#ContractRepository

[razorsign]

𝗧𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

Say goodbye to the struggle and hello to RazorSign’s AI-Powered Centralized Contract Repository! Upload, categorize, and find contracts in seconds—efficiency is just a click away. Get started today and transform the way you manage contracts

[contraxaware]

Your Project Management Guide for a Complete Contract Migration to a Single Repository

Migrating all your contracts to a single repository is a critical step for your business. Whether you need to merge legacy systems together or you have recently gone through a merger or acquisition, it streamlines how you do business. Many business owners, however, worry that they will face unnecessary downtime and other problems during the migration process. With the appropriate planning, you can protect your business and migrate your contracts to a single, highly effective repository. This will help you meet your contract management goals. 

Set Up a Separate Contract Migration Project

Migrating your contracts to a single repository is its own project and should be treated as such. It can be complicated, whether you're migrating several contract repositories at the same time or you're migrating a single existing contract repository to a new system. Set up your contract migration plan as a separate project and treat it accordingly. You may need to: 1. Assess the Scope of the Contract Migration Project Just like when you take a look at a project for a client, you need to take time to assess the scope of your contract migration project. How big of a project are you looking at? How many contracts do you need to move, and how many systems are you bringing together? Take a solid look at what you expect to happen during your contract migration. This includes any potential obstacles that may occur during the contract migration process. Be honest about how long you expect the project to take and just how big a project it is to handle. With this precaution, there’s less risk that you will face unexpected challenges later. 2. Evaluate Your Team Once you have a clear view of the scope of your project, take the time to evaluate your team and their skills. Ask: Who on your team will be responsible for managing the contract migration process? What role will each team member play?Do your team members have the skills needed to help? This includes migrating those contracts, identifying and removing duplicate records, and checking data integrity.What does your team's schedule look like? Do you have time to factor in your contract migration?Do you need to bring in additional help to aid with the contract management process? You may want additional help if your team doesn't have enough time in their schedules to properly handle the project.   Also, evaluate the system you're moving to and the challenges it may present, as well as the ability of your team to meet those challenges. Determine what customer service and assistance the contract management system's internal tech team will provide during the migration process. Then, you can get a better idea of what skills your team members may really need to accomplish that migration.  3. Create a Timeline Just like when you put together a project for a client, your team needs to know how long they have to complete the contract migration. Consider: When do you need to have your contract migration completed?  You may have a very specific timeline in which to complete your migration. For example, you're using a legacy system that will no longer be supported after a certain date. Alternatively, you might be dealing with a subscription service that you don't want to renew again. You may also find yourself restricted by an upcoming busy season. That means you need to have all your contracts in the new system and everything up and running smoothly.  How much time do you have to dedicate to your contract migration project?  Your contract migration project will require employees, resources, and time. Look at how those needs fit into your schedule and what you need to do in order to effectively manage your migration and prevent it from interfering with other projects, especially those related to your clients. How long is the project likely to take?  Consider factors like both the system you're transferring data to and the system you're transferring data from, since these can put limitations on the speed of your project. Do you need to manually check for data duplication? Do you have automated processes in place that will need to run before the migration is complete? Make sure you have a solid timeline in place that will let you know how long it will probably take to migrate your contracts to the new system. 

