WHITEPAPER
APP-BASED APPROACH TOWARDS CONTRACT
MANAGEMENT
Contents
1. Existing Tools are not the answer
2. Traditional Solutions
3. Why Traditional Approaches are failing?
4. Apps Based Approach for the Contract Review and Approval Process 5. About Lex Process
An email with "Contract Status?" as the subject line is often dreaded in professional circles as it does nothing more than implying that the contract review and approval process have all but crumbled. Apparently, stagnancy in contract execution owing to delay in review and approval process not only has an adverse effect on an organization's ability to reach its desired business goals but also has a drastic impact on revenue and customer satisfaction.
Business in the current realm of globalization demands more collaboration than ever before, in order, to make the relationships between various business units work. Only those businesses where legal departments and other business units are in sync can hope for a successful rapport with the customer. In current times of ever increasing technological sophistication, contract management cycle needs to embrace advents in technology in its dominion. Speaking clearly, Contract Review and Approval Apps are increasing customer satisfaction by perking up and reshuffling the contract process and propelling the operational velocity which enables legal and sourcing professional to know and communicate in relevance to the following:
• The status of the contract. • Next steps required. . • Expectations surrounding a
delivery.
• Matters of concern that may impact the delivery.
Apart from the above, Contract Review and Approval Apps provide a detailed transaction record and depository.
It has always been an intrinsic culture in a forward thinking organization to be abreast of technical innovations and an approach centered on Apps for business processes, such as contract review and approval, is one such novelty which, if adopted, can lead to a collaboration which is effective together with efficient contracting capability. Why an approach based on Apps is necessary I hear you ask? Well, the answer can be summed up by the benefits of this approach which reduces time in closure of individual issues and transactions. In fact, even among the legal circles, it has become paramount to acknowledge the focus on Apps for the purposes of interaction between business and legal staff bearing in mind the advantages of clear and flawless collaboration while at the same time satisfying the demands of the customer with an unfailing propinquity.
Existing Tools are not the answer Steps usually involved in contract review and approval process include creation of a contract duly followed by submission, negotiation, approval, storage and management. However, the entire process, quite often, lacks transparency. Now the usual suspects for communication include email, spreadsheets and document
management systems but spare a thought as to how excruciating and cumbersome can the process of getting a contract reviewed and approved can become, especially when it has to be approved by multiple parties and where the process in manual.
In order to counter the ineptitude of the manual process, professionals restore to emails as a tool to acquire collaborative stability to soothingly handle the review of a contract. However, emails more often than not have a counter effect as it leaves open avenues for errors and control gaps which in turn cause a parenthesis in contract review. It will be difficult to refute the argument that email-only distribution work towards erasing the visibility of the contract.
Enterprise solutions have seldom worked as well owing to the difficulty in configuring them and installing their unyielding, multifarious interface. In addition, they are only successful in increasing the workload of both lawyers and sourcing professionals. Also, Enterprise solutions demand high levels of customization and rarely provide a solution in proportion to the expensive price required to procure and execute them.
Traditional Solutions
Asking any legal or sourcing professional about the amount of time they spend on drafting, negotiating and executing contract agreements in a day and their answer will often be
overflowing with ingredients of frustration. These are the professionals on whom the company depends to keep risk and exposure at bay while at the same time expecting them to turn out contracts in a timely manner so that business users are aware and are open to discussion on completion timelines. Microsoft tools such as Outlook, Word, and Excel together with a document management system are typically relied upon by lawyers and sourcing professionals to complete a contract. But the important question here is whether these tools are suitable to provide real time progress on any contract or provide the collaborative support necessary for negotiation of a contract.
Gathering from above, it is necessary for the sake of lawyers, sourcing professionals and clients to develop a simple system which is more purposeful than email and less multifaceted than an enterprise system. The need of the hour is a system which is flexible and accommodates real -world problems as they arise. In other words, development of a tool which not only allows all parties involved in a contract review and approval process to deal with ongoing changes but also shores up the way in which transactions and discussions actually occur.
In a nutshell, companies are in need of a solution which can combine the ease of email with a system which can provide real time updates on the progress of the contract to the clients throughout the
review and approval process. This system must also be able to highlight any issues which may impact timelines and must also be able to lodge electronic steering and approval.
Why Traditional Approaches are failing?
Plethora of contracts are giving rise to demands for lawyers and sourcing professionals to review and approve contracts rapidly and efficiently. As business organizations are working towards cutting their costs and reducing staff, handling and reviewing contracts is becoming an arduous task.
Wilderness reigns supreme for a contract which lacks a transparent process. Such a scenario leaves stakeholders unaware of specific customer requirements and also leaves them in dark about whether they are reviewing the current or correct version of the contract or whether the contract is updated with most current terms and conditions. The Contract Review and Approval process is, consequently, tossed into a quandary by inadequacy, imprecision and ambiguity.
