM is the Backbone of Business Success
Every business runs on contracts. They dictate terms of employment, business relationships, and countless other critical business details. Simply put, contracts are the atomic unit of commerce, the building blocks of every economic activity and business process. This makes CLM not just a necessity but a strategic advantage.
The Importance of CLM
Follow a contract through a company, and you’ll know everything you need to about that company’s approach to technology, process optimization, and risk management. Does a company prioritize speed over security? Does it maintain a number of systems that don’t communicate with each other? Does it save money by automating high-volume processes? Contracts tell the story.
Benefits of an Effective CLM System
- Centralized Data: Ensures a single source of truth, reducing confusion and errors.
- Shared Workflows: Enhances collaboration across departments.
- Transparency and Compliance: Keeps all parties aligned and compliant with regulations.
- Efficiency and Collaboration: Achieved through digitizing and automating the contracting process.
Incorporating these elements into your contract management strategy not only mitigates risks but also enhances business agility. An effective CLM system is your business’s secret weapon, ensuring you stay ahead in a competitive landscape.
The Historical Roots of Contract Lifecycle Management
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) has a rich history that can be traced back thousands of years, beginning with the creation of the first business records on clay tablets. Approximately 5,000 years ago, the earliest known records began with cuneiform tablets, which laid the groundwork for the systems of commerce we understand today.
The Role of Contracts in Commerce
From those ancient times to the present, ledgers and contracts have remained vital to business operations. Every transaction relies on a recorded agreement—both purchase records and fulfillment assurances are crucial. Without proper documentation, businesses lack the guarantee of payment or service delivery. Contracts form not only the backbone of organizations but also the essence of human cooperation and societal development.
Evolution to Digital Management
Moving into the last few decades, the need to manage contracts efficiently has become more pressing. Over the past 30 years, the transition from analog to digital systems has been central to advancements in CLM. However, traditional CLM tools have often struggled to digitize and modernize the process effectively. Many systems have failed to bridge the gap between the physical contract and the data they contain, leading to discrepancies that pose business liabilities.
The Complexity of Contract Management
Despite advancements, contract management remains a complex task. The challenge hasn’t simply been about storing signed documents but rather managing the entire lifecycle of a contract—from drafting to negotiation and final execution. Legacy tools often fall short because they don’t align with the real-world practices of lawyers and business teams in constructing and negotiating agreements.
Modern Solutions and Future Directions
The shortcomings of outdated CLM solutions highlight the importance of innovative technologies that understand contractual intricacies. Emerging tools promise to revolutionize the drafting, editing, tracking, and storing processes by integrating contract data smoothly and reliably. With these developments, businesses can look forward to more cohesive systems that support both legal and commercial frameworks seamlessly.
By understanding these historical roots and challenges, companies can better appreciate the evolution and significance of contract lifecycle management in shaping the way modern businesses operate.
Transformation in the 1990s and 2000s: Impact on Contract Management Systems
The sweeping technological advances of the 1990s and 2000s drastically reshaped contract management systems. As the price of business computers dropped significantly during this period, the Internet emerged as a fundamental tool across industries. This newfound digital landscape brought about significant changes in how businesses operated, particularly in the realm of communication, with email emerging as the standard method.
Key Legislative and Technological Shifts
A pivotal moment occurred in 2000 with the passage of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act by Congress, which authenticated the use of electronic signatures, giving businesses the legal backing to embrace digital contracts.
Evolution of Business Systems
Initially, most contract management tools functioned as document management systems or systems of record. As companies digitized their contracts, ensuring the accuracy and comprehensiveness of these digital repositories became a priority. However, back then, due to on-premise hosting, software implementations were lengthy and updates infrequent, creating a cumbersome process for businesses.
Prominent enterprise software providers like Oracle and SAP Ariba, established in the mid-1990s, dominated the market. The software available was largely perceived as little more than data storage solutions for contracts rather than vital components of business strategy.
Comparison with CRM and ERP Systems
In contrast, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems enjoyed significant growth during this era. This was because CRM systems did not depend on the digital document exchange or signatures; they were designed to facilitate one-way interaction management, requiring only the salesperson's input.
Similarly, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems excelled as they streamlined procurement through comprehensive purchase tracking, free from the hindrances faced by contract management systems.
CLM vs. CRM and ERP Growth
Due to these differences, CRMs and ERPs thrived, introducing efficiencies and bolstering company operations in ways that Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools could not achieve during these decades. The barriers presented by the need for finalization and electronic signatures in contracts restricted the pace at which contract management systems could evolve, resulting in their more modest growth compared to CRMs and ERPs.
Through these advances, the framework of business operations transformed, illustrating a significant period of evolution for contract management systems.
The Impact of Microsoft Word on Contract Management Practices
Microsoft Word revolutionized the way contracts are handled by bringing a new level of standardization and accessibility to document creation. Before its introduction, the landscape of contract management was marked by inconsistency and the cumbersome task of drafting documents manually or using typewriters.
Standardization and Uniformity
Word processors existed before Microsoft Word, but Word's unique capacity for widespread adaptability ensured a more consistent format for contracts globally. The ease of creating professional, uniform documents meant that businesses could maintain brand integrity and consistency across multiple legal documents.
Ubiquity and Integration
Today, it's nearly impossible to imagine contract management without Microsoft Word. Many contracts—whether they are simple agreements or complex legal documents—are drafted, edited, and finalized using this software. Its integration capabilities with other software systems have streamlined the entire contract lifecycle, from creation to execution and archiving. This integration ensures that contracts maintain their coherence and are easily accessible to all relevant stakeholders.
Enhancing Collaboration
Before Word, sharing documents for review or collaboration was a tedious process involving physical copies and red pen annotations. Microsoft Word introduced features like track changes and comments, which have transformed collaborative editing. Multiple parties can now revise a document simultaneously while maintaining a clear record of edits, which significantly accelerates contract negotiation cycles.
Flexibility and Customization
The flexibility of Microsoft Word allows users to easily customize templates tailored to specific contract types, reducing error rates and ensuring compliance with legal standards. This adaptability means businesses can rapidly respond to regulatory changes without overhauling their entire document repository.
Longevity and Dependability
While other software tools face obsolescence, Word's enduring presence in the business world provides stability. Its reliability over the decades has made it a favored tool for contract management, reinforcing its role as an indispensable tool in business operations.
In conclusion, Microsoft Word's influence on contract management lies in its ability to offer standardized, collaborative, and reliable solutions for businesses globally. Its features have significantly reduced the time and resources required for drafting, negotiating, and finalizing contracts, bolstering efficiency across the board.