Design a Plan

Once you have evaluated the full scope of your contract migration and set it up as a project within your system, you need to design a plan that will help keep you on track throughout the migration. Ask: What is the goal of this project? Like any other project, you need to have a clearly defined goal for your contract migration. In this case, it’s to have all of your contracts contained within one contract repository so that you can easily access the information you need when you need it. Secondary goals might include: Ensuring the data is clean and undamaged.  You may need to start by creating a data backup as you prepare for your project. Then, you will have clean copies of your contract data to refer back to if something fails to migrate correctly to the new system.  Creating a clear organization system that will establish how contracts are stored.  You may need an intuitive naming system as well as a storage method that makes sense to every member of the team who must use that system. This is essential if you're migrating over data from different companies.  Maintaining security both during and after the migration.  You do not want to lose valuable data or leave it vulnerable to hackers, who may choose to use it for their own purposes.  Aligning your contract storage system with your company's other goals and plans.  Your contract repository can help streamline many of your business practices and make it easier to ensure compliance and full implementation of your contracts. It can also help your company up with billing and other critical financial matters.  Setting up workflows and reminders in the new system that will keep business flowing smoothly. Your business needs to flow as smoothly as possible during the transition and afterward. Make sure that your reminders, workflows, and alerts are set up in the new system before you finish the migration.  What risks does the contract migration present to the company as a whole? When you migrate your contracts, you may face some risks. As you design a plan to migrate over your contracts, make sure you carefully consider those risks and take steps to mitigate them as much as possible ahead of time.  Does your current contract repository pose a known security risk?  If you're using legacy systems or outdated contract software, you may find that your existing enterprise contract management system poses a substantial security risk to your business. Migrating to a new, updated system, especially one that already has vital security in place, can help mitigate that risk.  Do you have a risk of unexpected downtime during the migration?  If you plan to move all your contract data over at once, you may have a period of downtime. You can control this downtime, to some extent, by planning your migration for a time that works best for your company. You may not want to schedule a migration for the busiest part of your day or for a time when you know you can expect increased amounts of business.  What resources will you need to accomplish your contract migration? Put together a list of all the resources you will need in order to fully accomplish your contract migration. This includes the time, manpower, and the physical resources you may need to accomplish your migration. Consider: How many people you will need in order to accomplish the migration. Clearly designate which team members you will need to have and what responsibility those team members will need to complete. You may need to block out those team members' schedules during the contract migration. Alternatively, you may need to designate a chunk of time each day to work on migration-related tasks.  How long you anticipate the project taking.  You already have an estimate of your timeline for contract migration completion. Make sure to include this as part of your plan so that you can schedule the right employees at the right time.  What machines you will need to use during the migration.  You may want to designate a particular machine or machines to handle the data migration. You may not be able to use this computer for other purposes while you're handling your migration to the cloud. If you currently store your contracts on an in-house server, you may need to dedicate that server to the contract migration process. Make sure to check with your IT team to learn what load those machines can handle and how it will impact the rest of the company. What virtual space you will need to handle the migration.  Consider elements like your network security as well as upload speed. Do you want to conduct your contract migration over a separate network from your usual processes? This can help increase upload speed as well as providing you with an additional layer of security, since you can more easily monitor exactly what devices are connected to that network throughout the contract migration process.  Are there any additional resources you will need to complete your contract migration project? Consider all the details of your project and what resources you may need to finish it effectively. If you will need to work after hours or on weekends, consider what resources will need to be made available to your team in order to maximize efficiency.  Create a clear budget for your contract migration. Make sure you establish what that budget is intended for. Also, leave some room in that budget for overtime if the migration takes longer than intended.  How do you plan to set up training?

As part of your contract migration plan, you need to clearly establish how you will handle training the employees who need to know how to use those systems. Many legal contract management systems work in similar ways. But there's always a learning curve when you transition to a new system. Ensure that your employees know how to use all the features built into the system. You have several options when it comes to training. See what training your new enterprise contract management system provider offers.  The provider may work directly to train key members of your team or may have a policy that allows you to bring all your employees in for training. In others, the contract management system itself may offer clear alerts and easy-to-use help guides. Make sure you fully understand what the system offers. Train each department all at once.  Provide each department with comprehensive training concerning the resources they will use on the contract management system.  Train key members of each department, then allow them to train the rest of their departments.  If you work in a large company, then you may want to slow that training process down. This can help ensure that everyone has the chance to have their questions answered.  Make sure that you schedule training well before you migrate your contracts to the new system. Ideally, your employees should already have a solid understanding of how to use the system when you install it.  How do you plan to communicate with team members throughout the project? Communication is a vital part of any major project within your company. You may need to: Clearly establish migration dates.Let employees know how it will impact them.Notify employees about when they are expected to move over to the new system.Provide information about any challenges or problems along the way.  You don’t just need to communicate with team members who are directly involved in the migration. You may also need to communicate with employees outside your team who are impacted by the new contract management system. Establish: What system you will use for communication, whether you post information on the company intranet or send out emails or other types of communication. What information employees need to know and when you should schedule reminders.Who is responsible for sending out that information.  Contract migration can be a major project. By establishing a clear plan to manage that project ahead of time, however, you can better prepare your business for the process. Ultimately, you’ll set your migration up for success. Try ContraxAware today for a contract management system that fits all of your contracts’ needs. Read the full article

