Planning Your Contract Management Roadmap

Transcription

1 Planning Your Contract Management Roadmap corridor company

2 PLANNING YOUR CONTRACT MANAGEMENT ROADMAP A Safe and Successful Road Trip Your organization is contemplating or has made the decision to move forward with a contract management improvement or automation initiative. Fantastic! Now where do you begin? For those that have the fortunate experience of being involved in process improvements, you likely know that this can be an arduous task. Those involved in implementing process changes or entirely new systems as opposed to simple improvements are scaling entirely new plateaus. Contract management improvement or automation initiatives have the potential to become even more complex than other process initiatives as they touch upon so many areas of the business. Gaining consensus around a systematic approach to managing contracts that can be employed by large numbers of individuals with varying levels of interest, expertise and patience requires careful planning and precise execution. One may ask himself (or herself): Is this a trip I m willing to take? Contracts are the currency of your organization, its relationships, its obligations and the deliverables expected from its business partners, clients and employees. The proper management of contracts has become a critical business function within many organizations and a growing area of interest for C-Level Executives. According to Gartner, the leader in technology research, Contract Lifecycle Management is no longer a nice to have initiative, but rather a need to have business practice. Given the revenue, expense and profitability impact as well as the risk associated with improper contract management processes while it may present a variety of challenges it is no longer one which can be avoided. And as we will discuss throughout this whitepaper, the benefits of embarking on such a journey are numerous. A well-structured contract management process provides for the efficient deployment of resources as team members can focus on their specific areas of expertise. They can readily locate final contracts, approve contract templates and language provisions, they can expeditiously have these contracts approved and signed, and they can realize a variety of different savings in terms of volume purchases and discounted contract renewals. The revenue associated with these contracts can be recognized more efficiently while savings can be realized more effectively. Once the contract is executed, those responsible for what has become the strategic dimension of postexecution contract management can easily access the contract and manage the associated contractual obligations. Systematic reporting can take place for all aspects of the contracting process including overall spend and savings, value and timing of renewals, and fulfillment (or lack thereof) of obligations as well as the bottlenecks associated with the contract approval and execution process. Page 1

3 Before embarking on your journey or as we are playfully suggesting in this whitepaper, your road trip it is important to carefully plan. As with any road trip, you ll want to give consideration to the following: What s your final destination? Are there any sites or stops that you d like to make along the way? How are you going to get there? What do you need to do to prepare? Who are your co-pilot and passengers, and who will you visit along the way? How are you going to pay for this? When do you leave? As important as the plan itself, is your approach to the inevitable bumps in the road that will be hit. And finally, once you ve arrived, not only will you want to celebrate and share your post-trip slideshow, you ll want to review what worked, what didn t, and make allowances for any future trips that you may want to take. WHAT S YOUR FINAL DESTINATION? ASSESSING YOUR CONTRACT MATURITY GOALS As you prepare for your road trip, you ll need to understand your ultimate destination. A similar approach should be employed for your contract management automation initiative. While you ll likely and you should make stops along the way, it s important not to lose sight of your end goal. An end-to-end contract management process is one which is multi-faceted and extremely robust. A variety of different activities take place throughout a contract s lifecycle from its creation to ongoing management. Not only do these activities require the participation of different resources, the output and efficiencies which can be gained in these different areas vary greatly. As you consider where you want to go, it is helpful to consider this in the context of the areas in the contract s lifecycle that you d like to address as well as the types of contracts you intend to support. For purposes of contract lifecycle, it is important to distinguish between pre-execution and post-execution activities. For those unfamiliar with these terms, or for those who may employ different nomenclature, pre-execution, or for some, e-contracting, refers to all of the process activities which take place before a contract is signed. Similarly, post-execution refers to all of the activities and processes which take place after a contract is signed. Page 2

