Contacts management refers to the process of taking on the responsibility of managing contracts for employees, vendors or other parties. Contract managers need to possess legal knowledge to accurately lead the contract management process, and while all companies may not have set contract managers, major defense firms or companies that frequently work with the government tend to use them.
From our perspective, the management of contracts is an often overlooked form of management; it’s not talked about much, but it’s an important business topic.
At its fundamental core, the management of contracts fuses the management of contract creation, execution and analysis to maximize operational and financial performance at an organization – all while reducing financial risk. To say this isn’t that easy of a prospect is something of an understatement, and companies are trying to facilitate the need for an effective and automated contracts management system all the time.
That’s where Gainfront comes in, what with our eProcurement approach that takes the “full contracts lifecycle management” concept to a whole new level. Through our powerful software, designed to save customers time and money, document management is made super-intuitive via a cost-savings tracker, rebate tracker and forecasting application.
What companies like Gainfront are trying to do with innovative products like ours is help customers achieve their goals while enhancing their contracts process. Being that we mentioned “contracts lifecycle management” above, let’s take a quick look at what this entails.
What is known as the “contract lifecycle” consists of:
- Contract request
- Reviewing and redlining
- Approval
- Execution
- Storage
- Records management
- Search and retrieval
- Audit and reporting
- Renewal and disposition
We help clients fulfill the following goals via the implementation of managing this contract lifecycle:
- Maintaining current contracts for all suppliers
- Eliminating discontinuity between performance and agreements
- Assuring all cost savings and economic agreements are executed timely and per contract
- Maintaining centralized files for all contracts
- Maintaining procurement files for all RFx events to satisfy SOX and federal auditing
- Proper disposition to all contracts
It simply isn’t enough that an organization has professionals in place to handle contract management – employees must be augmented with the presence of processes and software companions to satisfy increasing compliance and analytical needs. When a contract management strategy is implemented successfully, businesses can reap a virtual cornucopia of benefits, including:
- Expected business benefits and financial returns realized
- Suppliers that are cooperative and responsive to the organization’s needs
- No contract dispute experiences or surprises
- Delivery of services satisfactory to both parties
To learn more about the management of contracts, contact Gainfront today.