[razorsign]

Discover how a leading multinational streamlined their processes with 𝗥𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗿𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻’𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 automating contracts, centralizing data, and integrating e-signatures for faster execution.

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆!

[contraxaware]

Why You Should Prioritize Merging Contract Records After a Merger or Acquisition

After a merger or acquisition, your team has a lot of details to focus on. It can be easy to allow merging your contract records to get lost in the shuffle. After all, both businesses likely have an effective contract management system in place that has allowed them to keep up with their contracts thus far. You can wait to merge those systems together, right? In reality, you need to put merging contract records high on your priority list.  Consider these key reasons why merging your contract records is important, and then read our guide to creating a contract migration project. Also, consider how failing to do so could create unanticipated problems for your newly-combined businesses. 

1. Merging contract records can make it easier to generate company-wide reports.

When you merge your contract records, you can quickly and effectively generate reports that cover all aspects of your company's contracts. If you keep your records in different depositories, on the other hand, you may need to generate separate reports for each company, then manually compile them. This can substantially slow down your ability to put together those vital records. 

2. If you don't merge your contract records, employees may not know which system to use.

In the early stages following a merger or acquisition, employees may automatically use the system they've always used as they create, negotiate, and manage contracts. As you restructure your business following those changes, however, you may shift certain business responsibilities to one partner company or the other. Employees may then not be sure which contract record system to use or where to store contracts. 

3. Failure to merge your contracts can make it difficult to find specific contracts and information, especially as your business grows in the aftermath of the merger or acquisition. 

When you begin merging contract records, you will store it under one standardized system that makes it easy to identify key information about your contracts. You'll be able to easily track the current versions of contracts as well as keeping up with where you can find those contracts. When they're located in separate repositories, on the other hand, it can prove difficult to find a specific contract. You may need to go through more than one system in order to find the specific contract you need. This can slow down your response time when dealing with clients. 

4. You don't want combined departments to have to search in two locations for information.

Many departments throughout your newly-combined business may need to access your contracts. You may have a specific department that takes care of compliance. Salespeople need to be able to access past versions of contracts. No matter who needs to access that information, you want them to be able to search in one location for it. Not only that, but you also want to ensure that employees have the right security permissions to access the contracts.

5. Merging contract records will ensure that all alerts and reminders end up in the right place.

Along with your merger or acquisition, you may substantially restructure some of your processes and departments. That includes your contract approval processes. You may have new individuals who need to approve contracts before they can be finalized. Alternatively, you may need to add something to the existing contract approval process of one business to fit the needs of the other. If you're still using separate contract management systems, those systems may have different workflows or processes. That could create additional steps or make it difficult to keep up with your contracts. Merging your systems helps ensure that all of those reminders end up in front of the right individual or team.