Critical Stages in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)
Following section explains about the #9 stages and best practices of Contract Lifecycle Management process.
Stage 1: Contract Request:
Contract Life Cycle Management starts with the Contracts Requesting process where one party requests for or initiates the contracting process and subsequently uses that information for drafting or authoring the contract document.This is usually the first step in Contract Life cycle Management.
Inputs:
Information on what the contract should contain and critical dates such as contract start date,end date and any milestones.
Outputs:
- Contract Request information is saved in the CLM Software System and visible in the contract management dashboard for further CLM stages.
- Audit Trails.
How Contract Management Software Enhances the Contract Request Stage
Contract management software plays a pivotal role in streamlining the contract request process, offering several advantages that can significantly enhance efficiency and accuracy.
1. Streamlined Proposal Initiation
When initiating a contract, clarity and organization are paramount. Contract management solutions automate the request process, ensuring all necessary details are captured right from the start. This automation eliminates the need for back-and-forth communication, minimizing misunderstandings.
2. Centralized Information Repository
Effective negotiation relies on easy access to essential documents and previous agreements. Contract management software acts as a centralized repository, storing all relevant data and materials in one accessible location. This centralized system facilitates seamless collaboration between parties.
3. Enhanced Documentation Management
Having all supporting documentation readily available is crucial in negotiating terms. The software not only organizes these documents but also ensures they are kept up-to-date, allowing stakeholders to use the most current and accurate information during discussions.
4. Workflow Automation and Alerts
This software often includes workflow automation tools that guide users through the contract request process. Automatic alerts and reminders help ensure each stage of negotiation and approval is completed promptly, reducing the risk of delays.
5. Improved Version Control
Keeping track of changes during contract drafting can be challenging. Contract management software provides version control features, allowing users to track revisions and access previous versions, ensuring transparency and consistency throughout negotiations.
Incorporating these features, contract management software not only simplifies the contract request stage but also enhances the overall contracting process, leading to more efficient and successful outcomes.
Stage 2: Contract Authoring, Review and Red lining, Contract Negotiation
In the Contract Authoring or Drafting stage, a contract or agreement document is created or generated, including all clauses, terms, and conditions. This stage is crucial for laying the foundation of the agreement. It is during this phase that Contract Approvers and Signing parties are determined, and their details are captured in the contract document.
Once the contract draft is ready, it moves into the Review and Redlining phase. Here, stakeholders scrutinize the document, suggesting edits and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. This meticulous process prepares the contract for the negotiation stage, which is pivotal in finalizing the terms.
Contract Negotiation follows, where the document may need to be adjusted before the final signing. This is a critical process involving legal teams from both parties. They engage in discussions to reconcile differences and ensure both sides' interests are protected.
During negotiations, it is essential to:
- Track Document Changes: Keeping a record of changes made to the document ensures transparency and accountability.
- Manage Comments and Feedback: Addressing feedback effectively helps in aligning both parties' expectations.
- Version Control: Maintaining different document versions helps in managing the evolution of the contract throughout the negotiation process.
These elements are vital as they ensure that the final contract is clear, fair, and enforceable, reducing the risk of future disputes. The negotiation phase, therefore, not only shapes the contract but also sets the stage for a successful partnership between the parties involved.
Why is the Negotiation Stage Critical?
The negotiation of terms is one of the most crucial stages in a contract’s lifecycle. This stage is vital because it determines the final terms and ensures that all parties are on the same page. Productive and efficient negotiations rely heavily on thorough preparation. Having all positions, documents, and intended outcomes in one place is essential for successful negotiations.
The Role of Contract Management Software
Contract management software can significantly enhance the negotiation process. Acting as a central repository, it organizes key elements such as positions and documents, streamlining the preparation and execution of negotiations. This software also facilitates the request and approval of amendments, making the process more efficient. By saving considerable time on administrative tasks, legal teams can focus their resources on the substantive aspects of negotiation, ultimately leading to better outcomes.
Incorporating these tools into the negotiation stage not only enhances efficiency but also ensures that the negotiation process is as smooth and effective as possible, aligning with the goals set during the contract authoring phase.
Inputs:
Contract Request Information.
Outputs:
- Contract or Agreement Document, usually in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format saved in the document management solution.
Stage 3: Approval and Lawyer or Legal Review
Agreement document prepared in previous step is submitted to internal or external approvers and then once they approve the document to proceed further, Contractual document moves to the next step in the CLM life cycle.
A structured approval process is crucial in ensuring that all necessary perspectives are considered, especially in larger organizations where the number of stakeholders can add layers of complexity. Each stakeholder may have access to different types of information, some of which might be confidential, necessitating careful management of permissions.
Incorporating contract management software can streamline this process. These tools allow legal teams to set up comprehensive review processes and assign specific permissions to designated stakeholders, ensuring that each person involved only accesses what they need. This approach minimizes risks and maintains confidentiality throughout the approval stages.
Additionally, introducing conditional logic can enhance efficiency. By requiring a base number of approvals before a contract advances, the process not only speeds up but also ensures that each stage of the contract lifecycle is thoroughly vetted.
Inputs:
Contract Document.
Outputs:
- Contract Approvals from designated stake holders.
How Does Contract Approval Differ in Small and Large Companies?
In small companies, contract approval is often straightforward. Typically, a General Counsel might handle the entire process single-handedly, reviewing and approving each section without needing additional oversight. This centralized approach is feasible due to the smaller volume and complexity of contracts typically encountered in smaller organizations.
As companies expand, the contract approval process becomes more intricate. Larger businesses often require input from various functional and regional departments, each responsible for approving specific contract sections. This decentralization ensures each department can address its unique concerns and compliance requirements.
Traditionally, managing this multifaceted process could involve manually routing contracts to each relevant department, a time-consuming and error-prone task. However, with advancements in technology, contract lifecycle management tools, such as those offered by DocuSign or SAP Ariba, automate this workflow. They streamline the entire process by automatically tracking and routing contracts to the appropriate teams, ensuring all necessary approvals are obtained with minimal manual intervention.
Stage 4: Execution or Agreement Signing
Contract document which is approved is sent to respective parties for signature either online or using manual process.
Inputs:
- Contract Document with no signature.
Outputs:
- Contract Document with electronic signatures from all contracting parties.
After approval, obtaining signatures is a crucial step in the contract lifecycle. While traditional methods involve physical ('wet') signatures, electronic signatures have become increasingly popular due to their convenience and efficiency. However, electronic signatures must comply with varying jurisdictional laws, adding complexity to the process.
