Effective contract management is one of the keys to ensuring smooth running, minimization of risks, and adherence to law in today’s business environment. With the expansion of the organization, the contracts from drafting stages up to signing and renewal become unmanageable, prone to more errors, and take precious time to operate. Contract automation software can therefore optimize this business process, reduce paperwork, increase accuracy, and speed up the contract cycle.
It uses technology to automatically draft, review, approve, and manage contracts. It saves time and prevents inconsistency across agreements. In this article, we will explore the key features of contract automation tools, how to choose the best software for your business needs, and list the top 10 contract automation solutions available today.
Key Features of Contract Automation Software
Several key features must be evaluated when considering contract automation software. These features go beyond streamlining the workflow of contracts to efficiency and compliance.
- Template Management: Most of the contract automation platforms offer templates that can help draft contracts fast. Users can customize templates for different types of contracts, reducing the need to start from scratch every time.
- Clause Libraries: Clause libraries contain approved contract language, and can insert them automatically in the contract for consistent and compliance-based documents in all the paperwork.
- E-signatures: E-signatures can also be incorporated for e-signatures using solutions that let stakeholders e-sign contracts while abandoning the physical signature, which will delay approval.
- Multi-user Review and Editing: Most of the contract automation platforms have multi-user review and editing capabilities to collaborate with various stakeholders that involve the contracts. This again helps reduce the time delays while making sure all stakeholders are aligned in the process.
- Automation of Approvals Workflow: An important feature is the acceleration of the workflow, which further involves the approval workflows. The same accelerates the contract negotiation process and ensures right people involvement at the right time during the process.
- Compliance Management: It has compliance features that help companies ensure the compliance of contracts in respect to the relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards. This is to avoid non-compliance risk and lawsuits.
Top 10 Contract Automation Software
1. DocuSign CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management)
The CLM company from DocuSign is at the top as the largest in contract automation software. The tool supports thousands of worldwide organizations through an entire contract lifecycle management system starting from birth to the end, being highly compatible with systems in businesses while using them at different levels to analyze the chances of risk from within their respective contracts.
The intelligent workflow automation of the software streamlines the whole contracting process, and less interference by humans will be given; acceleration in completion of contracts also gets facilitated.
Key Features:
- Artificial Intelligence for analytics in contracts
- Template library, and management for clauses
- Integration for e-signature
- Automation in workflow
- Risk scoring and compliance tracking
- Tools of real-time collaboration
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.docusign.com/products/clm
2. Ironclad
Ironclad is changing the way that contract management is executed, an AI-driven platform for both legal teams as well as business users. This software’s dynamic workflow engine is calibrated according to different kinds of contracts as well as business processes, which makes this technology more versatile to accommodate a variety of different industries.
Their innovative method of contract automation software comes with highly advanced capabilities in data extraction and intelligent assembly, which helps reduce the amount of time it takes to come up with the contracts. Their collaborative workspace smoothens communication across stakeholders of the contract, and this helps smooth out the reviewing and approval of the contract process.
Key Features:
- Dynamic workflow engine and aI-driven data extraction
- Real-time collaboration tools with template builder
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- On-the-go capability
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.ironcladapp.com
3. Agiloft
The Agiloft highly configurable contract management platform is in huge demand because it is adaptable for a variety of business processes and requirements. Its software combines the ability to customize and robust automation capabilities, which make it efficient for organizations of any size or industry.
This contract portfolio will be able to use the information it receives from the AI-driven contract analysis tools to learn and manage risks. The robust workflow engine ensures the complex approval process is automated, yet compliance is not compromised between internal policy and external regulation.
Key Features:
- Highly Configurable Platform and AI-powered Contract Analysis
- Advanced workflow automation with customizable dashboards
- Integrated Risk Management with reporting Suite
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.agiloft.com
4. ContractWorks
ContractWorks is very simple yet powerfully effective and puts simplicity in front of its usability. It’s aimed at mainly the essentials that the functionalities related to contract management offer, rather than the overhead baggage of pointless complexity to users. This could help smaller to medium enterprises through rapid deployment, not in months but in days, thus granting companies an upper hand in contracting earlier rather than later.
It is powerful in the storage and organization of documents. It has very effective tagging and searching powers, which make retrieval of contracts very easy.
Key Features:
- Fast implementation and advanced document tagging
- Automated alerts and notifications with secure document storage
- Custom reporting and electronic signature integration
Pricing:
- Standard: $700/month
- Professional: $900/month
- Premium: $2000/month
Website: www.contractworks.com
5. Icertis
Icertis is unique through its enterprise-optimized contract intelligence platform, incorporating advanced AI and machine learning capabilities, and it thrives in understanding complex contractual relationships within global companies. It makes available deep insight into contract obligations and risks through the sophisticated analytics engine that is capable of unraveling hidden value and potential risk within the contracts of an organization.
The Icertis platform is built to scale effortlessly across departments and geographies, making it the perfect fit for large enterprises with different contract management needs.