6. Merging your systems helps protect your security.

You want to use a secure contract management system to help protect your clients and their data. Merging contract records can both give your customer data more security and help tighten your internal security. Start by assigning the proper permissions to employees who need to access contract information over the course of their work responsibilities. You may need to prevent employees from accessing secure materials that are outside the scope of their job responsibilities. Salespeople, for example, may need access to only the systems that they work on. But employees responsible for contract implementation may not need permissions that will allow them to make changes to those contracts. Using a single system can decrease the risk of internal security holes in your system. It will also help protect your business and your clients.  Prioritizing the merging of your contract records is essential. It will help your business keep up with its responsibilities following a merger or acquisition. Don't let it wait too late! Instead, put merging your contract records at the top of your priority list. This will keep your workflows moving smoothly following a merger or acquisition. Also, try our software for a week to see why it’s the best new home for all of your business’s contracts.  Read the full article

[contraxaware]

How to Prepare for Contract Migration Projects

There are multiple reasons you may decide to undertake a contract migration project. You may want to use a contract management software that more effectively manages your contracts. You might have recently merged with another company, whether through direct merger or buyout. Perhaps you have legacy systems that need to have their data migrated to a new system. Whatever the case, before you migrate your contracts to a new system (and our comprehensive guide can help), you need to take several steps to prepare.

1. Take a look at the scope of your project.

Do you have a relatively small business that needs to migrate over the contracts you've collected over a few years of operation? You may be looking at a relatively minor migration project. On the other hand, if you have a big business, then you may have a much larger project on your hands. Before you begin your contract migration process, make sure you fully understand exactly what you're undertaking and how long it's likely to take. The first step to prepare for contract migration is to set realistic estimates for how long it will take to complete your contract migration project. Keep in mind that you may need to manually check a great deal of your data. While your contract reporting tools can tell you a great deal about the integrity of the data, you may need to check over those results manually to ensure that no vital data was lost during the migration. This can take time, especially when you're dealing with a large quantity of data.

2. Decide whether you want to migrate your contract data gradually over time or all at once.

Once you have a feel for the scope of your contract migration project, decide how you want to proceed. You may want to migrate your data gradually over time or move it to a new system in one fell swoop. Each method has several advantages depending on the scope of your data migration and what you need it to accomplish.  Moving your data all at once: When you move your data all at once, the data migration process takes minimal time. You won't have any ambiguity as the migration drags on. Also, you're more likely to have a clear start and end date for the migration. Unfortunately, moving your data all at once can lead to higher levels of data corruption. If something does go wrong during the data migration, you may have more problems to deal with than if you move your data steadily over time.  Moving your data slowly over time: Choosing to move your data over slowly can allow you more time to sort through the data and make sure there aren't any compatibility issues before you complete the final transition. Often, a slow trickle contract migration project will ensure more accuracy and less confusion on the other side. You'll also have more time to make sure that every member of the team has a full understanding of the new system before you implement it. This method, however, can lead to disruption in your business for a longer period of time. You will also have to carefully check your systems so you don't miss any critical data during your migration. 

3. Make a note of any events or challenges that could have impacted your contract data.

Keep in mind that anything could have a significant impact on your contract data, no matter how you prepare for contract migration. If there are specific contracts that are more likely to have errors, then you should check those contracts manually after the migration. You may also want to pay particular attention to contracts that are still in the negotiation phase or waiting for approval during the migration. It’s especially important to ensure that you have the current versions of those contracts.  

4. Back up your contract data.

Data frequently gets lost during contract migration projects. In spite of all parties' best efforts to keep that information as secure as possible, losses can happen. Fortunately, you can back your data up ahead of time. If you take this step, then you can easily access the old data. You can also ensure that it matches up with your new system. 

5. Train your employees.

If you're using a new contract management system, your employees need to know how to use it effectively. Before you begin to prepare for contract migration tasks, consider your team. You need to make sure that every employee can effectively use that new system. Designate trainers on your team to develop a greater understanding of the contract management software. Then, they can answer any questions that your team members have once you fully implement your new contract management software.

