Page 9 - CCCA Magazine Winter 2014

{ CoNtraCt MaNageMeNt } InnovatIon In contract management are you ready For 2.0? as awareness of legal technology solutions grows among leaders 3. the desire for Better collaboration of legal departments, more and more have been asking, “is it When it comes to contract lifecycle man- agement, the ability to share the legal de- worth making the switch to specialized software?” the answer partment’s collective contracting knowl- is a resounding yes, and here are the three key reasons why. edge, resources and data is an advantage. With software that provides access to the entire contract portfolio—with access 1. the changing role of legal 2. the need to maximize productivity rights by default or customized by fle— Back when the goal was just to get the deal If “reduce operational ineffciencies” it is simple for counsel to review or con- done and protect the company from obvi- is the new mantra of the organization, tribute to the work product. Whether the ous harm, a manually-produced spread- what does that mean for the company’s agreement was created in head offce or in sheet suffced for tracking the company’s legal department? For the most part, it another city or country, it can be stored in contracts. But businesses now operate in is a combination of process improve- the centralized system. an increasingly complex environment, and ment and strategic allocation of time Using a secure portal that integrates are focused on reducing risk and con- and resources. with the tool is an effective way to bring trolling costs. Add to that new regulatory Specialized software can beneft the le- others in the company into the con- pressures that shape contracting, in-house gal team the same way it does for other tracting process and beneft from their counsel’s more active role in negotiations departments in the organization by sim- areas of expertise. Business partners in and the enterprise-wide push to reduce plifying tasks and automating activities. supply chain, operations, fnance, sales operational effciencies, and it is clear that In the world of contract management, and HR can submit contract requests or corporate legal is playing a new game. this applies to every step, from contract exchange communications and docu- As the International Association for drafting to approval workfows, from au- ments through the portal, and legal can Contract and Commercial Management tomatic alerts on renewal and termina- effortlessly input the information into has observed, today’s legal department is tion deadlines to real-time reports that active fles. charged with being a proactive contribu- allow for in-depth analysis. Finally, a note on integration: Contract tor in improving bottom-line results for Lawyers who are not spending time management software should integrate the organization. This means counsel can- searching shared drives or rummaging with existing enterprise systems and new not simply produce agreements. They now through paper copies and frst drafts to support tools, such as e-billing or e-sig- need to evaluate how the contracts impact fnd that elusive clause or original agree- nature. This reassures the IT department the organization and, by extension, wheth- ment can focus on higher value activities. and makes the purchase of a technology er they can be improved for even better Reports that used to take hours to pro- solution for the legal department a practi- results. Measurement and analysis of key duce can be built and run in less than fve cal and wise investment. ❚ performance indicators provide a holistic minutes. Understanding the history of overview of the organization’s contracting the contract is easier to do when all docu- Legal Suite is a leading legal software publisher activities and can identify areas where ac- ments, emails, notes and follow-up are with offces throughout North America and Europe. tion needs to be taken. captured in one electronic fle. Founded in 2000 by a former GC, it offers a wide Unlike the statistical, often error- Process standardization, automation range of innovative enterprise legal management ridden spreadsheet of old, modern legal and centralization are the hallmark ele- solutions for public and private legal departments. technology provides adaptable, secure so- ments of innovative contract manage- Internationally, Legal Suite has over 500 clients lutions for contract management that can ment solutions and yield signifcant pro- and 25,000 users. Visit www.legal-suite.com. meet these new imperatives. ductivity gains for the legal department. Canadian Corporate Counsel assoCiation | CCCa-aCCje.org 9