Please tell us about CobbleStone Software.
CobbleStone Software® was founded in 1995 and we have been offering state-of-the-art contract management systems since then. Our mission is to provide the most advanced, cost-effective, and user-friendly contract and procurement management software applications that enable employees to do their best work.
Through growth and innovation, here are the four aspects of our mission that we have stayed true to:
- Our software products and staff go above and beyond expectations.
- We respect our clients, our colleagues and our environment.
- We exemplify sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom and charity.
- Our products and software solutions continue to evolve to meet ever changing business.
CobbleStone prides itself on continuous innovation in Contract Lifecyle Management. Please share the culture of the organization and in what way your team is “pushing the envelope.”
CobbleStone constantly strives to keep users engaged and provides multiple learning opportunities throughout the year in efforts to better understand client CLM issues and how to create solutions for such issues. By hosting multiple conferences, webinars, roadshow events and masterclasses, CobbleStone stays connected to current and prospective clients and their evolving contract management software needs. Alongside that, CobbleStone also maintains its’ position as an industry leader by offering efficient solutions, advanced technology and an immersive certification program.
What is VISDOM AI and how are clients benefiting from this product?
VISDOM® is powerful contract artificial intelligence (AI) backed by machine learning. VISDOM AI systematically analyzes contracts originated by internal or external paper by transforming the documents into building blocks for improved contract oversight, proactive opportunity identification and risk mitigation. Within VISDOM AI, there are several powerful features that clients enjoy using including:
- CobbleStone Auto-Redline can automate the inclusion of clauses from users’ approved clause library - virtually ensuring that favorable clause language is included.
- ConfigAISM provides proactive CLM (contract lifecycle management) field recommendations for metadata fields for contract clauses. This helps streamline contract management software implementations.
- IntelliXtract gives users the power to look into their contracts and agreements to find key terms, legal phrases, conditions and other legal text.
- Theory Calculator provides users with recurring automated data analysis and on-screen recommendations to provide helpful guidance throughout the contract administration process.
How does your organization support clients as they streamline their CLM?
CobbleStone Contract Insight® provides clients with all sorts of solutions to help streamline their CLM. Clients can expect assistance with everything from contract and vendor management to procurement and eSourcing. CobbleStone is constantly advancing to support clients by rolling out features and updates on a frequent schedule. CobbleStone strives to provide an efficient and effective system that business professionals can utilize to its’ full potential. In our most recent update, we brought forth industry-demanded features such as:
- An easily navigable and expandable core user interface.
- A visually engaging contract record details experience.
- A dynamic progress bar to digest page content as the user scrolls.
- A robust user information and account menu.
- CobbleStone Auto-Redline for improved drafting and negotiations.
- Proactive field recommendations for powerful contract clause metadata management.
- Insightful contract data extraction summaries with VISDOM contract AI.
- A concise yet detailed rundown of clause extraction similarity to gauge consistency of language for a given contract clause.
What are some common mistakes that you see among potential clients?
Many clients worldwide face all sorts of issues when dealing with CLM. Some common contract management mistakes include:
- Relying on manual contract management.
- Using simple spreadsheets, locally saved documents and shared drives for contract storage.
- Using a paper-based system for contracts.
- Including inconsistent language and clauses in contracts.
- Missing significant obligations and deadlines.
- Losing track of contract versions.
- Relying on outdated signature methods, including wet signatures.
Please share the KPIs that are critical to designing and continuously evaluating the CLM path.
The three KPIs we recommend clients track are as follows:
KPI #1 – Contract Efficiency
Contract efficiency performance metrics may include contract lifecycle time, customer, vendor or geographic trends, contract value assessments and whether or not milestones are met.
KPI #2 – Contract Efficacy
Contract efficacy performance metrics may include the number of agreements by type of contracts (program, customer or vendor) in one’s contract repository, annualized contract value, the remaining value of a terminated contract, order value variance and historical legacy contract trends.
KPI #3 – Contract Risk
Contract risk performance metrics may include standard clause variance, amount of agreements expiring without renewal dates, missed contract obligations, number of improper electronic signature approvals or vendor authorizations, number of delayed contract approval processes, task completion for terminated contracts and disputes resolved. Leading contract lifecycle management software can provide you with a risk assessment matrix to visually assess risk within a centralized location.
Published March 16, 2023.
