Contract Intelligence for Government Contractors: What, Why, and Why Now?

Fierce competition. Onerous auditing and subcontractor management. Time-consuming and error-prone processes. Evolving government modifications. Razor-thin margins. It’s never been harder to succeed as a Federal Government contractor.

To meet the needs of their government customers while improving their win rates and profit margins, GovCons must evolve their legacy contract management systems and approaches to fully realize the potential of every contract. That’s why we built Icertis Contract Intelligence (ICI) for Government Contractors. 

What is Icertis Contract Intelligence for Government Contractors?

ICI for Government Contractors is a contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution infused with state-of-the-art AI technology, designed specifically for the unique needs of organizations doing business with the Federal Government. With AI-powered tools and advanced features such as opportunity tracking, bid and proposal management, project execution, and performance tracking, contractors gain strategic advantages from contract capture to closeout.

ICI for Government Contractors is a contract lifecycle management solution designed specifically for the unique needs of organizations doing business with the Federal Government. 

Five integrated modules explained

ICI for Government Contractors comprises five fully integrated modules spanning the full acquisition and contract lifecycle in a centralized solution for managing contracts and associated workflows. Here’s a deeper dive into how each module works and how it helps prime and subcontractors streamline and automate critical processes, navigate compliance, and gain a competitive advantage.

Capture Management

Soliciting, bidding on, and securing contracts is a continuous grind for GovCons. Unsurprisingly, strategic teaming initiatives, new capture strategies, and business development investments are top growth priorities for GovCons. The Capture Management module offers a proven, repeatable, standardized framework for Business Development, Capture, and Proposal teams to help accelerate the contract lifecycle and win more deals.

With Capture Management, contractors identify critical activities during each contract lifecycle stage, then enforce and track them through completion. Through pre-built integrations with Salesforce, acquisition.gov, SAM.gov, and more, opportunity creation is streamlined by automatically populating details and capturing related documents. Real-time dashboards and reports help leaders stay on top of KPIs like opportunity pipeline, proposal stages, negotiating steps, and more. 

Centralizing documents and automating workflows remove arduous manual work, accelerating the contract lifecycle while maintaining proper guardrails. This frees up contractors to focus time and energy on higher-value strategic tasks. 

After identifying an opportunity, contractors develop and execute a capture plan for the upcoming proposal. Through Capture Management, contractors can identify potential teammates, execute NDAs, and develop Teaming Agreements to build compelling, competitive proposals that stand out and secure more contracts.

Teams can identify potential teammates, execute NDAs, and develop Teaming Agreements to build compelling and competitive proposals that stand out and secure more contracts.

Prime Contracts

With thousands of line items, sub-line items, clauses, and modifications to organize and action, prime contractors need a streamlined solution that keeps teammates on task and in compliance. With Prime Contracts, all aspects of award management are simplified and automated—including comprehensive line-item support, ACRN tracking, automated obligation discovery, and management, as well as FAR, DFARS, and agency supplement incorporation. 

AI/ML and OCR capabilities enable contract professionals to read, parse, and ingest documents. The solution intelligently analyzes, extracts, and presents relevant information to the Contracts team for review and creation, including related CLINs, SLINs, ELINS (including CDRLs), ACRNs, clauses, and deliverables. That means less contract setup time and assurance that all obligations are captured.

Subcontracts

Managing subcontractors can be tedious and risk-laden—especially in large contracts with long time horizons. The Subcontracts module provides a comprehensive approach to managing subcontractors, helping primes monitor and improve performance and stay on top of compliance requirements.

All subcontract data is stored in a centralized location, making it easy to keep track of things like contact requirements, terms and conditions, delivery schedules, and performance metrics. Automated workflows streamline the subcontract management process, from initial creation to ongoing subcontract management and closeout. Advanced reporting and analytics capabilities allow prime contractors to track subcontractor compliance and performance history and identify areas that need improvement and risks that may need to be mitigated. 
By having this single source of truth of all relevant contract information, contractors are not only able to better manage their contracts and improve their profit margins but are able to significantly reduce the preparation time necessary for the numerous audits they will face.

Automated workflows streamline the subcontract management process, from initial creation to ongoing subcontract management and closeout.

Deliverables

Once a contract is in motion, you want everything to run like a well-oiled machine. Yet, many contractors struggle with managing project information and adjusting to new demands. The Deliverable Management module empowers GovCons to manage suppliers, track deliverable deltas, develop, and review delivery documentation like DD250s, and perform approvals confidently.

Contract professionals can capture line items and CDRL deliverable requirements and establish Contract Metrics for KPIs or reporting. Moreover, tight integration with ERP systems such as SAP, Deltek Costpoint, and Oracle simplifies contract setup of associated data such as Funding, ACRN, and Scheduling attributes.

Workflows automate the process of requesting and approving changes to the contract. This helps ensure that modifications are ingested, approved, and applied in a timely, efficient manner and that the correct terms and conditions, deliverable requirements, and payment information are up to date.

Closeout

Come closeout, contractors want to cross their t’s and dot their i’s quickly and accurately. The Closeout module helps ensure that all necessary steps are taken to easily complete the closeout process.

Contractors are guided through a checklist-driven workflow of closeout steps (compliant not only with FAR requirements but configurable by each contractor to meet their internal policies and procedures), including completing all contract deliverables, final invoice submission, and obtaining any necessary approvals. As a single source of truth, the solution securely stores and manages all contract documents, including final invoices, completion certificates, and closeout reports. 

Primes can assess subcontractor performance and track timeliness, quality, and compliance metrics during the contract closeout. ERP integrations help manage the financial aspects of contract closeout, including final invoicing, payment processing, and accounting reconciliation.

It’s time to sharpen your edge

Given the complexity and regulatory maze of today’s GovCon landscape, nothing less than an efficient, integrated approach to contract lifecycle management will do. ICI for Government Contractors is precisely the type of intelligent CLM that contractors need to get ahead, and Icertis is uniquely equipped to help. Contact our team for a demo, and let’s discuss how we can meet your needs.

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