ContractExpress for SharePoint Datasheet

The solution delivers discrete value and benefits across the organization. For Sales management it offers revenue acceleration and decreased time to contract. For Financial and Compliance management there is guaranteed compliance with policy and revenue certainty and for Legal management, lower risk and reduced legal spend. ContractExpress for SharePoint delivers all the functionality needed to manage the contracts and legal documents through their lifecycle. It enables business users to automatically generate contracts of any complexity on a self-service basis. A sophisticated data driven document assembly engine verifies whether the terms of the contract meet business, legal and compliance standards. Depending on the outcome in-built, configurable workflows ensure that any contracts generated can map onto and follow the appropriate approval processes. Information about all users’ activity and documents created by the system is stored in a searchable database, providing a reliable and comprehensive audit trail of all contract activity.

ContractExpress for SharePoint is a solution for Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) and the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) systems. It is deployed on a Windows Server platform and utilizes Microsoft SQL Server at the data layer. The application layer consists of the ContractExpress data forms and document assembly web services which are built around a common Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) interface. ContractExpress for SharePoint business processes leverage the Microsoft .Net Workflow Foundation system enabling extensibility of out of the box workflows and business processes. Integration to line of business systems such as ERP, CRM and Content Management Systems are provided by both web service connectors and the MOSS Business Data Catalogue (BDC). The user interface is embedded inside Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Office applications, providing a familiar and configurable presentation platform for your users.

Below: Illustration of generic business workflow

Automated assembly of contracts and associated documents is provided by a unique and patented document assembly engine. Business users can create configurable standard contracts without requiring involvement by a lawyer in the Legal department. Unlike the contract creation components of contract management and other systems, business users are not required to make legal decisions when creating a new contract. Contract templates are created by content area specialists who define the variations of clauses within a contract. ContractExpress for SharePoint presents users with business centric questions, concealing the complex legal language of the contract. The document assembly engine ensures that the appropriate pre-approved clauses and data are inserted into the assembled document.

The ContractExpress for SharePoint workflow component determines if the contract is standard or non-standard by applying business rules to the contract data. If the contract is standard then the business user can access the contract and send it on to the other party for signature. If the workflow component determines that the contract request requires approval, an approval task item is automatically created and routed to the Legal team for approval. These approval workflows ensure that Legal specialists and commercial managers are utilized only for the exceptions rather than every contract request. The business rules which define a standard contract are configurable, as are the groups of users required to approve the contract.

ContractExpress for SharePoint gives contract administrators an overview of pending contract requests and completed contracts. Contracts can be viewed by type, originator, customer or any other data element captured during the creation and execution of the contract. By leveraging Microsoft SharePoint as the central contract repository, administrators and users can create alerts to receive emails when contracts are completed or hit key post execution events. Out of the box integration with Microsoft Excel enables contract administrators and senior managers to view management reports on key data elements of a contract.

ContractExpress NDA for SharePoint is an enterprise-class, web based application optimized for the creation and management of Non Disclosure or Confidentiality Agreements (NDAs). The solution is designed to comprehensively meet the needs of organizations with large investments in Intellectual Property and who rely on NDAs to protect their assets. It delivers discrete value and benefits across the organization. For Sales management it offers decreased time to Transactions. For Legal and compliance management, it reduces risk and provides auditable certainty around the confidentiality obligations entered into by the organization, its business partners and customers.

Figure 2: The ContractExpress for SharePoint 'My Contracts' dashboard: Users can initiate the creation of new contracts and review the status of contracts in progress.