6. Make sure you have a clear plan for communication.

Contract migration can turn into a complex process. In some cases, you may experience unexpected delays or challenges in that process. You may also need to establish specific downtimes for your employees. Set a clear plan for communication so that employees will remain in the know and can adapt as needed. Knowing how to prepare for contract migration properly can make a big difference in your overall success. With these critical steps, you can ensure that your business is ready for everything that lies ahead. So try our software for seven days as you explore migration possibilities. Read the full article

[contraxaware]

4 Dangers of Having Multiple Contract Repositories in One Company

Do you really need to keep all of your important contracts in one place? Maybe you've recently merged with or bought out another company, or your company has multiple legacy systems in place that you've never combined. So you may find yourself wondering whether it's really important to take your contracts down to a single repository. You have all of your data stored somewhere. Isn't that good enough? Unfortunately, keeping your contracts in multiple contract repositories across a single company can lead to a number of dangers. It will impact your business's overall functionality and efficiency — not to mention your ability to deliver everything your clients expect from you. Read through these dangers and then check out our complete guide to creating a contract migration project. 

Danger #1: You may lose time looking for important contracts.

When all of your contracts are stored in one place, you can find them faster. Also, organizing them in one place with an intuitive naming or numbering system means you can easily access the contract. Also, you can find the client or vendor that you're looking for at any given moment. If, on the other hand, you have contracts in multiple contract repositories, you may struggle to find the exact item you're looking for. Searching for contracts can cost you valuable time, especially when you have a client or vendor waiting on a response from your business. 

Danger #2: It's impossible to generate reports that include all of your contracts.

When all of your contracts are in one place, you can use your contract management software to generate clear reports about expenses, averages, and anticipated profits. But when those contracts are spread across multiple contract repositories, you can’t. You may have to compile multiple incompatible reports together in order to create a comprehensive one. Switching to a single contract repository across your company, on the other hand, can allow you to more easily generate those reports. Then keep up with important data across your business. 

Danger #3: Keeping contracts in multiple different places makes it easier for something to fall through the cracks. 

When all your data is collected together in one location, you'll be less likely to lose track of important data. It’s even better if you use enterprise contract management software that helps generate reminders and alerts. When your contracts are spread across numerous repositories, however, you'll find that there are all too many places where things can fall through the cracks:  You may lose track of your contracts during the approval process.  Who has a specific contract? Has it been approved? With multiple repositories to choose from, it can prove incredibly difficult to keep track of those contracts. It’s also harder to make sure they move through the approval process quickly and effectively.  You may struggle to ensure full implementation of all your contracts.  Keeping your contracts in one place means that you can more easily set up alerts and refer back to them as needed. If they're in multiple repositories, then you may find it incredibly difficult to keep up with the terms of those contracts and ensure that you meet them properly.  You may face more compliance challenges.  When you keep your contracts in one repository, you can easily go through them to ensure industry and government compliance even as changes occur in your industry. With regular changes made to compliance regulations in many different fields, you may need to refer back to your contracts on a regular basis. But if that becomes inconvenient or too time-consuming, some contracts are going to slip through the cracks.  You may struggle to keep up with contract renewals.  By transitioning to a single contract repository, you can ensure that reminders and alerts appear when contracts are nearing the time they need to be renewed. 

Danger #4: You may find it harder to keep up with current versions of contracts.

Imagine that you have been working with a client for years. Recently, you merged with another company. About that time, the client's contract came up for negotiation. Some employees are storing information related to that contract on the original company's system. But others are using the new system preferred by the company that you just merged with. Both teams think they’re doing the right thing.  Which version of the contract is the most current? Any inability to access the current version of your contracts will result in confusion. It can slow down the contract approval process. Also, it can even generate a lack of trust in your contractual partner. You seem less reliable if you struggle to keep up with changing clauses or prices in the contract. On the other hand, when you keep all of your contracts in the same place, you'll find it much easier to keep up with the latest version of your contract. Our enterprise contract management software will take care of version control for you.  If you're still using multiple contract repositories for your business, tracking all of that vital data is harder. By making the move to a single contract management system, you'll find that it's easier to keep up with all of those important details. That makes your business more efficient and helps you deliver better service to your clients. See how our contract management system works by scheduling a 1:1 demo.  Read the full article