Contract management software simplifies this stage by automating signature requests and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations. This software is designed to seamlessly integrate with popular e-signature platforms such as Adobe Sign and Docusign, streamlining the entire process. By choosing a solution with integrated e-signature capabilities, you ensure a smooth transition from approval to execution, reducing delays and enhancing productivity.
Once the contract document is signed, it is stored permanently in an easy-to-retrieve agreement database. Both contractual metadata and documents are indexed and saved for future reference.
Contract storage goes beyond just archiving executed contracts; it ensures the security and accessibility of sensitive information. Key requirements include:
- Secure Storage: Contracts must be stored securely to protect confidential data.
- Ease of Navigation: Company folders should be organized in a way that allows for easy navigation, ensuring quick access to documents when needed.
- Metadata Management: Recording metadata in a relational database is essential. This allows for efficient reporting and filtering, such as identifying contracts exceeding a certain value, enhancing decision-making processes.
- Contextual History: It's important to store not only the executed contract but also its contextual history, providing a comprehensive view of the contract's lifecycle.
While general software solutions like Dropbox may handle these tasks adequately in a company's early stages, they might not offer the necessary scalability as the company grows. A robust contract storage system should accommodate increasing volumes and complexity, supporting the company's evolving needs.
Understanding the Challenges of Contract Execution
Contract execution comes with its own set of logistical and technical hurdles. When both parties are ready to finalize an agreement, they need to sign the contract. This seemingly straightforward step can be more complex than it appears due to a few key challenges.
Logistical Challenges
- Coordination: It can be difficult to coordinate schedules for executing the contract, especially when the parties are in different time zones or require multiple stakeholders' sign-offs.
- Document Management: Keeping track of contract versions and ensuring everyone is signing the right document can be challenging.
Technical Challenges
- Integration of Tools: The main technical issue arises because electronic signature (eSignature) solutions are often sold as standalone tools, separate from broader contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems.
- Security Concerns: Ensuring data security and authenticity of signatures is imperative, which can require sophisticated technical solutions.
Addressing the Challenges
To tackle these challenges, businesses are increasingly turning to integrated solutions that streamline the signing process. Here's how they address these concerns:
- Unified Platforms: Many companies now offer comprehensive CLM platforms that incorporate eSignature capabilities, minimizing the need to juggle multiple tools.
- Workflow Automation: Automated workflows ensure that contracts move seamlessly through the signing process, providing alerts and reminders to keep all parties on track.
- Enhanced Security Features: Using advanced encryption and authentication techniques, these platforms guarantee the validity of signatures while protecting sensitive information.
- Mobile Accessibility: Modern solutions often allow signing on-the-go, which can be particularly effective for expediting the process when parties are not in the same location.
By adopting these integrated and secure platforms, companies can address both the logistical and technical challenges associated with contract execution, leading to greater efficiency and fewer errors throughout the process.
Stage 5: Contract Database or Repository Storage
Once the contract document is signed, it is stored permanently in an easy-to-retrieve agreement database. Both contractual metadata and documents are indexed and saved for future reference. This meticulous organization is crucial for effective contract lifecycle management, ensuring that contracts and related materials are accessible whenever needed.
Proper storage involves more than just saving documents; it requires a robust system that allows for rapid and accurate searches. Contract management software plays a vital role in this process by creating collections with both standard and customizable search terms, enabling efficient retrieval based on specific criteria. Additionally, such software can generate comprehensive reports for various purposes, supporting strategic decision-making and ensuring compliance.
Incorporating these features not only streamlines contract management but also enhances the ability to manage and analyze contractual obligations efficiently.
Inputs:
Contract Document with Signature.
Outputs:
- Contract Document saved in document repository for future reference and accessible through contract API.
Stage 6: Records Management
This stage enables complete control of all critical business documents through reliable storage of records with backups and retention policy enforcement policies providing confidence that your critical records are in secure for global information management with high compliance.
Secure storage is paramount in contract management to prevent mishaps such as accidental deletion or incorrect modification of essential documents. Contract management software plays a critical role by ensuring that storage is not only secure and reliable but also backed up to local or off-site servers. This dual-layer of protection ensures that your records remain safe and retrievable.
Moreover, effective software solutions enhance the management process by assigning key events for automatic reminders or requests, ensuring that important tasks and deadlines are not overlooked. This automated approach streamlines daily operations, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring compliance with organizational policies.
By operationalizing these core functions, contract management software aids general counsels, legal teams, and other contractual parties in mitigating risks and maintaining the integrity of their document management systems.
Inputs:
Agreements, Contractual Documents.
Outputs:
- Compliance enforcement by safe storage in a Records Management System.
Enterprise software systems have experienced a significant evolution, marked by distinct phases: systems of record, systems of engagement, and systems of intelligence.
Systems of Record
Initially, enterprise software served as systems of record. These systems function primarily as reliable sources of truth, akin to digital databases. The transformation from paper-based processes to digital platforms enabled businesses to access, manage, and distribute records with unprecedented speed. Tasks that once took hours or days can now be accomplished in seconds, providing a streamlined and efficient approach to handling business data.
Systems of Engagement
As businesses grew, merely storing data was no longer sufficient. This need gave rise to systems of engagement, which bridge the gap between databases and end-users. These systems automate and simplify the interaction with data, facilitating quicker collection and retrieval. Whether managing customer data or handling contracts, these tools help optimize operations by improving user accessibility and interaction with the stored information. Today, most enterprise technologies operate within this realm, enhancing day-to-day functionality and user experience.
Systems of Intelligence
The latest evolution in enterprise software is the emergence of systems of intelligence. These advanced platforms go beyond data storage and user interaction; they analyze data to identify patterns and generate insights. By leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence, systems of intelligence aim to enhance decision-making and predict business trends. Their impact varies significantly across industries, contingent on how effectively they integrate into specific business domains. While still developing, these systems represent the future frontier of business software, promising improved outcomes through actionable intelligence.
In summary, enterprise software has evolved from simply recording data, to engaging users with that data, and now towards intelligently analyzing it to drive business forward.
Stage 7: Easy Search and Retrieval
This stage enables business users to quickly search , apply filters and retrieve relevant documents from the contract system.
Inputs:
Contract Repository tagged with relevant keywords for easy search and retrieval.
Outputs:
- Search results of contract repository with relevant documents.
Stage 8: User Activity and Reporting
Every stage captures user activity logs and the contract metadata, and documents are properly indexed for easy retrieval. This stage ensures business users can quickly and efficiently retrieve and mine contract data and produce in-depth reports.
Contract lifecycle management software excels in offering varied types of reporting that are crucial for strategic decision-making. Key staff members, such as general counsel and legal teams, benefit from reports detailing the number and type of contracts in storage. This transparency is vital for maintaining an organized database.
