Web Designing

Web-Enabled Management Contract Systems

Technologies have now matured that allow an efficient, cost-effective implementation of computer-based contract management tracking system.  Contracts are an important part of every organization and with the increased demands on managers, negotiators, legal departments and employees, it is very easy to mismanage contracts. For many organizations it is difficult to track timely and accurate information about their contracts. Oftentimes, the inability to track payments, budgets, renewal terms and volume discounts can cost companies valuable resources, such as time and money. Communications between contract managers, vendors and the central office are slow, difficult and expensive. Overworked staff means that when questions arise about data, there is little time to track down the correct answer.

Since the best information about the contracts lies with the contract manager, legal department or vendor, the project manager and accounting departments have little or no knowledge of the terms, approved budget amounts and legal rights. Unfortunately, when larger contracts involve multiple departments, employees and vendors, the costs of management increase. Information about the contract has, therefore, typically been gathered and transmitted from vendors, employees, project managers and lawyers, and sent through the postal service, e-mail or fax, and may eventually be entered into a central storage system.

Changes to the central information repository often lagged far behind actual changes to the contract and so changes to terms, rates and revisions were prone to errors that had no easy mechanism for correction and would occasionally be lost altogether. Since key players involved with the contract may not have immediate access to this information, they could not cross-check changes, charges, payments and terms. Inconsistencies become difficult to identify, and when they are identified, they could lead to erroneous correction, such as duplicate records and inefficient communication to key personnel. All of these problems make it more difficult to manage contracts and their corresponding projects effectively, and often add extra costs to the organizations.

Using the Internet and Web technologies, the process of contract management tracking can overcome all of these problems and reduce your contract costs.   Since the Internet is nearly ubiquitous in the United States and most of the rest of the developed world, and accessible even in remote regions, it has become inexpensive to provide network connectivity from a central office to remote locations or even directly to the key players themselves. The cost to the organization of providing and supporting this connectivity and software is very low since most organizations have current agreements with Internet
Service Providers (ISPs).

By using a Web-based contract management software solution, data can be entered by the people to whom it is most available and important, but stored in a central location and available for sharing. The legal team can have access to key legal issues included in the contract. The contract managers can have immediate and up-to-date information about the milestones and deadlines. The accounting department may access contractual information for budgeting, payments and financial tracking. Negotiators can have access to key information when it is time for renewal and renegotiating. Central storage has the benefits of allowing a systematic disaster recovery plan; enforcement of data consistency; workflow and business rules; and the opportunity to concentrate economic resources and personnel. A centralized Internet-based system allows the opportunity to purchase higher performance, higher reliability, software, servers and network components. Personnel can be used more effectively by hiring (or contracting) fewer individuals with more experience and training.

Maintenance agreements will cost less for the fewer components used at a single, central location. The rapid expansion of the Internet and the Web has provided an excellent opportunity for organizations to increase the efficiency and lower the cost of  contract management. These organizations can now overcome many of the historical impediments to increasing the level of service with only modest investments in information technology.

A good contract management system should contain several “must-have” features. It should have built-in security to protect confidential and strategic contracts. User name and password security is typical in more robust systems and permit individual, departmental or group-based security. The system should permit multiple users to access the system simultaneously. This will enable larger organizations to communicate and collaborate about key contracts without the inefficiencies mentioned above. It should provide ample fields and flexibility to handle multiple contract sections and revisions. This will allow for better tracking of revisions and renewal notes.

Good contract management software will support the ability to upload scanned images, files, spreadsheets and documents as well as e-mails. This will  centralize your contract storage and provide a systematic approach for recalling and sharing the actual contract and supporting files without involving manual paper-chasing tasks. An advance notification system, such as contract-expiring reports and e-mail notification, is another must. Since it is easy to forget about contract end-dates your system should support the ability to enter and track key dates. Moreover, a contract management system should support a function to track financial information. This will supply you with the information needed when it comes time to budget, track and negotiate contract prices, terms and expenditures. A good contract management tracking system can help reduce your contract management expenses, help you negotiate better terms, and ensure accurate billing and charges. Larger companies may want to implement a Web-enabled system for their contract-management solution.

Web-enabled solutions reduce the total cost of implementation and support because it is a centralized system that can be accessed and used via a Web browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer.