For a small organization with a quantum of 10-50 contracts, it is quite feasible to go back to their contracts and review their time and now, but as the volume and complexity increase, it becomes difficult to manage these contracts without the assistance of some kind of contract management tool. It can be a simple excel tracker to an introductory level desktop or online-based software to a complex enterprise-level contract management software, but you definitely need one to manage your obligations effectively and efficiently. There are many available in the market, but one needs to be very careful while choosing one.

As one company’s data management requirements differ from the other, so do the features provided by one CLM to another. There’s no ONE solution that can fit all the companies. Thus, it’s a must for companies to do thorough research before taking a CLM implementation initiative.

When starting a CLM implementation initiative, is an important and arduous step that many companies overlook. Ask the vendor:

• Does it support all the contract types i.e. buy side and sell side contracts?
• If it provides real-time alerts?
• Does it have the ability to grow with your business?
• Whether it comprises all the advanced security features?
• Is it capable of generating detailed reports and automating these reports for regular reviews?
• Ease of implementation, if the CLM system can be integrated with your current systems easily and efficiently?

It is easy to purchase the software but buying the one that meets all your requirements, needs some extra effort.