4 Activities and items to be reviewed in the pre-execution phase include the standardization of contract templates as well as language provisions, the automated creation of the contract itself, the negotiation activities which will invariably take place with your counterparties as well as all of the necessary supporting activities and approvals which happen throughout this process. The final steps to the pre-execution process phase include the signature of the contract as well as the cataloging and storage of both the signed version and final Word versions along with any additional supporting documentation such as addendums, exhibits, associated s, etc. Post-execution refers to those processes associated with storing and accessing the completed contract and supporting documents as well as the management of the contract including overall spend, contract renewals and obligation management. Activities which take place during this phase of the contract include finding the contract whether directly or through a search based on a variety of different criteria. They also include having a full picture of the contract not only the master contract, but any amendments or supporting documentation which may exist, renewal information, and obligations which may be related to the contract. Perhaps most important is the ability to track contract spend, to ensure that obligations are met whether those due to you or those you are required to deliver to your customers, and to ensure that you are proactively addressing any areas of compliance or risk reduction which are required. Layered beneath and on top of both of these phases are the approvals, escalations and reporting which takes place throughout the various stages and on a variety of different pieces of information. For example, different spending thresholds may require different approvals as will certain language provisions. Ad hoc reporting as well as the delivery of automated reports may be necessary for purposes of spend, renewals or outstanding obligations. Workflow reporting has become a particular area of interest as senior management is interested in readily identifying and addressing process bottlenecks and delays. These processes and activities need to be considered overall as well as in the context of your different types of contracts. Certain processes will be more important or not important at all for different contracts. Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), also known as Confidentiality Agreements in certain industries, tend to be fairly standard in nature and can be a contract type which can be assembled automatically whereas highly complex contracts may require the attention of dedicated legal counsel. Readily sourced and pre-approved language fallback provisions may not be necessary for an NDA, whereas they may be extremely important for a Sales Contract. An NDA will not require approvals based on spending thresholds, but a Procurement Contract certainly will. As you assess your destination, you ll want to clearly understand what areas are most important for you and for which contracts within your organization. At Corridor, we frequently calibrate our client s destination through the use of our Maturity Model. This model helps us to readily identify our client s goals and provides a framework plan to achieve these. We first start by identifying where you are today and where you would ultimately like to go. Most clients identify with Levels 1 and 2 where little, if any, automation exists. We then look towards the ultimate goal whether that Page 3

5 is transitioning to Levels 3, 4 or 5. Most organizations identify Levels 3 or 4 as their short- to midterm goal with Level 5 being a consideration for their long-term target. Identifying your ultimate destination in terms of Contract Maturity is important not only for your implementation plan, but also for the contract management product that you select. Different products provide different functionality, and may or may not specifically address areas of the lifecycle which are important for you. Without having a sense of your ultimate destination, you may make a product selection which addresses your short-term business needs, but doesn t provide you the support that you need to get to your final destination. SITES AND STOPS ALONG THE WAY BUSINESS RELEASES & INCREMENTAL VALUE Depending on the proximity and complexity of your final destination, it usually makes sense to make a few stops along the way. As with any good road trip, it s important to enjoy the ride, to take in the attractions, and to have the opportunity to reflect. We suggest you keep these same goals in mind for your contract management initiative. From a functionality and process perspective, when considered in the context of the Contract Maturity Model, many organizations target Levels 3 or 4 as their short- or mid-term goal. They do this in the context of general contract types including buy side or sell side. Alternatively, they may look to approach from the perspective of a specific contract type NDAs, Sales Agreements, Procurement Agreements, etc. or internal groups Sales, Procurement, Office of the General Page 4

