Spring Forward with a Data-Driven Contract System
By Karen Howe
Last weekend along with many others in the U.S. I set my clocks an hour ahead for Daylight Savings time. This annual “spring forward” event yields valuable daylight at the end of our workdays. Oh, the joys of leaving work while it’s still light outside! So, although technically we lost an hour by springing forward, I see it as a gain. What else is a gain? How about the many recent advances we’ve made to Contract Logix’s data-driven contract system.
Expanding 3rd Party Integrations
Two recent enhancements have doubled the options we provide when it comes to integration with leading 3rd party providers. Sertifi is now integrated with the Contract Logix Express and Premium contract system, providing an alternative to DocuSign for seamlessly obtaining signatures electronically. E-signature has been warmly embraced by users as a sure-fire way to execute agreements faster, easier and more securely.
And on the technical front, Okta is now an option (along with Microsoft’s Azure AD) for those businesses desiring the security and ease of administration that SSO (Single Sign On) authentication offers.
Automating Business Processes
For organizations that don’t use a proper contract system, processes like requesting new contracts or managing the flow of a contract through the approval process are frequently handled in a one-off or manual fashion, leading to inefficiencies, lost time and effort. The forms-driven contract Request feature (included in Contract Logix’s Premium edition) makes it easy for a user with little or no system training to submit a request through the system.
The latest release adds more functionality to the Request process, allowing a reviewer to reject a request for any reason, like incomplete information or missing documentation. An automated email back to the submitter includes the reviewer’s notes about why the request was rejected.
Adding more and more advanced functionality to our Contract Workflow feature continues to be a top priority. New capabilities like triggering a workflow from within another workflow; options for assigning tasks and sending notifications that dynamically go to the person or persons in a specified role or department; improved error messaging with built-in navigation back to the workflow for troubleshooting; and improvements to the workflow designer user interface were recently introduced, and there are more exciting developments on the horizon.
Delivering a Superior User Experience
From the clean look to the intuitive interface, the user’s experience has always been a prime consideration in our development efforts. We listen closely to what our customers have to say and then add those little touches that will make using the system every day a pleasure not a chore. Navigation aids like the “go to parent record” buttons we placed in strategic locations, the addition of Check Out and Share buttons at the top of the document preview page and ensuring that Document Preview icons appear by default save keystrokes and frustration.
Plus, we just introduced a new, faster PDF previewer in our contract system, an improved email template editor and eased restrictions on who can check documents into the system. Even a relatively minor change like being able to control how many rows are visible in a section means less scrolling if you have a lot of rows.
Harnessing the Power of Contract Data
You’ve read it before in these pages – the real power of an exceptional contract management system is to transform your contract data into actionable insights. One way we do this at Contract Logix is to enable you to configure data to your specific business needs.
Last year, we introduced Custom Line Items, an innovative way to capture and present multiple rows of data within a contract record, such as products, services, providers, payers, approved contractors, payment terms, etc. We continue to refine the feature, most recently by adding a “free-form” version that allows users to add blank rows to a parent record and enter data on the fly. Based on customer feedback, we also modified the original version so users can add the same line item more than once to a parent record, cutting down on the number of unique line item records that need to be maintained.
Takeaway
Unlike changing the clocks for Daylight Savings, which happens only once every spring, we at Contract Logix strive to continuously “spring forward” to bring you the best possible solutions to your contract management challenges. We deliver frequent product updates, and with each new release our customers gain a bit more “daylight” in the form of more options, better control, happier users and clearer insights.
So, don’t be tempted to “fall back” on outdated, manual methods of managing your contracts.
Talk to us instead about our CLM needs.
