Managing contracts is one of the most challenging tasks in any size organization today and one that has the potential to expose your company to risk along with significant financial loss through penalties incurred or bonuses not being realized.

Most organizations manage thousands of contracts through-out the life-cycle of their relationship with suppliers, vendors and individuals. These contracts run the gamut from simple employer agreements through to multi-vendor, multi-national projects with governance, regulatory, compliance and other considerations built in.

Because each contract is a unique entity, it often requires its own set of guidelines, regulations and procedures to ensure that carefully negotiated rules are understood, managed and enforced. Many times when contracts are not managed throughout the entire term, they auto-renew, again exposing business to financial risk by continuing an arrangement that is no longer needed or increasing expense by renewing at a higher rate.

Effective management of Contract Lifecycle Management means having the flexibility to easily document and establish the unique approval, oversight and governance processes that must be applied each time your company contracts a “promise” with an individual, corporation, government body or others.

Here are the 6 stages of Contract Management

  • Create
    • Templates
    • Clauses
    • Re-use
    • Governance
    • Exceptions
  • Negotiate
    • Financial
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Bargaining
    • Feedback
    • Workflow
    • Exceptions
  • Approve
    • Authorize
    • Financial Consent
    • Legal Review
    • Workflow
    • Exceptions
  • Store
    • Repository
    • Searchable
    • Governance
    • Security
  • Discover
    • Workflow
    • Exception Management
    • Pricing/Financial Incentives
    • Reporting
    • Compliance
    • Governance
  • Report
    • Expiration
    • Extension
    • Renewal
    • Renegotiation
    • Date Management
    • Compliance
    • Governance

Navantis is the leader in Contract Lifecycle Management for SharePoint. Through our Dolphin Software product suite, we can help you extend the value of your SharePoint architecture by implementing a contract lifecycle management process using technologies and tools that your teams and employees are already familiar with. Contact us today for a quick tour of our solution and a conversation about whether Contract Lifecycle Management on the SharePoint platform is the right fit for you.

This post was written by Gord MacLeod
Gordon is a seasoned veteran of portal and knowledge management rubrics, with over 15 years’ experience visioning, defining, and launching enterprise level web based solutions. At Navantis, Gordon is responsible for delivering amazing customer experiences for our customers, along with his team of over 60 SharePoint rock stars. Gord is also a member of Microsoft’s SharePoint Partner Advisory Council.