6 Counsel, etc. For example, an organization may elect to first focus on buy side contracts for their Procurement Team. As part of this process, it is necessary to identify the contract types and templates that will be impacted, the required functionality, the metadata construct which will apply, and if a post-execution renewal and obligation management process will be employed. After this initial effort, additional functionality can be rolled out to support this group including integrations into back-end systems such as SAP, Oracle Financials or Microsoft Dynamics. The initial effort may be followed by bringing a second group online or expanding the contract types which are managed by the system. As noted above, the ultimate destination is critically important but so too are the incremental stops which are made. First and foremost, they allow for tremendous organizational learning and adjustment. What worked for our first roll out, what didn t, what did we miss and how can we get better? They also allow for the establishment of both champions and power users people who can assist both to socialize the new tool and to provide feedback and support. Finally, they provide the organization with shorter term business value and ROI. An organization need not wait extended periods of time to recognize the overall value of its contract management system, but can instead start to realize value as certain functionality or teams are brought online. Understanding these benefits, we approach our CLM implementations from a Business Release perspective. Each Business Release is typically implemented within 8 to 12 weeks and provides well-defined and immediate value to the organization. Subsequent Business Releases are then implemented to introduce additional functionality or integrations, to support different groups within the organizations, or to roll out new contract types which may require new or unique metadata constructs or approval processes. As with any road trip, we fully embrace stopping to both see and enjoy the sites along the way. HOW DO YOU GET THERE? DELIVERY CONSIDERATIONS As you embark on your road trip, you ll need to consider how you are going to get where you need to go. From a contract management perspective, as you make your product selection, you ll need to assess the different options which are available. As you are, in fact, on a road trip, your mode of transportation will be some sort of vehicle. What kind of vehicle and what functionality will the vehicle have? Will you rent it, lease it or buy it? And Page 5

7 finally, who is responsible for servicing and maintaining your vehicle? On the surface, the delivery considerations for a contract management system may appear different from the selection of the vehicle that you will use for your trip. What in the world does a vehicle have to do with my contract management software? When examining the comparison more closely, you ll find that while the description above is more simplistic in nature it s an excellent analogy. Recognizing the diverse needs of our client base, Corridor provides both on premises and hosted versions of our application. For those with unique data security requirements, a hybrid model is also available as well. In terms of your product selection, you ll need to consider what functionality is important for your organization. If your ultimate goal is to implement an end-to-end contract management automation solution which provides support for all aspects of a contract s lifecycle, it s important that the tool selected provide such capabilities. An application which provides only a searchable repository will prove unsuccessful if the end goal is to support the management of sophisticated obligations. A tool which focuses on buy-side processes as opposed to both buy-side and sell-side processes will become problematic if the intent is to service both procurement and sales functions. And a solution which fails to address what can become the complex relationships that exist between contracts, supporting documentation and amendments will prove unsuccessful in an organization that is required to manage such information. As you consider whether to rent, lease or purchase your CLM system, several factors should be examined closely. Consideration should be given to whether or not a perpetual license with renewable annual maintenance or a subscription license is appropriate. While a perpetual license generally requires a greater upfront investment, the on-going annual costs are limited to optional maintenance renewals. A subscription license requires a lower initial investment, but higher annual fees which will continue over the lifetime of use. Factored into this decision will likely be your preference for expensing the purchase as part of your operating budget or capital expenditure. Closely related are the support requirements for the application and whether or not these will be handled internally or by the contract management vendor. These support requirements are important not only for the initial implementation, but also for the downstream support of the application. If company strategy is to purchase perpetual licenses and install these on premises, it is important to confirm that your IT department has both the bandwidth and resources to support your initiative. If your company prefers SaaS-based or hosted applications, your dependency on your IT department will be less; however, your dependency on your contract management provider will increase. In this instance, it is important to fully understand the commitments that are being made to you by your vendor for system issues, application uptime, and end-user support. Page 6