Knowing who accessed the records, made changes, and when these actions occurred is essential for accountability and security. The software also provides critical compliance reports, ensuring that all obligations are met. Issues like late payments, non-delivery of products, and unauthorized changes (ultra vires) are flagged for immediate attention, safeguarding the organization's interests.
Inputs:
- Contract Repository containing agreements.
Outputs:
Custom Reports: These reports are tailored to meet the specific needs of the business, allowing for precise monitoring and management of contractual obligations. They include:
- Contract Volume and Type Reports: Essential for understanding the scope and nature of agreements in storage.
- Access and Modification Logs: Track who accessed and altered contracts, providing transparency and accountability.
- Compliance and Obligation Reports: Highlight issues such as late payments or non-delivery, ensuring prompt attention to potential breaches like ultra vires changes.
Additionally, the software supports the setup of tailored notification systems. This feature complements a business's internal processes, ensuring that all stakeholders remain informed and responsive to contractual changes. By integrating these elements, the software not only enhances reporting but also fortifies the overall contract management strategy.
Stage 9: Contract Renewal, Amendments, and Disposition
Once the contract reaches its end date, it must be renewed to stay in active status. If the contract is not renewed on time, it could cause financial risk for the parties involved in the contract. However, renewal is not just about dates and signatures—it's a strategic decision that requires thorough consideration of multiple factors.
Inputs:
- Contract Document with a recent expiry date.
Considerations:
- Completion of Obligations: Evaluate whether all parties have met their contractual obligations satisfactorily. This ensures that both sides have fulfilled their commitments, which is crucial for maintaining trust and reliability.
- Adequacy of Deliverables: Assess the quality and adequacy of the deliverables provided under the contract. This is essential to determine if the value received aligns with expectations and contract terms.
- Competitive Pricing: Review the pricing structure to ensure it remains competitive in the current market. This can involve benchmarking against industry standards to confirm that the costs align with the value offered.
- Stability and Benefit of the Business Relationship: Consider the stability of the ongoing relationship and the benefits it brings to your organization. This involves analyzing the strategic importance of the partner and the potential for future collaboration.
- Risk Analysis: Conduct a risk assessment to identify any potential threats that could arise from renewing or not renewing the contract. This includes financial, operational, and reputational risks.
Outputs:
- Contract Document renewed to a later expiry date: Following a thorough evaluation of all relevant factors, the decision to renew the contract should result in updating the document to reflect a new expiry date, ensuring continuity and safeguarding against potential risks.
By addressing these factors, the renewal process becomes a strategic decision, ensuring that the contract aligns with current business goals and market conditions.
Moreover, contract management software allows for proactive management. It can handle amendments, renewals, or dispositions well in advance of the contract's end date, reducing the chances of oversight and mitigating potential financial risks. By automating reminders and tracking key contract milestones, these tools ensure that the process need not be a lengthy ordeal, allowing businesses to focus on maintaining strong and beneficial relationships.
How have legacy contract management solutions fallen short in digitizing the contract process?
Legacy contract management solutions have struggled to effectively digitize the contracting process due to several shortcomings. First, they haven't aligned with the actual practices of how lawyers and companies create, negotiate, and finalize contracts. This misalignment makes these tools inefficient for real-world use.
Furthermore, instead of completely digitizing contracts, these systems have inadvertently created a gap between the physical contract documents, typically in DOCX or PDF formats, and the critical data within them, such as contract value or duration. This gap poses a significant risk, as discrepancies between what is outlined in the physical contracts and what is recorded in databases can create legal vulnerabilities, with courts often prioritizing the content of the actual contracts.
In essence, the failure to integrate contract data seamlessly within a digital framework keeps businesses tethered to traditional, less efficient methods.
What does contract management and analytics entail, and why is it less developed in the CLM space?
Understanding Contract Management and Analytics: What It Entails and Why It's Less Developed
Contract management and analytics encompass a broad range of activities crucial to the effective oversight and evaluation of agreements. This phase involves tasks such as contract administration, conducting searches, facilitating renewals, and leveraging analytics to gain insights. Essentially, it serves as the final stage of the contract lifecycle, bringing everything full circle.
Key Elements of Contract Management and Analytics:
- Contract Administration: Ensures contracts are properly documented, maintained, and easily accessible for reference.
- Search and Retrieval: Involves efficiently locating specific contracts or clauses using advanced search capabilities.
- Contract Renewal: Focuses on timely renegotiation and renewal of contracts to maintain business continuity.
- Analytics: Utilizes data generated from contracts to analyze performance, identify trends, and inform strategic decisions.
Despite its importance, contract management and analytics remain relatively underdeveloped within the contract lifecycle management (CLM) industry. This underdevelopment can be attributed to a few key factors:
- Perceived Priority: Many organizations prioritize contract execution over management, viewing the latter as less critical to immediate business success.
- Data Dependency: Effective contract management requires accurate data input from earlier stages in the contract lifecycle. Inconsistencies or errors in this data can hinder the development of robust management capabilities.
These challenges have slowed the advancement of contract management and analytics solutions, leaving room for growth and innovation in the field. Improving these systems could lead to significant benefits, including enhanced compliance, reduced risks, and better strategic insights.
Why is Managing Contracts Considered More Challenging Than Other Business Tasks?
Managing contracts is a complex endeavor for several reasons that span technology, operations, and legal requirements.
Technological Complexities
Contracts demand advanced tools for drafting, storing, and retrieving information. Traditional methods like paper filing fall short in today's fast-paced environment. While digital solutions such as DocuSign and Adobe Sign offer ease for signatures, the entire lifecycle management requires sophisticated systems. These systems need to handle everything from contract creation to renewal alerts seamlessly.
Operational Hurdles
Operational challenges also loom large. Multiple departments—from legal to finance—frequently touch contracts. This necessitates smooth collaboration and precise coordination. Without streamlined processes, bottlenecks can occur, delaying critical business operations.
Legal Intricacies
Finally, the legalities involved can be intricate and vary by region and industry. Compliance with regulations, such as GDPR or HIPAA, necessitates thorough knowledge and careful oversight to avoid costly mistakes.
In conclusion, the blend of technological demands, operational intricacies, and legal complexities makes contract management inherently daunting yet crucial for any business aiming for seamless operations.
What benefits and Return On Investment can be expected by using Contract Management Software?
