Exploring the Combination of Contract Analytics and Contract Lifecycle Management

Contract management software with built-in contract analytics stand apart from conventional CLM solutions because it combines the important fundamentals of process automation and data management with the game changing power of artificial intelligence and advanced analytics.

More than a contract repository

Contracts are an essential element of business, for organizations of all sizes and in every industry. As companies grow, the complexity of contract management processes increases significantly. Contract lifecycle management (CLM) solutions help organizations to manage their contracting processes, bringing efficiency, accuracy, and standardization to a domain that has historically required intensive hands-on effort.

Most conventional CLM systems merely address the mechanics of the contract management process, though. They lack the more sophisticated capabilities required for parsing natural language, analyzing terminology, organizing complex information, and providing contextual perspective to contract managers and other stakeholders throughout your organization.

In order to be truly transformative, a CLM solution must address a comprehensive range of functions within a single, interconnected platform. 

In order to be truly transformative, a CLM solution must address a comprehensive range of functions within a single, interconnected platform. That includes advanced contract analytics powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Let’s explore this powerful combination of CLM with contract analytics in detail, starting with a brief definition of each one:

What is contract analytics?

Contract management software with built-in contract analytics enables business leaders to measure and monitor business stakeholders in your organization to measure and monitor key performance metrics, as well as to derive valuable new insights from the information that is often deeply embedded in your legal agreements.

Role of contract analytics in decision-making

Armed with that information, key decision-makers in your organization will be better poised to improve business performance, ensure compliance, and accelerate desirable business outcomes. By customizing your contract analytics to the needs of various stakeholder audiences in your organization, you can deliver insights that are relevant and actionable, and which offer the greatest opportunities to generate tangible business value.

By using built-in automation tools, you can ensure that this information gets delivered on time, every time, without the need for constant intervention.

Difference between contract analytics and contract reporting

How do contract analytics differ from run-of-the-mill reports? The difference lies in the ability of advanced contract analytics software to make sense of unstructured information. Much of the data contained in legal agreements is inherently difficult to analyze at scale. To understand risk, opportunity, and obligations across a large portfolio of contracts, your contract analytics solution must be capable of extracting a wide range of meaningful details from those documents.

Armed with that information, you can gain visibility to a range of details that were simply never available before.

Post-signature monitoring

The majority of organizations pay close attention to contracts in the early stages of the process (for example, during negotiations and drafting), only to let them languish unattended after they have been signed. It’s rare for an organization to revisit a contract after the fact, unless a question or problem has emerged, or significant changes have occurred in their business relationships.

But a company’s rights and obligations are ultimately outlined in those legal agreements. If they aren’t monitored throughout the entire term of the contract, then it’s simply too easy for details to fall through the cracks. That could mean a failure to comply with obligations or a failure to hold trading partners accountable for their end of the deal. Furthermore, it can be far too easy to overlook key dates and deadlines, such as contract renewal or expiry dates. Failure to act within specified time frames could result in financial losses and missed opportunities.

Contract analytics provides clear and immediate visibility to the contractual parameters that truly matter to your organization, no matter how large your company grows.

What is contract lifecycle management?

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) describes a broad category of software solutions that provide a structured framework for managing your contracting processes - from an initial request that a contract be drafted, all the way through to renewals, extensions, and terminations. Fundamentally, CLM is about managing legal agreements more efficiently, effectively, and accurately.

High-volume agreements or highly complex, CLM software handles both

CLM software provides a mechanism for bringing structure to the contract management process, whether you’re dealing with simple high-volume contracts of adhesion or complex negotiated one-off agreements that govern large-scale projects. The best CLM software performs both functions well, and scales up easily as your company grows.

Automate workflows to create value

CLM solutions automate workflows and approvals, eliminating many of the tedious and error-prone elements of traditional contract management processes. This eliminates manual effort, freeing up valuable staff time to be spent on higher-value activities. CLM software can also help to standardize legal terminology with contract templates and libraries of pre-approved clauses that can easily be added to any contract on-the-fly.

Combining contract analytics and contract lifecycle management

By bringing together conventional CLM functions with advanced features plus contract analytics, Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) delivers a comprehensive solution that is considerably more valuable than the sum of its parts.

CLM software can connect with systems you already use

A key benefit of the Icertis approach is the availability of all contract related functions within a single technology platform that integrates seamlessly with ERP, CRM, or any other software system in your organization. Anyone who routinely works with customers, including sales agents, customer service representatives, or business development executives, for example, can have access to the same information, stored in a single system of record and made available to authorized users throughout the enterprise via seamless integration.

Contract performance dashboards tailored to your function

Stakeholders throughout the organization can access dashboards and reports that offer up-to-the-minute views of contract performance. By tailoring that information to specific audiences, you can refine each stakeholder’s view to present information that is highly relevant and which can be used to generate real business value.

Conclusion

Icertis is well known as an innovator in the CLM space, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with contract lifecycle management software. Some of the world’s most respected brands trust Icertis to help them optimize the value of their combined 10 million+ contracts, in 40+ languages and 90+ countries. Our unwavering commitment to contract intelligence, grounded in our values, creates the ideal foundation for enduring partnerships.

To learn more about Icertis Contract Intelligence, sign up here for a free, no-obligation demo.

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