Key Features:
- Advanced AI and machine learning with enterprise-grade scalability
- Rich analytics and insights and global compliance management
- Contract risk analysis and Multi-language support
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.icertis.com
6. Conga Contracts
Conga Contracts is an all-inclusive contract lifecycle management solution that integrates well with most popular CRM systems, particularly Salesforce. All the processes from generation to negotiation and execution are streamlined with powerful automation capabilities at each step.
Their intelligent clause library and template management system help in quick contract creation with adherence to organizational standards. Advanced workflow engines are also adapted to complex approval processes that ensure the right stakeholders are involved at each step.
Key Features:
- Deep CRM integration and smart clause library
- Advanced workflow automation and electronic signature integration
- Contract analytics and template management
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.conga.com/contracts
7. Zycus Contract Management
Zycus Contract Management is a strong solution, especially strong in procurement-focused contract management. This platform combines the powerful capabilities of contract lifecycle management with deep sourcing and procurement functionality to be ideal for organizations focused on supplier relationships.
Their AI-powered contract analytics help organizations identify savings opportunities and manage supplier performance effectively. Zycus’s automated compliance tracking ensures contracts adhere to both internal policies and external regulations.
Key Features:
- Procurement-centric features and AI analytics
- Compliance monitoring and performance monitoring of the supplier
- Tools for authoring contracts and risk management
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.zycus.com
8. PandaDoc
PandaDoc is a changing tool in the contract management arena that emphasizes workflow automation of the document workflow and capabilities in e-signatures. It is distinguished by being easy to use and having an implementation timeline of days. This makes it appealing to sales teams and small to medium-sized business enterprises.
Their template-based approach for creating contracts gives flexibility and standardization in terms of generating quick documents while being brand-consistent. The analytics in real time are also helpful in tracking the engagement and the approval processes of the documents.
Key Features:
- Automated document workflow and electronic signature
- Template library and real-time analytics
- Content library
- Mobile accessibility
Pricing:
Website: www.pandadoc.com
9. JAGGAER Contract Management
JAGGAER Contract Management specializes in contract management with a prime strength in managing supplier relationships as well as procuring processes. The platform amalgamates potent contract lifecycle management with sophisticated features of supplier management, thus uniting the approaches to procurement contracts. Their analytics, driven by AI, are there to enable organizations to improve contract terms while identifying potential opportunities for savings throughout their supplier base.
JAGGAER also offers compliance management features that meet both internal and external requirements on contracts while managing risk adequately.
Key Features:
- Supplier relationship management and contract lifecycle automation
- Compliance monitoring and risk management
- Integration capabilities and performance analytics
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.jaggaer.com
10. Mitratech TeamConnect
The Mitratech TeamConnect offers an enterprise legal management platform with robust contract lifecycle management capabilities. Their software is advanced in its approach to handling legal operations through a single platform for matter management, e-billing, and contract management. Workflow automation from the company takes care of complex processes and ties them together regarding approval while adhering to organizational policies.
This gives an analytics overview on the legal operations and performance of contracts. The focus on security and compliance in Mitratech makes it quite apt for the most regulated of industries.
Key Features:
- Legal operations integration and workflow automation
- Compliance management and matter management
- E-billing integration and analytics dashboard
Pricing: Custom Pricing
Website: www.mitratech.com
How to Select the Best Contract Automation Software
Several factors will influence your choice of contract automation software depending on the size of your business, industry, specific needs, and budget. Here are some tips for choosing the best solution for your organization:.
- What do you want: You must understand what it is that you want a contract automation software tool for. Are you going to draft contracts or automatically create them? There needs to be some kind of management level for the approval or tracking of contract renewals, etc.
- Friendly User Interface: The platform needs to have a friendly user interface so that most stakeholders can use it easily as the automation of contracts often deals with multiple users.
- Customization options: The tool needs to be able to customize the software to meet the specific requirements of the business in regards to contracts-from clauses to workflows. This customization of the tool will be an important factor for maximum utilization of the tool.
- Integration Capability: Ensure the application is compatible to integrate with existing systems. It will improve the workflow, prevent duplication, and reduce redundancy of data entry.
- Security Features: Contract documents are binding and contain vital information that has to be treated as secret, hence security should be highly efficient. Some robust security features must be integrated, such as encryption of data, role-based access, and audit trails to guard sensitive data.
Conclusion
Contract automation software is the necessary tool businesses have to utilize in the proper management of their contract, reduced risks, and improved efficiency. Organizations can dramatically reduce time and resources in making, negotiating, and approving contracts by features like template management, e-signatures, and workflow automation.
It should consider business needs, prioritize ease of use, security, and integration, and be scalable to adapt to future growth. Among the top 10 listed contract automation software platforms above, they are among the best that the market offers with features catering to the various needs of different businesses.
FAQs:
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What is contract automation software?
The automation software for contracts is useful in the business' creation, approval, and management of a contract.
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Does contract automation software integrate with other business tools?
Yes. Almost all contract automation platforms allow integration with systems like CRM, ERP, and document management software for workflow convenience.
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Is contract automation software suitable for small businesses?
Yes, they have contract automation tools for small and mid-sized businesses that come with simple, affordable solutions.
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What are the principal advantages of applying contract automation software?
Some of the primary advantages include: efficiency, low error rates, faster turnaround for contracts, greater compliance, and better collaboration.
