We don't typically post many items without the name of the customer, but this story was just too good to pass up. This one is about an aerospace and defense systems giant (and Fortune 500 company), that has many types of contracts in each of its business units, and needed help with its contract lifecycle management. The company added a contract management solution that offered a centralized system that tracked and managed the lifecycle of its contracts, in addition to identifying trends and opportunities for the company.

Before the implementation, most of the users in the organization used Excel spreadsheets for tracking their contracts or they used SharePoint sites, but there was no notification mechanism. They wanted a contract management system with a central electronic repository, access control, reporting, workflow automation, and contract notifications. The primary goal was to standardize the management of contracts and create one cohesive repository for those contracts. By doing that, it would make the contracts easier to find by all of the different parts of the company.

The supply chain and legal departments drove the initial request for a contract management solution. They found there were many signed contracts that contained some non-standard clauses in them, and contracts and agreements underpin almost every business transaction in the organization.

After looking at five different vendors, the company decided to leverage its existing platform with Open Text for a contract management solution. The roll-out of the initial two of its 10 business units was completed in just five months.

The company considered workflows to be very important to a smoothly functioning department, leading to better visibility into task completion, streamlining of the approval process, and the identifying of bottlenecks in the negotiation cycle. But the biggest benefit of the contract management system by far is the notification mechanisms, according to the IT Project Manager. Misunderstanding key dates can lead to financial implications.

Users also love the convenience of one system which archives all of their contracts, which makes finding contracts easier. This contract management solution allows for standard terms and conditions, resulting in better negotiation power, and minimal maverick spends.

The management tool is lending the company flexibility, scalability, and core functionality when dealing with contracts. Instead of having to adapt to an out-of-the-box application with only a few functions, users have an application that they can adapt to their own needs. By mid-2010 the company expects to double the amount of contract management users.

With this system in place, this global supplier to the aerospace, defence, and homeland security markets gained new control and full support over its contracts, and was able to reduce costs and increase revenue in ways its paper-based system couldn't. Read more about this company's success with contract management here.