When you consider how many business functions take place online these days, it’s no surprise that IT-related contracts are some of the most important to businesses. From video-conferencing with clients to e-commerce to apps that enable key finance and marketing functions, businesses are more reliant than technology than they ever have been in the past.

The average Fortune 2000 company may be a party to as many as 40,000 active contracts, each one with its own set of authorities, enforcement, and risks. Allowing an ad hoc system of organization and management to develop - instead of a well-planned and methodically initiated strategy - creates unnecessary risk and adversely affect long-term growth.

It seems you hear the words “AI” and “machine learning” everywhere these days. Although the terms AI and machine learning are getting lots of buzz, many people are still confused about what these terms actually mean and their implications for business and legal departments. Before one can begin to understand the potential uses and benefits of AI and machine learning for contract management, it’s important first to have a clear understanding of what the two terms mean.

Although AI offers a lot of promise for the legal field, it’s not a golden ticket to bigger profits and improved efficiency. Before you take the leap and adopt AI for your organization, you should understand how it works: its processes, its capabilities, and its limitations. In this article, we’ll discuss five of the most important things that every general counsel should know about artificial intelligence.

From budgets to best practices, contract management software can help small legal teams do more with less, whether you're a team of one or full-roster. In fact, because contract management software takes away much of the drudgery involved with signing and executing contracts, upgrading your current system can have a positive “ripple effect” across your department and throughout your organization.

Here at ContractWorks, we're pleased to announce that we have once again been named a leader in the Contract Management category on the G2 Crowd website. The ContractWorks software is currently at the top of five different categories in G2 Crowd's fall 2018 reports. So what do these awards mean, and why is receiving this honor so important to us?

When it comes to contract management, non-specialized tools such as Excel spreadsheets, email, and Sharepoint are still the norm. But while these platforms can be familiar and easy to use, they don’t offer the dedicated features that are necessary to manage the complexities of handling your company’s most important documents.

You asked. We listened. Tagging contract metadata in ContractWorks is now even easier with our new In-Viewer Tagging feature.

There's no doubt there are clear benefits to replacing manual contract management processes with dedicated software. But deciding to switch to contract management software is only the first step to realizing these benefits. You must determine whether you should use open source software or purchase a proprietary solution.

While contracts are relatively straightforward in their construction - offer, acceptance, and consideration - beneath the surface lie a multitude of opportunity and obligation. Adding another layer of complexity, many contracts can be subject to competing authorities depending on the location of the parties, the ever-evolving regulatory landscape, and internal policies or responsibilities.