8 WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PREPARE? WHO NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED, HOW AND WHEN? Key to a successful trip is the preparation which goes into it. This is the case for both your road trip and your contract management initiative. For your road trip, you ll need to ensure that you pack all of the necessary items. For your contract management initiative, you ll want to clearly identify who needs to be involved, the role they will play, and when they will play it. Depending on the complexity of your endeavor, your contract management automation initiative will require varying levels of preparation and participation. When considering what needs to be prepared and who needs to participate, it s helpful to do so in conjunction with the lifecycle of your project. All projects have a Planning Phase, an Implementation Phase which should include testing, a Roll-Out or Go-Live Phase which includes training and elements of change management, and a Post-Implementation Support Phase. For those organizations with existing CLM systems or large numbers of contracts which exist electronically or otherwise, a migration strategy should also be considered. While the migration can take place as a separate exercise, there are several big picture consideration elements which may inform some of the choices made during the planning phase. The outcome of your preparation should be two material items a solid game plan in terms of who needs to participate and when as well as an understanding of your current processes and how you d like to improve these. The Planning Phase Within the planning phase of your initiative, you ll want to engage the support of four distinct teams including Finance & Legal, IT, End Users and Executive Management. Each team will be comprised of the necessary individuals within or across the relevant departments. Your Finance & Legal Team will assist you in budget approvals, ROI justifications, and the actual acquisition of your CLM tool, while your IT Team will be necessary for purposes of internally implementing and supporting the solution or vetting its technical effectiveness. Your End Users will play one of the most critical roles as it is they who will not only use the system, but who will participate in its overall design and success. This group of individuals is generally a cross-functional team which includes not only those who participate in the management of your contracts, but also those who will use the system for contract requests, approvals and reporting. From your End Users, you ll need to understand what they are doing now, what works and doesn t, and where they would like to go. You ll need to familiarize yourself with their pain points as well as what they consider to be success criteria. From your Executive Management Team, you ll need to garner overall support for the tool. You ll also need to understand what they are looking to achieve in terms of success criteria and ensure that this is factored into the overall plan. Page 7

9 A critical element to this phase is understanding your current process or lack thereof as well as what you d like to achieve. Your CLM vendor plays an extremely important role in this phase. The vendor helps to facilitate the necessary discussions and information gathering which are essential for the success of the system. You likely don t know what you don t know however, closing these gaps will become extremely important for the success of your application. The Implementation Phase Given that your project scope and requirements have been clearly defined in the Planning Phase, the Implementation Phase may be less arduous on your project participants. While ongoing project meetings will take place which require project management time as well as feedback and clarification items, the heavy load in this phase will be carried by your CLM vendor as the vendor implement the features, functionality and requirements defined in the Planning Phase. In the event that you ve elected an on premises solution, your IT Team will be needed in this phase to prepare internal servers, install the product and plan the overall deployment. The Implementation Phase typically concludes with End-User Acceptance Testing. This testing takes place upon the delivery of your CLM vendor s solution to you, and is a critical element of the overall project. It is during this phase that you re-engage the project participants who helped to define the desired functionality to ensure that the solution meets its intended goals. As with the Planning Phase, this phase should include representative end users. Utilizing its award winning Passage 1 Methodology, Corridor has a threepronged approach to proper requirements gathering which include Pre- Analysis Training, the completion of a Homework Package, and our Onsite Workshops. Roll Out or Go-Live Phase The Go-Live Phase of your implementation is an exciting milestone as the product of all of your planning and efforts is introduced to your organization. Two key elements of this phase include training for your trainers and administrators as well as your end users as well as the change management strategy employed to ensure that the changes are implemented and the benefits achieved. For this phase, you ll need to determine if you will assume responsibility for training your end users or if you will look to your CLM vendor. Given multiple Business Releases and the ongoing support requirements for the application, most organizations elect to train their end users internally. In this instance, you ll need to identify your trainer or training team, and organize the Page 8

10 necessary training materials. You ll also need to understand who will be responsible for administering and supporting the system and ensure that they receive the training necessary to be successful in this role. For the training of your end users, you ll need to devise the necessary plan to ensure that they not only receive initial training, but that you are providing the on-going support, guidance and inspiration for them to successfully use the system. This exercise is closely related to the change management strategies that you ll want to employ to ensure successful adoption of the system internally. Your CLM vendor will likely play an important role in determining how best approach this within your organization. Typical considerations include the training of Super Users and Champions, along with official CLM Office Hours and the introduction of Gaming Theory techniques to encourage active use of the system. Post Implementation Support Phase The final phase of your implementation will be the Post-Implementation Support Phase. Participants in this phase include those who will be responsible for supporting end user issues and questions, and in the case of on premises installations, ongoing application health and maintenance. While there are spikes of activities within this phase particularly upon initial roll-out, the introduction of new Business Releases, and the addition of new users this phase will continue through the life of your use of the application and is your on-going maintenance phase. Processes which need to be defined and supported include the resolution of end user questions and issues, the escalation strategy and Service Level Agreement (SLA) employed by your CLM vendor, and the installation and upgrades of new versions of the software. End user questions and issues can be handled by an internal support team or the services of your CLM vendor can be employed to either augment your internal support team or to assume full responsibility. Definition and awareness of an escalation strategy as well as the SLA provided by your CLM vendor whether for support response times or application uptime are important aspects of this phase. And finally, in the case of an on premises installation, dedicating the necessary resources to the ongoing application health and maintenance is important. Existing Contracts and Migration Considerations Unless you ve just started your company and are in the unique circumstance of rapidly needing to deploy a CLM automation system, you will likely have existing contracts which need to be considered. These existing contracts may be in a prior CLM system, they may be stored within various repositories throughout your internal network including individual hard drives, or they may exist in paper format. In all cases, consideration should be given to how you will get this information into your new CLM system. Not only will this issue be important for the overall effectiveness and ROI of the application, it is a critical element of user adoption. Depending upon your corporate culture, the change management aspects of this process and ensuring that your users actually use the system may prove Page 9