Contracts play a critical role in any multi-party transaction, documenting terms such as critical dates, pricing, external/internal party information, and signatories. Losing visibility to your critical contracts and terms can lead to missed deadlines, penalties, overpayment for services, timely payments collection from external vendors, and much more, which has a high impact on your business operation and profit margin. It is essential for companies across all industries to better manage their contracts at an enterprise level. However, far too often, multiple business units within an organization have their own drives/directories or other data stores where contracts are kept. This can lead to confusion, disarray, and potential loss of critical information. Forward-thinking companies will smartly centralize their repositories with an efficient contract system that creates a single source of record for their enterprise-wide contracting needs, and CMx perfectly follows this vision.
To fully harness the power of contract lifecycle management (CLM), businesses must understand the stages involved and how each contributes to operational efficiency. Here’s how CLM software can enhance your business processes:
Centralized Repository and Access
- Single Source of Truth: By centralizing contracts, businesses create a streamlined system that reduces confusion and ensures easy access to critical documents. This not only improves organization but also enhances visibility across the enterprise.
- Robust Search and Retrieval: A robust search functionality within CLM software allows for quick retrieval of contracts, which is crucial for informed decision-making. Ensuring contracts are easily accessible means businesses can maintain solid relationships and act swiftly when needed.
Streamlined Negotiation and Approval
- Efficient Negotiations: CLM software facilitates efficient contract negotiations by storing all relevant documents and positions in one place. This preparation is key to productive discussions and quick approvals.
- Automated Approval Processes: Introducing conditional logic in review processes speeds up approvals by ensuring necessary checks are completed before moving to the next stage. This reduces bottlenecks and keeps the contract lifecycle progressing smoothly.
Risk Management and Compliance
- Secure Data Handling: Effective CLM systems ensure that contract data is secure, backed up, and handled with appropriate retention policies. This minimizes risks such as data loss or unauthorized access, protecting the company’s interests.
- Comprehensive Reporting: CLM software enables detailed reporting on contract statuses, compliance, and access logs. This transparency helps legal teams manage obligations and flag potential breaches early, ensuring ongoing compliance.
Execution and Storage
- Integrated E-Signatures: As businesses increasingly rely on electronic signatures, CLM software that integrates with popular systems like Adobe Sign and Docusign ensures compliance across jurisdictions and speeds up execution.
- Efficient Record Management: Once executed, contracts are stored securely and indexed for easy access. Automatic reminders for key events ensure ongoing management is seamless and efficient.
Renewal and Disposition
- Proactive Contract Management: CLM software allows for the proactive management of contract renewals and dispositions, taking into account all relevant factors well before end dates. This forward-thinking approach supports stable and beneficial business relationships.
By leveraging these capabilities, businesses can significantly enhance their operational efficiency, reduce risks, and focus on high-value activities that drive performance. Contract lifecycle management is not just about managing documents—it's about optimizing the entire process to support your company's strategic goals.
Factors Contributing to the Growth of CRM and ERP Over CLM
In the whirlwind evolution of business software throughout the 1990s and 2000s, two categories stood out for their rapid adoption and expansion: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Meanwhile, Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools lagged behind. What exactly fueled this disparity?
Ease of Implementation and Use
- CRM Simplicity: Unlike CLM, CRM systems didn’t require complex digitization processes for contracts or electronic signatures. Sales teams could effortlessly enter prospect details and interactions, making these systems highly user-friendly and immediately beneficial.
- ERP Integration: ERP systems effectively tracked purchasing data. They became indispensable to procurement teams without the need for extensive data input requirements that bogged down CLM systems.
Technological Constraints
During this era, most software solutions were hosted on-premise. Implementing new systems was a daunting task, often taking months or even years. This was especially true for CLM tools, whose core functions—digitizing documents and managing signatures—demanded full contract finalization. On the other hand, CRM and ERP systems could operate efficiently without needing such levels of technological sophistication or complete data entry for functionality.
Market Priorities
- CRM as a Strategic Asset: With businesses racing to capture and retain customer attention, CRM systems provided a strategic edge. They offered accurate, up-to-date insights into customer relations, enabling proactive sales strategies.
- ERP as an Operational Backbone: ERPs housed essential data on purchases and inventory management, supporting vital business operations. They seamlessly integrated into existing company systems, delivering immediate value.
Functional Limitations of CLM
Contract management systems of the time were often seen as static repositories, dominated by the role of merely storing finalized documents. Unlike CRM or ERP, they didn’t evolve quickly to become interactive, strategic tools that offered live data insights. Contracts, once completed, were tucked away with limited impact on ongoing business operations.
In summary, while CLM systems were bogged down by their intrinsic technological demands and limited functionality, CRMs and ERPs capitalized on ease of use and strategic utility. This set them on the path of dynamic growth and widespread adoption.
How Can Businesses Evaluate and Choose the Right Contract Lifecycle Management Solution?
When it comes to selecting the ideal contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution, businesses should take a structured approach. Here are steps to help navigate this process effectively:
1. Identify Your Needs
Before diving into the array of available technologies, assess the unique requirements of your business. Consider factors such as:
- Volume of Contracts: Are you handling a few contracts a month or hundreds daily?
- Integration Requirements: Do you need the CLM to integrate with existing systems like CRM or ERP solutions?
- Compliance and Security Needs: What regulations must the solution adhere to, such as GDPR or HIPAA?
2. Research and Shortlist Solutions
Gather a list of potential CLM solutions by:
- Utilizing industry reports and comparisons from trusted sources.
- Consulting peer reviews and customer testimonials on platforms like G2 or Capterra.
- Seeking recommendations from industry experts or networks within your sector.
3. Evaluate Features and Functionality
Compare shortlisted solutions on:
- User-Friendliness: Is the interface intuitive for your team?
- Customization Options: Can the software be tailored to fit your processes?
- Automation Capabilities: How does it streamline contract creation, approval, and renewal?
4. Consider Costs and Value
Beyond the sticker price, analyze the total value:
- Price vs. Features: Does the solution offer a good balance of features relative to its cost?
- Scalability: Can the solution grow with your business, or will you outgrow it quickly?
- Support and Training: Does the vendor provide adequate customer support and training resources?
5. Request Demonstrations
Engage with providers for product demos:
- Prepare specific scenarios or challenges you face to see how the solution handles them.
- Involve key stakeholders in the demo to gather diverse feedback.
- Evaluate if the vendor customization and integration meet your expectations.
6. Test Through Trials
Opt for a hands-on trial period whenever possible:
- Monitor user feedback and adoption within your team.
- Assess the impact on your workflow efficiency and contract turnaround times.
- Ensure all key functions are working seamlessly in your environment.
By following these steps, you’ll be equipped to make an informed decision and select a CLM solution that aligns with your business needs and strategic goals.