Apps Based Approach for the Contract Review and Approval Process
In this era dominated by smart-phone technology, millions of professionals use smart-phones and apps on a daily basis. Apps have become immensely popular due because of their inherent
minimalism and overt potential to solve a predicament. Even businesses have started taking Apps in their stride and an approach based on Apps has become conventional in the business arena. Contract Review and Approval falls in the bill for an approach based on Apps because Contract Review and Approval requires high degree of collaboration and is a very capricious process. A right App will have the correct configuration and lean feature set that accommodates the collaborative and capricious nature of Contract Review and Approval process in a manner in which Enterprise tools don't, while also providing the makeup, descriptive and organizational perceptibility that email can't.
More often than not, lawyers and sourcing professionals are at a loss in predicting persons who will be involved in the approval sphere or what provisions may come up for negotiation. Thus, a Contract Review and Approval App must offer supple routing and re-routing facilities which will enable any authorized person to make changes to the workflow and add approvers as essential.
Apps, though, not requiring a system login has left no stone unturned in providing easy access to all participants. Apps are also adept at catalyzing the subsisting infrastructure by providing status notifications, allocating assignments, requesting and receiving approvals. Status notifications and email updates become very crucial in events where numerous departments are
involved in approval process whilst also providing regular inputs. The right app will serve it purpose by ensuring the smooth progress of the process and at the same time eliminating investments required for training or change management.
Having the leisure of using their gadget of preference will increase the recurrence of reviewers and approvers to become more and more imbibed in organizing their work, getting updates and responding to requests. Moreover, the demand for instant information is the basic characteristic of the workforce which has taken to mobility like flowers to spring. A right contract review and approval App will empower lawyers, sourcing professionals and business clients alike with purposeful serviceability without leaving them high and dry on complexities which may come with technology. Frenzied manual processes will soon become a thing of the past and users will be able to drastically trim down their completion time and augment their efficiency.
While an App-based approach negates the requirement of a major financial investment, which might come in handy for organizations of all sizes both small and large, it also provides a fittingly balanced elucidation for the analysis, approval, negotiation and storage of contracts.
A contract review and approval App is designed to include all interested partakers and internal departments be it finance, operations, compliance, sales or
any other but not excluding any outside counsel as and when required. A contract review and approval App must also be able to track and administer information germinating from the contract including but not limited to renewal dates, termination notice periods and non-standard terms.
The main premise of a contract review and approval App is to provide visibility, transparency and lend effectiveness in the contract review process. Business users, in such a scenario, will be at ease in categorizing contracts which are in-progress and will be able to easily monitor pending and in-progress work on a contract. Organization of persistently imperative dynamics such as contract volumes and turnaround times in the App is done with consummate ease.
A contract review and approval process is one service which can go a long way in distinguishing a company in the market place and if done well can prove to be a landmark in the way in which a company executes its business.
About Lex Process
Lex Process is an ISO 27001 certified organization with offices in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and delivery centre in India. Established with the aim of improving the performance of global corporations and international law firms, it caters to corporations and law firms located in the USA, UK, and Canada. The guiding philosophy behind Lex Process is to provide unparalleled
solutions to address the effective goals of our clients. Our dedicated team of attorneys and consultants employ economies of scale and knowledge in bankruptcy services, litigation support services, contract management, immigration support services, intellectual property, and other legal operations to deliver benefits to our clients.
Setting excellence in service as our target, we collaborate with our clients to help them become high-performance businesses through transformation of their legal and business operations. Lex Process has customizable legal services, which optimize analytic search, repository, and reporting capability. Our solutions approach had been crafted to take advantage of our unique combination of strategic insight, deep industry expertise, and technology. We provide the right mix of experience and globally trained professionals specializing in the field and information technology to provide transformative solutions.
Core Team
ONSHORE operations of Lex Process are
headed by Ranjit Singh who has an extensive expertise in IT services, BPO, Off-shoring; and has an exceptional track record of leading large and mid-sized businesses through growth and turnaround in USA, UK and India. Ranjit’s operating background includes high
profile positions at DEC (now HP), Citicorp, Xerox Corporation, Aptara Corporation, Rockefeller Consulting and, currently is President, North America for Lex Process.
OFFSHORE operations are managed
and controlled by Vinay Jain who is supported by an experienced and trained team of attorneys and other professionals.
Vinay is a qualified Lawyer and Solicitor and holds the distinction of being the youngest qualified Solicitor of India. He is one of the few professionals in India who holds all three professional degrees of Law, Solicitor and Company Secretary. He is an experienced legal professional having legal experience built on the solid foundation of premier education in India, possessing a well-rounded national and international experience of ten years, servicing various international corporations and law firms with global presence.
Contact Us
USA : 12612 Bridgeton Drive, Potomac, MD 20854
India : 502, Magneto Offizo, GE Road, Raipur, CG, 492001
Canada: 33-7156, 144 Street, Surrey, BC V3W1V5
UK : 34, Kings Oak Court, Reading, RG1 4PX
W : www.lexprocess.in
