Empowering Inland technologies to expertly manage contracts & more

The challenge

At Inland, permits, licenses, and leases were being managed manually via binders and Excel spreadsheets. The system worked fine until the company expanded, taking on a second office. Inland was suddenly handling about 200 active contracts at a time, with more than 1,000 on the books.

Paul Gamble, Contract Administrator for Inland, realized the manual method was no longer sufficient. In particular, with so many contracts, expirations and price changes might be overlooked.

Missed expirations could mean costly penalties, while missed price changes could translate to unrealized opportunities for renegotiating terms. Meanwhile, Inland employees often requested contract status updates via email and phone, and since the data was not centralized, answering their queries required time-consuming research.

“[Agiloft] had the best contract management functionality, plus the easiest and most friendly user interface.”

– Paul Gamble, Contract Administrator at Inland

Frustrated with the situation, Gamble began seeking out a contract management solution. Top on his feature wishlist were document storage and management (with a centralized contract repository) and automated workflows and notifications. Gamble narrowed the choices to Oracle, Sage PJC, Technisoft Service Master, and Agiloft, ultimately selecting Agiloft’s Data-first Agreement Platform. “It had the best contract management functionality, plus the easiest and most friendly user interface,” he said.

The solution

From the first meeting to the roll-out, the window was a mere three months. The resulting solution consolidates and organizes all contracts in a centralized repository, provides automated notifications for critical dates (such as contract expirations), and uses currency conversion to allow reporting across contracts in different currencies.

In addition, Jack Wicks, Agiloft Analyst/Implementer, added some high-value features—while spending only 55% of the original budget. For instance, he used Agiloft’s no-code customization interface to quickly build out RFP management, performance bond tracking, and management of permits and licenses. He also created a mass mailing capability to enable sending code of conduct documents to all employees and tracking whether they were executed and returned.

“Jack was fantastic,” attested Gamble. “He did it very quickly and correctly…It’s obvious to me that Agiloft can handle much more than contract management…In the system that was built for us, we had a few specific requirements that were not part of Agiloft’s initial configuration, and those requirements were implemented seamlessly. If a business function comes up and someone asks if Agiloft can do it, I say ‘yes.’ It’s extremely customizable and adaptable.”

The impact

Inland now has all contracts stored in one central repository, making data easier to access. Contract data can be sent out to the appropriate contacts within minutes, and documents can be approved and tracked easily. Next, automated notifications alert Gamble when contracts are about to expire or price changes are about to take place, enabling the company to act to prevent costly penalties or missed opportunities for term renegotiations. The flexible CLM platform has also allowed Inland to institute more complex workflows, providing increased safeguards on contracts and other key documents. Thanks to more employees reviewing documents, the company benefits from increased feedback.

“Overall, I love the solution. It just works,” said Gamble. “Why doesn’t everyone have it? I very much look forward to logging in each day and working with Agiloft to solve business challenges. It’s kind of fun.”

“Contract management is a growing field,” he continued. “Senior managers are realizing that it’s an important business function, since it allows you to make sure that you are compliant with agreements, and fully leveraging all opportunities, such as volume discounts. Agiloft is a terrific tool that gives you that control.”

“Overall, I love the solution. It just works.”

– Paul Gamble, Contract Administrator at Inland

Challenges

Inefficient, all-manual, all-paper method of handling contracts

Difficult and time-consuming to access No way to stay on top of critical dates, such as price changes, reviews, and expirations

No way to stay on top of critical dates, such as price changes, reviews, and expirations

High volume of contracts to manage

Benefits

Efficient system for contract management

Automated notifications alert company to critical dates, such as price changes

Contract data quick and simple to find

Complex workflows for more controls on
business processes

Currency conversion allows reporting across contracts in different currencies

Additional management of RFPs and employee

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