How Does Contract Management Software Integrate with Existing IT Infrastructure?
Integrating contract management software with your current IT setup is a crucial step to enhance efficiency and streamline processes. Here's how it works:
- API Connectivity:Most contract management solutions offer APIs, enabling seamless data transfer between the software and your existing systems. This connectivity ensures that contract data can move effortlessly across platforms like SAP, Oracle, or Salesforce.
- Cloud Compatibility:Many modern contract tools are cloud-based, allowing for easy access and integration with other cloud services and platforms you might already be using, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services.
- Single Sign-On (SSO) Integration:Integrating with SSO solutions like Okta or Active Directory simplifies user access and authentication. This ensures that employees can use existing credentials to access the contract management system, maintaining security and ease of access.
- Data Mapping and Synchronization:Contract management software often includes capabilities for data mapping and synchronization. This feature ensures that contract details are automatically updated and aligned with other business-critical applications, reducing manual entry and potential errors.
- Plug-Ins and Extensions:To further enhance compatibility, many platforms offer plug-ins or extensions tailored for commonly used tools like Microsoft Office or Google Workspace, allowing for direct access and modification of documents related to contracts within familiar interfaces.
By leveraging these integration capabilities, businesses can ensure that their contract management software effortlessly meshes with existing IT infrastructure, providing a cohesive and efficient workflow across the organization.
The Role of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) for Legal Teams
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) offers innumerable benefits, particularly for general counsel and legal departments. These systems ensure that contracts, which are the lifeblood of any business, are managed with precision, enhancing the health and thriving potential of an organization. Legal departments, tasked with mitigating risk and ensuring compliance, find that CLM systems streamline processes, reduce manual errors, and bolster strategic goals.
Only some companies worldwide manage their contracts and contract processes really well. It helps to maintain order and efficiency in this critical area. Contract systems range from very simple databases that allow companies to search and find their contracts and track information (such as contract expiration dates and deadlines) to comprehensive CLM systems that automate the entire contract lifecycle, from the initial contract request through contract creation, signing, filing, and post-contract reporting. Some systems are primarily intended to support the procurement function, and others the sales contracting function, but increasingly these systems are being designed to handle all types of contracts.
Benefits Across the Organization
While a simple contract database or contract repository may suffice for companies with only a small number of contracts, more fully featured CLM systems add significant features and functions to help manage what, for many companies, is an increasingly complex and critical area. These systems are not only beneficial for legal departments but also for other key figures responsible for contract management, ensuring consistent and efficient operations across the organization.
With more contract solutions being offered as a cloud-hosted service (SaaS), the advantages of CLM systems are increasingly accessible even to smaller companies and law departments. An integrated system that applies business rules to manage contracts on a worldwide basis—from request through negotiation to filing in a central repository—allows people and systems within the organization to access, analyze, and act on contract-related information. This improves efficiency, consistency, reporting, and control.
By embracing CLM, companies can ensure that their legal departments, alongside other units, operate with enhanced visibility and control, ultimately supporting the organization's broader strategic aims.
Enhancing Business Relationships and Decision-Making
To truly impact business relationships positively, contracts need to be accessible. Accessibility is imperative not only for speeding up record management but also for ensuring solid business relationships. When contracts are easily retrievable, all parties involved can quickly verify terms and conditions, reducing misunderstandings and fostering trust.
Furthermore, leaders can make more informed and accurate business decisions if contracts are easy to access. Having immediate access to contract details enables decision-makers to evaluate options with precision, ensuring that they make choices that align with organizational goals and partner expectations. In this way, an efficient contract lifecycle management system not only protects the company from operational pitfalls but also strengthens its strategic position in the market.
Only some companies worldwide manage their contracts and contract processes really good. It helps to maintain order and efficiency to this critical area. Contract System ranges from very simple databases that allow companies to search and find their contracts and track information (such as contract expiration dates and deadlines) to contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems that attempt to automate the entire contract lifecycle, from the initial contract request through contract creation, signing, filing, and post-contract reporting. Some systems are primarily intended to support the procurement function, and others the sales contracting function, but increasingly these systems are being designed to handle all types of contracts.
In the realm of contract management, effective negotiation is paramount. One of the most critical benefits of advanced contract management software is its ability to streamline this process. These systems ensure that all necessary documents, positions, and intended outcomes are centralized, making it easier for teams to prepare thoroughly for negotiations.
- Centralized Repository: By serving as a centralized repository, the software allows for easy access to all relevant materials, facilitating smoother negotiation workflows.
- Amendment Management: The software also aids in managing requests and approvals for amendments, ensuring that all changes are documented and approved efficiently.
Powerful contract management solutions save substantial time on administrative tasks, freeing up resources for more strategic, substantive negotiation efforts. This efficiency translates into more effective and streamlined negotiations, allowing legal and procurement teams to focus on crafting beneficial agreements.
By integrating these comprehensive capabilities, contract management software not only automates lifecycle tasks but also enhances the negotiation process, making it a vital tool for modern businesses.
While a simple contract database or contract repository may be enough for companies with only a small number of contracts to deal with, more fully featured CLM systems add significant features and functions to help manage what, for many companies, is an increasingly complex and critical area.
With more contract solutions being offered as a cloud-hosted service (SaaS), the advantages of CLM systems are increasingly available even to smaller companies and law departments. In the 2010s, SaaS revolutionized the software landscape, transitioning organizations from perpetual licenses to flexible subscription models. This shift allowed businesses not only continuous product updates but also seamless integration with other tools.
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems evolved significantly during this period. Unlike the static document management systems of previous decades, the new CLM tools monitored contracts in real-time and integrated effortlessly with cloud storage and eSignature solutions. This integration streamlined the entire contract process, from document generation to archival, under a single, cohesive system.
The widespread adoption of CRM and ERP systems provided a fertile ground for CLM tools. By targeting users of these established platforms, CLM solutions could leverage existing customer data to enhance contract management workflows. This synergy allowed companies to optimize and automate processes, making sophisticated contract management accessible to a broader market than ever before.
In essence, SaaS not only transformed how software was delivered but also how businesses managed essential functions like contract lifecycle management. The efficiency and scalability offered by SaaS-based CLM systems opened new opportunities for organizations of all sizes to streamline operations and drive growth.
"An integrated system that applies business rules to manage contracts of the enterprise on a worldwide basis, from request through negotiation to filing in a central repository, and that allows people and systems within the organization to access, analyze, and act on contract-related information to improve efficiency, consistency, reporting, and control."
