6 Things to Look for when Choosing Contract Management Software

1
Choosing a Contract Management System

• 6 things to look for

2
Contract Management

• Contract lifecycle management isn't fun. It can
  be a long and tedious process that leaves
  everyone involved with a headache.
• Contract management software automates all those
  menial tasks, reducing human error in many
  capacities, and simplifies complex contract
  workflows.
• There are a lot of companies offering contract
  management software.

3
Foundation of Contract Management Software

• A lot of people evaluate contract management
  software based who built it, without considering
  how it was built.
• Contract software built from the ground up tend
  to be more expensive and boast a steep learning
  curve.
• In contrast, contract management software built
  using platforms like SharePoint tend to be more
  affordable and only require an understanding of
  the platform.

4
Deployment Times

• A lot of companies boast that their contract
  management software will revolutionize contract
  management for your company.
• 6-12 months to reach full deployment has
  occurred, however 4-6 weeks is the most ideal
  deployment time.
• If deployment is less than about four weeks,
  perhaps the quality of the software is low.

5
Deployment Times

• Make sure to see a demo of the contract
  management system before making the investment to
  purchase it for your organization.
• Also, make sure that your staff gets the
  appropriate amount of time to learn the system.
• Learning the system should be a free-of-charge
  feature of the contract management system
  provider.

6
Deployment Pitfalls

• What some contract management system providers
  dont tell you is that deploying the system might
  take anywhere up to six months to even a year.
  Even if its just two months, thats way too long
  to wait.
• You need contract management software that you
  can hit the ground running with. Ideally, you
  should be looking for contract software that can
  be deployed in less than six weeks.
• The sweet spot exists somewhere between the
  four-to-six week mark. Any longer than that and
  its too slow.
• Any shorter than that and the system likely isnt
  thorough enough to meet your needs. You could
  even say that a four-to-six week deployment time
  is the goldilocks zone for contract management
  software implementation.

7
Training

• In a perfect world you should be able to jump
  into a contract management system and get going.
  Unfortunately, thats generally not going to be
  the case.
• All contract management software has little
  idiosyncrasies that you need to learn.
• Additionally, users in your company are also
  going to have varied levels of technological
  competence

8
Training

• Basically, training is needed from the contract
  management system to the users within your
  organization.
• You should be on the lookout for contract
  management software providers that offer free
  training for their systems.
• It shouldnt be up to you and your team to
  puzzle things out.

9
Training

• Further, youll want to find a provider that
  offers free ongoing training as youll inevitably
  be bringing in new users.
• Companies that offer contract software without
  training likely arent invested in your ongoing
  success.
• Thats why you should always look for free,
  ongoing training when looking for contract
  management software.

10
Ease of Use

• The framework of the system should be easy to
  navigate and simple to use.
• The training that the contract management system
  provider offers should only point out
  functionality.
• Your users shouldnt have to hold their nose,
  chant a magic phrase, and hop on one leg to get
  simple things done.

11
Ease of Use

• Contract software that requires a song and dance
  to use isnt going to benefit your company.
• Its going to do the opposite. A complicated
  system might put people off using it.
• Theyll see others struggling with it and not
  want to even try learning it. This creates a
  situation where only a few people know how to use
  the system.

12
Ease of Use

• If employees are sick or leave the company youre
  left with an overcomplicated system thats
  costing your company money that no one knows how
  to use.
• Thats why you should be looking for how easy the
  system is to use.

13
Support

• What separates different types of contract
  software is what support the provider offers.
  There are plenty of questions you need to ask
  regarding this.
• Do you need to pay for support or is it free?
• When is support available?
• How quickly does the companys support team get
  back to you?

14
Integrations

• Your company is probably using more than just
  contract management software. Its likely you
  have a whole suite of tools and platforms you
  use.
• Having to memorize logins and switch between
  different platforms can waste a lot of time over
  a long period.
• However, contract management software that offers
  a large number of tool integrations can help that
  out.

15
Integrations

• This can help break down any information or
  document silos and make contract management a lot
  easier.
• You can log into a contract management system
  using one set of login information and have
  access to all of your tools within one platform.
• This saves you time and helps cut down on a lot
  of the mistakes that can creep into the contract
  management process.

16
Conclusion

• These are just some of the things that youre
  looking for in contract management software.
• If youre looking for a list of features you
  should look for, make sure to check out this blog
  we wrote at the end of 2020.
• It gives a comprehensive view of what to look for
  in contract management software.