Contract Management Software

Contract Management solutions is an area that is of great interest to me.

The big players are:
Emptoris
Ariba
SAP
Oracle

But I want to look at 2 small players.
Firstly -
Framework - www.software-europe.co.uk/products/framework/index.htm

In their words;
framework is a fully flexible, user friendly and secure contract management solution, that will help organisations to achieve greater control over your contracts and suppliers.

framework takes control of all maintenance contracts, service contracts, IT contracts and more, helping to manage supplier relationships and contract administration processes simply and effectively, across the organisation:

Central Repository
Increase Contract and Supplier Information Visibility
Renewal Management
Effective Contract Renewal Management
Supplier Management
Improve Supplier & Customer Relationships
Spend Visibility
Reduce Operating, Processing & Budget Costs


I would recommend you to investigate this application if you need a straight forward, low cost and quick to implement solution.
If you are already a user, please let us know through the comments screen what you think.

My second application for managing contracts electronically is called Approver.com
This is not a one-stop shop. It is a tool for approving documents. These documents could be contracts.

Below is the spiel from Approver.com website on what is does.

Share documents online securely
Receive alerts when your documents are reviewed or approved
Store documents, comments and revisions in one place
Create online workgroups for your colleagues

Here is a link to a pcworld review.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132787-page,6-c,sites/article.html

In conclusion - the 2 products - Framework and Approver are a real alternative for some organisations.
Framework does not provide eRFx but you may already have a system for this.
Approver would need to be used in combination with a document management system and a eRFx.
But if you have these in place Approver can be implemented quickly and improve your business process.

Contract Management, ongoing management of the contract

An area of concern to me at the moment is one that I believe will become ( or should become ) a key focus for all businesses.

It is often difficult and complicated but the VALUE in £££/$$$ and reputation can be immense.

Often procurement and outsourcing folks secure a great deal, fantastic rates.
They take the glory up front, brag about how much they have saved the company and move on to the next project.

What often is neglected is ongoing contract management to ensure these savings, terms and conditions(T&C's)etc are adhered to.

I want to hear from you on what tools and techniques you are using.

The process

I am now going to give an overview of the what I am accountable for in my business:

Lead teams through the planning, review, analysis and vendor selection process, including distribution of RFIs and RFPs

Review and compare vendor proposals, task orders and change orders for accuracy, completeness and suitability of pricing

Manage the negotiation, contracting and management of outsourced services for assigned projects to meet the needs of our internal customers

Apply outsourcing policies and procedures consistently within the region in a consistent manner.

Assess contract language to ensure protection of the Company.

Monitor performance of suppliers based on qualitative and quantitative metrics.

Manage and present data to management as required

Liaise with external suppliers to ensure best performance and business relationships. Escalate management issues with the supplier as appropriate

Contract Management Tools & Databases

An area of great interest to me is applying technology to managing Contracts.

There are 2 basic types of software:

1) Repository: this is for storing contracts only. No fancy bells or whistles. At its most simplistic - a shared drive or even a shared filing shelf.
These applications do not provide easy reporting or search.

2) End to End Contract Management Software: these often fall within the procurement space and enable a contract manager to use the tool from Contract Request through Execution and beyond.

Often these can have full RFx capabilities. Electronic RFI, RFP, RFQ would be available as well as Reverse Auction functionality.
Using these tools bring the procurement team and the contract management(outsourcing) teams close together - pulling down any silo mentality.

Definitions

Lets try and define some of the terms.

Outsourcing became part of the business lexicon during the 1980s and refers to the delegation of non-core operations from internal production to an external entity specializing in the management of that operation. Outsourcing is utilizing experts from outside the entity to perform specific tasks that the entity once performed itself.
The process of outsourcing formalizes the description of the non-core operation into a contractual relationship between the client and the supplier. Under the new contractual agreement the supplier acquires the means of production which may include people, processes, technology, intellectual property and assets. The structure of the client organization changes as the client agrees to procure the services of the outsourcer for the term of the contractual agreement.
The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of labor, capital, technology and resources.

Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an external service provider. The client organization and the supplier enter into a contractual agreement that defines the transferred services. Under the agreement the supplier acquire the means of production in the form of a transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. The client agrees to procure the services from the supplier for the term of the contract. Business segments typically outsourced include information technology, human resources, facilities and real estate management, and accounting. Many companies also outsource customer support and call center functions, manufacturing and engineering.
Outsourcing and offshoring are used interchangeably in public discourse despite important technical differences. Outsourcing involves contracting with a supplier, this may or may not involve some degree of offshoring. Offshoring is the transfer of an organizational function to another country, regardless of whether the work is outsourced or stays within the same corporation[2][3] . With the globalization of outsourcing companies the distinction between outsourcing and offshoring will become less clear over-time. This is evident in the increasing presence of Indian outsourcing companies in the U.S. and UK. The globalization of outsourcing operating models has resulted in new terms such as nearshoring and rightshoring that reflect the changing mix of locations. This is seen in the opening of offices and operations centers by Indian companies in the U.S. and UK.
Multisourcing refers to large (predominantly IT) outsourcing agreements.
Multisourcing is a framework to enable different parts of the client business to be sourced from different suppliers. This requires a governance model that communicates strategy, clearly defines responsibility and has end-to-end integration.