Contract lifecycle management (CLM) enhances this system by digitizing and automating each stage of the contracting process. This transformation begins with the creation and negotiation of contracts and extends through to their execution and storage. By incorporating centralized data and shared workflows, CLM ensures that all relevant information is easily accessible and can be acted upon swiftly.
Additionally, this approach fosters better collaboration across departments through transparency, as team members can track and manage contracts in real-time. Compliance is naturally enforced, reducing risk and ensuring that contracts adhere to regulatory standards.
With CLM, organizations benefit from improved efficiency and control, making the contracting process not only faster but also more reliable and consistent. This comprehensive strategy ultimately empowers businesses to achieve greater operational excellence.
Understanding the Importance of Tailored Notification Systems in Contract Lifecycle Management
Tailored notification systems are crucial components of effective contract lifecycle management. They empower legal teams to receive customized alerts, ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks. This customization allows businesses to align their notification systems with internal processes seamlessly, increasing efficiency and responsiveness.
Key Benefits:
- Enhanced Reporting: Through detailed, automated updates, organizations gain insights into the contract status and potential bottlenecks, paving the way for informed decision-making.
- Improved Compliance: Custom alerts keep your team aware of key deadlines and compliance requirements, helping to avoid costly legal oversights.
- Streamlined Operations: By aligning notifications with business operations, companies foster a smoother workflow, freeing up resources for strategic tasks.
Incorporating tailored notification systems into contract lifecycle management not only boosts operational efficiency but also enhances the overall strategic capability of a business.
What is CLM Software and How Does it Differ from Document Signing Software?
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software is a digital solution designed to oversee contracts from creation through to their conclusion. Unlike basic document signing tools, which focus solely on capturing digital signatures, CLM software offers a comprehensive suite of features. These platforms empower legal teams and business users to streamline contract processes and glean valuable insights from the data contained within contracts.
Key Differences:
- Scope of Functionality
- CLM Software: Facilitates the entire lifecycle of a contract, including drafting, reviewing, approving, signing, and renewing. It supports automation, collaboration, and strategic management.
- Document Signing Software: Primarily focuses on the electronic signature aspect. It's used to digitally sign documents for convenience and security.
- Process Automation
- CLM Software: Automates repetitive tasks, enhancing efficiency and reducing errors in contract handling. It ensures compliance and expedites operational workflows.
- Document Signing Software: Limited to digitizing the signing process without automating contract management tasks.
- Business Intelligence
- CLM Software: Extracts and analyzes data, providing insights that help businesses make informed decisions and optimize contract performance.
- Document Signing Software: Does not offer analytical capabilities or insights beyond signing metrics.
In summary, while both tools are valuable in a digital age, CLM software is the more robust option for comprehensive contract management, whereas document signing software serves a very specific purpose within that process.
Contract Management Solution Optimization Advantages
- Make contracting process efficient and improve contract cycle time.
- Improve efficiency of contract lifecycle management process.
- Eliminate overhead associated with contracts.
Time Management and Resource Allocation Benefits:
- Accurate time management for each contract stage ensures that deadlines are met and bottlenecks are minimized.
- Appropriate workload allocation for each contract stage means tasks are distributed effectively, maximizing productivity.
- Ability to spend more time on high-value activities allows teams to focus on strategic tasks instead of routine administration.
- Better allocation of expensive resources, like general counsel time, ensures that expertise is used where it matters most.
- Getting Contracts Done effectively is important to streamline consistency of contracts and contract processes across the organization for due diligence and pro-actively managing risks.
- Risk Mitigation and better control of risk and revenue recognition issues.
- Improve enterprise-wide visibility of contracts and related information – team members have access to the information they need.
- Eliminate redundant entry of information.
- Increased Vendor and Supplier Compliance.
- Increased Legal Compliance by using common contract drafting tool and consistent terms and conditions.
- Incorporating contract management software not only streamlines document storage but also enhances compliance through detailed internal and external review processes. By assigning permissions to designated stakeholders, legal teams can ensure that contracts adhere to necessary standards before progressing. The use of conditional logic, such as requiring a base number of approvals, further accelerates and secures these processes.Moreover, the software facilitates comprehensive reporting, a critical component for legal teams. Access to detailed reports on contract types, who accessed them, and any modifications made ensures transparency and accountability. For general counsel, having insights into compliance with contractual obligations—such as monitoring for late payments or unauthorized changes—allows for proactive management of potential breaches.Tailored notification systems, a feature of advanced contract management solutions, complement a business’s internal processes, ensuring that compliance issues are flagged and addressed promptly. This holistic approach not only optimizes contract management but also fortifies a company's compliance posture, ultimately contributing to a swift return on investment.
- Legal compliance by effectively using Contract Management System can provide quick Return On Investment for your company. All of the project teams can use the same system for managing contract documents and metadata in one place, standardizing and optimizing Contract Management tasks and activities.
Beyond just ROI, effective Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software can revolutionize the day-to-day operations of your legal department. Here’s how it transforms your workflow:
Streamlined Processes: By operationalizing core functions, CLM software ensures that your legal team can handle contracts efficiently, minimizing administrative burdens.
Risk Management: It significantly cuts down on risks associated with manual errors and overlooked clauses, providing a safety net that protects your organization.
Focus on High-Value Work: With routine tasks automated, legal professionals can dedicate more time to strategic activities that enhance company performance.
By integrating CLM software, your legal team not only gains efficiency but also contributes more effectively to the overall success of the organization.
12.Increased Spend Optimization.
13. Most importantly, life of contract managers, procurement managers, legal professionals becomes easy since all are collaborating using the same tool throughout the organization.
By integrating these elements, contract management software not only streamlines processes but also enhances time management and optimizes resource allocation, ensuring that your organization operates more efficiently and effectively.
How Are Contracts Created and What Role Do Templates Play in Contract Creation?
Creating a contract involves several key steps that ensure both parties clearly understand and agree to the terms. The process usually begins with drafting, which can start either from scratch or by utilizing pre-existing templates. Templates play a significant role in simplifying this phase, providing a structure that captures essential components necessary for legal agreements.
Drafting: From Scratch vs. Using Templates
- From Scratch: Drafting from scratch involves writing the entire contract manually. This approach offers maximum flexibility, allowing for customization specific to unique agreements. However, it can be time-intensive and requires a deep understanding of legal language and requirements.
- Using Templates: Most businesses opt for templates, particularly when dealing with standard contracts. Templates serve as a ready-made framework, ensuring consistency and reducing the chance of missing critical clauses. This standardized approach streamlines the process, making it more efficient and less prone to errors.
The Role of Software in Document Generation
In today's digital age, software tools enhance the contract creation process. These solutions largely focus on generating documents in widely used formats like Word documents and PDFs. They allow for customization while preserving the professional layout and structure that templates offer. This digital assistance not only simplifies the initial drafting but also manages revisions and finalizations, which are integral to the contract lifecycle.
By using templates and digital tools, organizations can create detailed and effective contracts quickly, ensuring legal compliance and clarity for all parties involved.
How Contract Management Software Integrates with Existing IT Infrastructure for Better Efficiency
Seamless Integration with Current Systems
Contract management software often comes with the capability to integrate smoothly with your existing IT infrastructure. This feature allows for a unified workflow, minimizing disruptions as you transition to or optimize the software. By working cohesively with your current systems, such as CRM or ERP solutions, the contract management software enhances efficiency without requiring extensive overhauls.
API Connectivity
Many modern contract management solutions offer robust API connectivity. This enables seamless communication between different software systems, allowing data to flow freely and processes to be automated. With APIs, you can sync contracts across various platforms, ensuring updates are consistently reflected everywhere in real-time.
Plug-ins and Extensions
Software providers typically offer plug-ins and extensions designed specifically for popular platforms like Microsoft Office or Google Workspace. These tools allow you to manage contracts directly from applications you already use daily. By doing so, teams can remain in their familiar environments while leveraging new functionalities.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Implementing SSO means that your users can access the contract management software using their existing credentials. This integration not only enhances security but also improves user experience by reducing the number of passwords your team needs to manage, thus speeding up the adoption process.
Data Migration and Compatibility
Efficient contract management solutions often come with data migration tools that facilitate the transfer of existing contract data into the new system, either through native compatibility or by supporting standard data formats like CSV or XML. This ensures that you retain all historical data and maintain continuity without manual re-entry, saving both time and resources.
Cloud and On-Premises Options
Flexibility is key, and many contract management systems offer both cloud-based and on-premises deployment options. This allows businesses to choose the structure that best aligns with their current infrastructure and strategic goals, whether that's leveraging cloud scalability or maintaining on-site control for compliance reasons.
By leveraging these integration capabilities, contract management software can significantly enhance operational efficiency, streamline workflows, and improve the overall management of contracts within your organization.
Why Did the Unbundling of Contract Management Solutions in the 2010s Fail?
During the 2010s, the contract management landscape faced a significant challenge. The emergence of specialized tools marketing themselves as comprehensive solutions led to widespread confusion, particularly among newcomers to contract lifecycle management. This fragmented approach promised short-term savings by offering point solutions tailored for specific contract tasks. However, these solutions often resulted in long-term complications.
Issues with Fragmentation
- Inconsistency Across Tools: Businesses often ended up juggling multiple systems, each handling a different aspect of contract management. This not only increased complexity but also led to a lack of integration.
- Creation of Information Silos: Each tool operated independently, often failing to communicate effectively with others. This silo effect hindered access to a cohesive overview and compromised decision-making processes.
- Variable Costs and Risks: While initial expenses seemed lower, the costs associated with managing various systems grew over time. The risk of data inconsistency and operational inefficiency rose similarly.
The Dilemma Faced by Businesses
By the end of the decade, organizations had to make tough choices. They could either invest in expensive, highly customized systems with a more holistic view or opt for cheaper, fragmented solutions that left significant gaps. This trade-off left many businesses in a bind, unable to find a truly integrated and cost-effective solution.
In conclusion, the promise of low-cost, specialized tools ultimately failed to deliver the seamless, end-to-end management that businesses needed. These fragmented approaches led to inefficiency, higher long-term costs, and a lack of functional cohesion, underscoring the industry's need for more integrated solutions.
In the 2010s, two main categories of contract management tools emerged, each catering to different needs within the business landscape.
1. Custom Enterprise Contract Lifecycle Management Tools
These tools were specifically tailored for large organizations. Known for their bespoke configuration, these systems often required significant time and resources to implement, sometimes taking months or even years to fully deploy. However, they promised a deep integration with existing processes, ensuring long-term usability. A notable trend among these solutions was a cloud-centric approach, prioritizing scalability and configurability. Many providers positioned themselves as complements to major platforms like Salesforce, leveraging this relationship to enhance market reach and functionality.
2. Modular "Point Solutions"
As software development costs decreased, an influx of startups began offering specialized contract management solutions. These tools were designed to focus on specific stages of the contract lifecycle, such as document creation, electronic signatures, or storage. Their main advantage was rapid deployment and cost-effectiveness. However, integrating these disparate tools posed challenges, as there was no certainty about their interoperability. Users faced difficulties in predicting which solutions would remain superior as technology advanced, leading to ongoing adjustments in software choices.
Together, these types reflect the diverse needs of businesses during the decade, highlighting a shift toward flexibility and cloud integration in contract management.
The Future of Contract Lifecycle Management: Key Advancements in the 2020s
The contract lifecycle management (CLM) landscape is undergoing a transformation in the 2020s, driven by a series of significant advancements.
1. Consolidation and Integration
In recent years, the market has seen notable consolidation. Industry leaders are merging and acquiring startups to integrate specialized functionalities into comprehensive platforms. For instance, powerhouses like DocuSign have expanded their capabilities beyond eSignatures by acquiring complementary technologies. This consolidation aims to offer end-to-end solutions, streamlining the entire contract process from generation to execution.
2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is revolutionizing CLM systems. These technologies enable more efficient data analysis and predictive insights throughout the contract lifecycle. AI can automatically review contracts for compliance and suggest amendments, while ML enhances pattern recognition, providing deeper understanding and control over contract terms and obligations.
3. Enhanced User Experience
Ease of use has become a significant focus for CLM tools. Solutions are increasingly designed to be user-friendly, with intuitive interfaces that require minimal training. This emphasis on user experience ensures that all stakeholders, regardless of technical expertise, can collaborate effectively within the system.
4. Real-Time Collaboration and Cloud Capabilities
Modern CLM platforms are leveraging the cloud to facilitate real-time collaboration across teams and geographies. This capability allows for instantaneous updates and seamless sharing of contract versions, ensuring that all parties are working from the most current data set.
5. Improved Security and Compliance
As regulatory landscapes evolve, CLM systems are investing in enhanced security features to protect sensitive information. Built-in compliance checks help organizations adhere to industry standards and regional regulations effortlessly, reducing risks associated with breaches or non-compliance.
Conclusion
The combination of technological advancements and strategic mergers is shaping the future of contract lifecycle management. With AI, ML, cloud integration, and a focus on user experience, the systems of the 2020s are poised to deliver unparalleled efficiency and effectiveness. These innovations are not just enhancing the way contracts are managed but are redefining the possibilities of what these systems can achieve in the business world.
