In a world driven by technological innovation, companies face ever-increasing demands for efficiency, productivity and cost savings. One key to meeting these requirements lies in digital contract management. With the advancement of technology, the transition from traditional, paper-based agreements to digital agreements has become a crucial strategy to improve workflow, reduce risk and increase competitiveness.

Whether you work in an established company that wants to modernize its contract processes or a start-up company that seeks to establish effective routines from the start, this article will give you valuable insight into how you can take advantage of digital contract management to promote success and growth in the digital age.

Who can benefit from digital contract management?

A digital appointment system can be very useful for a number of job types and roles within different organisations. Lawyers, company managers and the administration work with large quantities of contracts both with customers, but also with internal documents. These can be contracts in the fields of: business contacts, employment contracts, leases, purchase and sale contracts, license agreements, etc.

More and more companies simultaneously require good document security, and in accordance with this, they implement digital agreement systems that comply with security standards such as GDPR, the Security Act, and similar regulations. You can also read about the advantages a digital contract management system provides for various roles in the business.

Also read: 4 reasons to digitize contract management

Agreement management for sensitive information

Lawyers, company managers and the administration work with large amounts of contracts both with customers, but also with internal documents. These can be contracts in the fields of: business contacts, employment contracts, leases, purchase and sale contracts, license agreements, etc.

As the agreements often contain sensitive information that requires a high degree of security and compliance with legal guidelines and regulations, a digital agreement system will contain several useful security functions. These are often security features such as encryption, access control and authentication to ensure confidentiality and compliance are maintained.

Security functions in the ShareControl Contract

ShareControl Contract is built on Microsoft 365, which ensures secure document handling for users. This includes powerful tools for encryption, access control and authentication, providing a robust platform for secure agreement management. In this way, you eliminate the risk of unauthorized persons gaining access to the company’s contracts and sensitive information.

Read also: Contract management in Microsoft 365

Effective contract management with digital contract management

Traditional contract management often requires manual processing of documents, including creation, signing, distribution and archiving. This process can be both time-consuming and inefficient, and has in many cases led to businesses losing track of their contracts. This in turn can lead to unnecessary delays and frustration when it comes to finding important details related to the contracts. In the worst case, it can lead to important agreements being overlooked or ignored.

A digital contract management system effectively solves the challenges associated with traditional contract management by offering a seamless and efficient platform for the creation, distribution, signing and archiving of contracts. By using a digital agreement system, businesses can easily store and organize all their contracts and agreements on a centralized, cloud-based platform. This also makes it possible to quickly find and access necessary documents when needed.

Find out more: Effective contract management in 2024

In addition, digital agreement systems offer features such as automation of signature processes, deadline reminders and better searchability, reducing the need for manual tasks and reducing the risk of errors. This efficient handling of agreements gives companies better control and an overview of their legal documents, while freeing up time and resources that can be used for more value-creating activities and strategic planning.

Reporting with a system for appointments

Digital contract management can generate analytical reports and insights based on the data collected during the appointment management process. For example, do you know the total costs and obligations of your contracts? Reports and insights can provide legal professionals and business owners with valuable data on contract performance, risk management and contract management that can be used to inform future decisions and strategies in the future.

When digital agreement systems collect data throughout the agreement management process, they generate a rich data set that can be leveraged to create insights and information of value to legal professionals and business owners. Here are some aspects of how this data collection can provide valuable analytical reports and insights:

1. Deal Performance: By analyzing deal performance data, legal professionals and business owners can gain insight into how their deals are actually performing in practice. This may include information on completion times, fulfillment rates, any deviations or breaches of contract terms, as well as feedback from parties involved in the agreement. This insight can help evaluate the success of existing agreements and inform future negotiations and agreement strategies.
2. Risk management: Digital agreement systems can also help to identify and assess risks linked to various agreements and contracts. By analyzing data on risk factors such as contract terms, counterparties, legal requirements and market conditions, legal professionals and business owners can identify potential risks and implement measures to minimize them. This may include revision of contract terms, insurance measures or strategies for conflict resolution.
3. Contract management: By analyzing the data collected during the contract management process, legal professionals and business owners can gain insight into the contract lifecycle and the effectiveness of management processes. This may include information on renewal frequencies, change management, deviation management and resource allocation related to contract management. This insight can help optimize the contract management process and ensure that contract obligations are met efficiently and in line with the organization’s goals.

Digital agreement management with ShareControl Contract

ShareControl Contract is built on SharePoint in Microsoft 365, which ensures a number of advantages in function and security. The solution allows users to store an unlimited number of contracts in the solution. You also get the option to define menus, sorting and filtering functions as you wish.

With a digital agreement management system on Microsoft 365, you get SharePoint’s functions for collaboration and sharing across users and organizations. This includes the ability to collaborate and share documents and data in an efficient way through SharePoint with Word, Excel and Power Point. Microsoft 365 also ensures flexibility and customization by managing data and displaying the contract’s information easily and efficiently with Microsoft’s search function.

The ShareControl Contract also builds on SharePoint’s advanced encryption to ensure that all information that is stored and transmitted is protected against unauthorized access and inspection. SharePoint also includes extensive access control features that allow administrators to define and enforce who has access to which documents and data. All data is also stored on the customer’s own user, so that GDPR and privacy never become an issue.

Also read: Contract Management Software – how to get started

For businesses that want an additional security feature, SharePoint supports multiple authentication methods, including the use of usernames and passwords, multi-factor authentication, and integration with other authentication platforms.

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