Comparing SharePoint and Contract Management Software

SharePoint is a ubiquitous software solution for businesses of all sizes because it’s convenient and familiar, since teams are often accustomed to Microsoft Office products, which integrate seamlessly with SharePoint. For businesses with straightforward document sharing and collaboration needs, SharePoint is a viable solution that can improve efficiency across teams and business units. 

Contract lifecycle management software is specifically built to store, manage, and track corporate contracts and the data housed within those contracts. CLM software gives users the tools to understand the data contained within contracts, and then take meaningful action based on those insights, which can help businesses enhance operations, save time, automate manual processes, reduce contract-related errors, and mitigate potential contract risks before they develop into significant problems for the business.

Here’s a look at some of the areas where SharePoint stands out, and some of the things dedicated contract management software does exceptionally well.

Some of the primary reasons businesses choose to implement SharePoint software:

A Go-to Collaboration Tool. SharePoint is advertised as a collaboration tool, and it allows users to do just that. Employees across multiple business units, departments, and physical locations can view and co-author the same files in the same online storage space, and edits made by one user are available for others to see. Certain integrations with Office also allow users to start co-authoring a file on one device and finish on another.

Improving Team Engagement. SharePoint users can share relevant news, resources, and applications with others across the organization by using SharePoint as an intranet portal. These communication sites are customizable and can be designed using default themes and templates.

Customization Based on Team Preferences. Teams can customize many aspects of their SharePoint sites including logo, navigation, theme, page layout, and more. This gives business users the ability to create a team intranet platform that highlights the features they use most often so they can find specific information quickly and easily.

Integrates with Popular Business Software. SharePoint was designed to integrate with many different types of software and add-ons, and can be configured based on a team’s collaboration needs. Other Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are especially easy to integrate, which is an especially attractive benefit for many users since they’re already familiar with these other tools.

Some things contract management software does really well:

Allows users to save time managing contracts and focus on higher-value work. One of the biggest reasons businesses implement contract management software is to save time in what has traditionally been a very tedious, time-consuming process. CLM software takes every aspect of this process into consideration, and provides the tools needed to store, locate, sign, and report on corporate agreements. By automating many of the repetitive, mundane contract management processes, contract management software allows users to spend less time on tasks that can be automated and more time on the projects that require human attention - and typically lead to more revenue.

Helps users stay on top of critical deadlines and milestones. Contract managers can set up custom alerts and notices to make sure every important contract deadline is on their radar. Users can view upcoming contract deadlines in a calendar, or receive email alerts to allow for the time needed to renegotiate terms or cancel an agreement before it automatically renews, potentially locking a company into a contract with unfavorable terms or paying for a service that is no longer needed. It also helps meet contractual obligations and avoid breaches of contracts.

And with AI technology, CLM software can automatically identify specific information within agreements so users can automate the process of identifying and tagging these important details.

Provides the tools to truly harness contract data. Contract management software offers the greatest ability to tag and take action based on the metadata found within contracts. Users can easily set up a reporting process to give stakeholders insight into the contract elements they care about most, including things like contract value, effective date, and expiration date. Reporting features give those managing contracts the ability to quickly run a one-off report for a specific contract-related inquiry, or set up automatic reports that give business units custom, detailed contract reports on a recurring basis.

For more on the specific reasons businesses choose to implement SharePoint or contract management software, download Legal Tech Guide: Choosing SharePoint or Contract Management Software.