What is Contract Life Cycle Management (CLM)

Contract management depends on document-driven processes that, in a paper-based environment, can be laborious and inefficient. The time it takes to approve a contract can be as significant as the content preparation of the contract. Slow, manual contract processing reflects negatively on an organization's ability to provide excellent service. The contract lifecycle is defined differently from an organization to organization or even form department to another. The number of contracts and the associated documents are ramping up in this era of digital transformation. An automated, digital contract lifecycle management (CLM) can reduce the administrative burden on employees and allows legal, financial, sales, and other professionals to make better use of their expertise. This chapter shows how automation can change the organizations' behaviors to view contracts as opportunities for operational improvement and competitive advantage. It shows also how CLM can be integrated with business intelligence (BI) and data analytics systems to provide contract insights and dashboards.