In most cases, we at Icertis prefer solutions in the cloud over their manual, paper-based analogs. After all, we are in the business of helping companies realize the full value of their contracts by turning them from static documents into strategic digital assets.

But when it comes to measuring a contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform’s ease-of-use, all you really need is a pen and a piece of scratch paper. In this post, we’re going to show you how.

But first, why focus on usability? Because ease-of-use isn’t nice to have, it’s a must-have. If your software is hard to configure, not intuitive for business users, or doesn’t have ample support resources attached to it, then it is set up for failure: Over 70% of enterprise projects fail because of a lack of user adoption, according to Frank Spillers at Experience Dynamics, and adoption hinges on usability.

So here’s the exercise: Grab your pen and paper and rate these four statements on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 meaning you totally disagree and 5 meaning you totally agree. If you don’t have enough information to answer any of them, no sweat: just skip to the next one.

1. “Our contract management software is easy for administrators to use. They can configure the software to model new business processes, design flexible approval workflows and respond to modification requests.”

2. “Our contract management software is easy for end users to use. Sales teams can self-service contracts in the field with ease, our sourcing organization can leverage contract insights during negotiations, legal can manage clause libraries, etc.”

3. “Our contract management software vendor provided us robust support during implementation. They took the time to get to know our business challenges and processes and worked to configure the solution to address them. We were not left with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ piece of software.”

4. “Our CLM software vendor continues to provide excellent support. Support teams are available in our time zone and are responsive when we need help.”

 

Got your numbers? Now scroll down:

 

 

————-Don’t Scroll Past Until You’ve Answered the Questions Above!————-

 

The Forrester Wave™: Contract Lifecycle Management for All Contracts, Q1 2019

 

This graph shows the average score for leading CLM vendors in the market based on the categories touched on above, according to a survey conducted by Forrester Research.

The take away is that CLM providers across the board are earning high marks for usability and support. But not all software is created equal.

How do your numbers stack up? If you have all 5s, then you’re doing great (and must have Icertis ;)). If you have 4s you can count yourself on par. Any lower in any category, you may have an opportunity for improvement.

If you want to learn more about these numbers and other analyst insights, you can download the full Forrester report here.

If you’d like to learn more about ease-of-use in contract management software, download this infographic.