Industry Challenges
What is the biggest delay in closing a deal aside from the long sales cycle – getting through the contract process ! Contracts play a critical role in any vendor-client transaction, documenting terms such as dates, pricing, project duration, assumptions, etc. Not getting solid contracts in place can lead to penalties, overpayment for services, payments not collected from external vendors and more. It’s critical for companies and key stakeholders to better manage their contracts at an enterprise level. Many business units within an organization have their own agendas and direction which are contrary to the company standards. This can lead to confusion, disarray and potential loss of critical information. Recent trends are finding companies that will centralize their repositories with a contract management system and create a single source of record for their enterprise-wide contracting needs. Companies are building centralized repositories which make it easy to conduct business and improve the closing of contracts for various business teams.
IBM Emptoris Features
The IBM Emptoris Contract Management solution enables companies to structure more profitable contracts, streamline the contracting process and increase compliance. Emptoris is a brand within IBM’s Smarter Commerce Portfolio. The solution automates and manages the various stages of contract lifecycle from creation and execution, through performance monitoring, amendments, analysis and renewal. Companies with strong contracts and contract management capture more revenue opportunities, have better supplier, partner and vendor relationships, and can actively enforce compliance and mitigate risks. IBM Emptoris can bring great value to a company that follows a stringent contractual process:
* Gain access to the intelligence held within the global contract portfolio.
* Monitor business commitments and obligations as defined in corporate contracts.
* Enforce controls on language and terms used in contracts thus helping to actively mitigate risks.
* Leverage the latest business intelligence and technology to monitor and enforce compliance.
* Streamline, automate and expedite the entire contract process and get to contract closing faster.
IBM Emptoris help companies maximize savings, build better supplier relationships and reduce risk. IBM Emptoris solutions will help enable procurement organizations drive improved performance, capture sustainable cost savings, mitigate varied risks, improve compliance and directly impact the bottom-line. IBM Emportis helps companies boost their Procurement team’s performance. In response to the increasing needs of procurement organizations for greater visibility, accountability and productivity across their operations. The new v10 of IBM Emptoris includes updated versions of:
* Emptoris Contract Management – Automate the entire contract lifecycle and improve compliance Management
* Emptoris Supplier Lifecycle Management – A single end-to-end supplier management solution
* Emptoris Program Management – Manage and monitor global programs and category initiatives
* Emptoris Rivermine Telecom Expense Management – Manage the mobile and telecommunications lifecycle and reduce telecom expenses * Emptoris Sourcing – Advanced sourcing that makes complex events simple
* Emptoris Spend Analysis – Deep enterprise-wide spend visibility and analysis
Solution Benefits – IBM Emptoris v10 can help companies:
* Leverage standardized contracting processes and procedures across the enterprise.
* Centralize contract repository; have systematic abilities to author contracts.
* Increase revenue recognition, reduce cost, mitigate risk, and enhance compliance.
* Prevent auto-renewing (evergreen) contracts renewing unnecessarily and unexpectedly.
* Track redline changes made to contracts and other electronic audit trail information to help your organization build more intelligence (such as most often used terms/clauses, etc.) on your customers.
* Increase contracting ownership and governance.
Effective Use Case
A typical use case is an organization that allows for decentralized contract negotiations by multiple business lines. Imagine a company where Directors in business units draft up their own contracts and allow signatories that don’t adequately represent the company. When companies don’t maintain contract paperwork and reasoning behind agreement of contract terms and conditions, there is bound to be project failure and potential litigation. This lack of control would create internal power struggles, loss of revenue and reputational risk.
