CLM platform seamlessly integrates with spend management

The challenge

La Jolla operated a home-built system to manage its more than 2,000 contracts. As the organization continued to grow, limitations began to surface and impact the business. Most importantly, the system lacked features like automated tracking, notifications of when contracts were due to expire, and a robust search function. In addition, the home grown system had quirks like displaying an error if certain characters were used in a contract’s title. Another challenge was that the legal team had to use a technical resource outside the department to generate reports.

La Jolla’s Senior Document Management Associate had been using ingenuity and manual workarounds to keep the ship afloat, but with more than 2,000 contracts to manage, the time had come to put in place a data-first CLM platform.

To increase efficiencies and streamline processes, contract management had to connect with Coupa’s Open Business Network™, a tool used by La Jolla to manage suppliers and spending.

The biotech company asked four CLM solution providers to showcase their capabilities around vendor request workflows, contract monitoring, optical character recognition (OCR) for searching all documents, and most importantly, the ability to sync data with Coupa.

La Jolla selected Agiloft Contract Management Suite. “It was the most attractive,” the company’s Senior Document Management Associate said. “Also, the sales person was very good about following up and asking the right questions.”

“It’s been a great experience. Even with all our changes, everything went smoothly. It seems as though Agiloft can be configured to meet any need.”

– La Jolla’s Senior Document Management Associate

The solution

Agiloft installed a modern CLM platform customized to La Jolla’s work streams, including a unique ‘watcher’ list for each contract that reflected the needs of the business, a tailored vendor request workflow, integration with DocuSign, and user-friendly report creation.

For the integration with Coupa’s spend management system, the Agiloft team worked directly with the Coupa consultant on the technical aspects to lighten the burden on La Jolla. The integration went smoothly thanks to the configurability and flexibility of Agiloft’s platform. Agreements initiated via Agiloft migrate to Coupa for financial approvals. In turn, the final approved agreements are available in Coupa.

Despite a strong vision for the initial project, La Jolla found the ability of the platform to adapt to the changing needs of its stakeholders a big advantage. “We made so many changes, even up until the last month before rollout,” the Senior Document Management Associate said. “I thought we would have it all in place before we started but that wasn’t the case. We were making major changes up until the very end. I would call the Agiloft team and say, ‘You’re not going to believe this…’. But, even with the big changes, they were always accommodating and fast.”

“[Our implementer] is amazing at getting back with me,” the Senior Document Management Associate said. “She’s great about going into detail in answering my questions, and I never wait more than a few minutes for her to reply. She’s been awesome, and all of the Agiloft team members I’ve worked with have been amazing.”

The impact

On the first day the system went live, La Jolla put it to the test. A rushed agreement came in that had to go through Agiloft and sync accurately with Coupa, then progress automatically through the proper workflows and finish in the same day. It delivered seamlessly, as promised.

In an environment where everything is “ASAP” the transparency and immediacy of the data in the Agiloft CLM platform is changing the way the team does business. Missing information is tracked down quickly and everyone involved in the process is better informed.

“It’s been a great experience,” the Senior Document Management Associate said. “Even with all our changes, everything went smoothly. It seems as though Agiloft can be configured to meet any need.”

Challenges

Replace home-grown system with data-first contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform

Adapt to quickly evolving technical requirements

Integrate with Coupa spend management software, reliably populating data across two systems

Benefits

Integrated seamlessly with Coupa spend management software

Responsive and adaptable platform enabled quick changes to design even after implementation had begun

Responsive and knowledgeable support team managed the bulk of the integration with only minor contributions from other parties

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