11 challenging. When they go to use this new system, they need to be able to readily find the contract information that they are trying to locate. If existing contracts continue to be located in various places throughout your organization, there is no single source of truth and encouraging your users to rely on your CLM system as this single source of truth will be extremely challenging. Your migration strategy will also become important in both your Planning and Implementation phases when you ll need to identify the metadata which applies to these legacy contracts as well as any workflows, obligation management or reporting elements which are important. ALL ABOARD! YOUR CO-PILOT, PASSENGERS AND YOUR AUDIENCE The individuals who join you on your road trip will greatly influence the success of your trip. The participants in your contract management initiative will play a similar role. In all cases, it is important to choose wisely and plan well, but also be prepared for the unexpected. While all participants are important, some will be more influential than others. A key participant in the success of this road trip or CLM implementation is your co-pilot. For purposes of this discussion, your co-pilot is the CLM vendor whom you elect for your implementation. Not only will the vendor s technology be a key element of the overall plan, so too will the expertise, shared experiences (good and bad), advice and on-going support that the vendor provides to you before, during and after the process. If you re successful, the ride will be an extended one whether it s achieving Level 5 on the maturity model or simply using the application for an extended period of time so make sure that your vendor is compatible, that you know the organization well, that you ve reference-checked both the technology and implementation style of the vendor and that you ll want to remain in contact with the vendor for the long haul. Make sure that you can work well together not only when things are going well, but when they aren t. When it s raining and cold outside, who is getting out of the car to change that flat tire? Who is walking to the next exit gas can in hand to refill that empty tank? Your implementation will invariably hit road bumps. It s critical that you ve selected a vendor who can help you not only to navigate these road bumps, but who is there to support you and work with you when they are hit. Your passengers are the individuals and teams who will participate in the overall process and provide the support that you need to be successful. Depending on company size and the complexity of your implementation, your passengers may be a small group of people who provide assistance, or they may be a more sizeable team. In any case, these are the individuals who will participate in the Planning, Implementation, Go-Live and Post-Implementation Support phases of your project. Page 10

12 While they may not have direct responsibility and in some cases, will simply be along for the ride their participation is an important element of the process. And finally, your audience is the people you are intending to serve with your application. These people include those responsible for your overall contract management process as well as those who use your contracts to sell the goods and services that your company provides or to buy the goods and services necessary to run the day-to-day operations of your company. They also include your Executive Management Team who needs visibility into the overall process so that they can ensure that operations are running smoothly and efficiently, that risk is being addressed appropriately, and that the value promised to the organization is, in fact, delivered. If you ve done your planning and implementation phases well, many of their requirements have been taken into consideration and have been addressed. If you haven t, you will hopefully have the opportunity to address any missed requirements during your user acceptance testing or in your subsequent Business Releases. While your co-pilot and passengers are key participants in your road trip, don t overlook the importance of your audience. If, when you arrive, they don t want to see you, you ve just traveled a very long way for very little benefit. HOW DO I PAY FOR THIS? ESTABLISHING YOUR ROI AND DERIVING VALUE In ensuring a successful trip, it s important to fully understand both the financial requirements as well as the value derived from the expense. The ROI justification of your contract management initiative is similar. Balanced against the initial and on-going expenses should be both the hard dollar savings as well as those items less quantifiable including proper resource alignment, risk reduction and opportunity identification. When considering how you ll pay for this trip, it s important to understand all of the associated costs. Your budget needs to encompass not only your vehicle expenses, but also your gas, maintenance, food, and lodging. In some instances, you ll also want to make sure that you have funds set aside so that you can see and enjoy some of the sites. The budget process for your CLM implementation is no different. Not only do you need to know and understand the costs of your CLM technology, but also those associated with its implementation and maintenance. You ll need to account for the participation of both your CLM vendor and your internal teams. Depending upon your ultimate destination, additional funds may be required for subsequent Business Releases, product upgrades, integrations, or the deployment of functionality important to your audience. In concluding whether or not the implementation makes good business sense, having a firm understanding on the total expenses related to the project is critical. Page 11

13 The expenses will, of course, be considered in the context of the value that the system will deliver. A variety of different approaches can be used to determine this value enough, in fact, that we have an entire whitepaper, Contract Economics, dedicated to this topic. At a high level, there are several factors to consider. The first are your resource considerations, and the proper alignment of resources with the areas of focus where they can add the most value. For example, having a highly paid attorney review changes which have been made to a standard NDA does not suggest good resource alignment. This assessment should also include an awareness and quantification of the inefficiencies present within the current process. How long does it take to find a contract? What impact does my less than optimal contract approval process have on my bookings, cash flows and revenue recognition? How many $$ am I leaving on the table due to missed savings around renewal discounts or volume purchases? Further considerations include those which are less concrete in terms of $$ impact, but no less important. What risk am I introducing to my organization through the use of inconsistent legal language? What are the potential penalties I face by not actively managing my contractual obligations? What opportunities am I missing by not upselling and cross-selling to my existing customer base? How is the effectiveness of my legal and contract management team diminished by virtue of my poor contract management practices? A variety of different ROI models and supporting time motion studies are available to assist in quantifying these numbers. At a high level, consider this: according to IACCM, the International Association of Commercial and Contract Management, 9.2% of annual revenues are lost due to poor contract management practices. Applying this formula, a company with $100M in annual revenue loses $9.2M annually; a company with $1B in annual revenue loses $92M. Conservatively, cut these numbers in half, and then in half again. With savings which at the low end exceed $2.3M annually, the ROI figures for this project should make it a lead contender for funding in your budget cycle. WHEN DO YOU LEAVE? GETTING STARTED Your systematic approach to planning your road trip will support a successful trip. While there will invariably be challenges which arise, you re in the best position possible to depart for your destination. Similarly, with much of the planning behind you for your contract management initiative, you re now ready to get started! Knowing what you don t know is a difficult part to any process improvement initiative. Until you roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty, your approach to some of your unknown items will be theoretical, at best. Our hope, however, in providing this roadmap and inviting you on our Page 12

14 contract management road trip is that we ve helped you to think through your process, to prepare the things that can be prepared, and to have a strategy in place for the unknowns which will invariably arise. And with this, we bid you safe travels! If there is anything that we can do to assist you, please don t hesitate to reach out to us! Corridor Company Corridor Company is committed to continually evolving our software product line to meet the challenges of contracts and their proper management. With a business application platform that readily provides solutions for Contract, Proposal and Supplier Management, Corridor's end-to-end solutions enable customers to create contracts and proposals more efficiently, manage all processes more effectively, and ensure that revenue, profit and compliance are all fully optimized. With a variety of different licensing, supporting implementation packages, and delivery options which include on premises, in the cloud, or Office 365, we ensure a solution tailored to fit the needs of your company. To learn why global to mid-sized clients choose Corridor for their Contract Management, Proposal Management and Supplier Management partner, visit us at Corridor Company, Inc. Web: info@corridorcompany.com Phone: ext. 16 Toll Free: ext. 16 Page 13