In the face of unforeseen circumstances, home working might become a pressing need. Certainly many businesses have recently adopted home working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The likelihood is that once this global crisis is over – or under greater control at least – that home working will become a way of life for an increasing number of people. As this model of working takes hold, professionals across a range of industries will need the right tools to maintain contract management, procurement and sourcing operations. Contract Insight from Four can help your organisation continue with – and enhance –  effective contract management practice with the following tools. 

1. Secure contract repository

If you’re handing contract management processes remotely, a centralised contract repository for the storage of contracts will become invaluable.  Contract Insight offers a secure cloud-based repository, to help you store and organise contracts, retain document version control, quickly locate important legacy contracts, track approval statuses, collaborate and much more – whether your users are in the office or working remotely.

The storage of contracts isn’t merely defined by the protocol for safeguarding contracts.  Rather, intelligent storage provides organisations with the opportunity to make contracts work for them.  If you take full advantage of Contract Insight’s secure contract repository to centralise document version control, promote accountability and improve productivity, you’ll equip your enterprise with a powerful tool to navigate business during turbulent times.

2. Intelligent contract management workflow

Companies that leverage Contract Insight for automated contract management and workflow can decrease contract lifecycle bottlenecks by prompting the right people with nearly unlimited contract notifications, automated alerts, and task reminders.  Intelligent automated workflow can transform contract management processes in or out of the office with features such as contract process management, audit trails, user-defined fields, reporting and analytics tools etc. Automated workflow can help your business track every stage of the contract lifecycle, and enhances negotiations and approvals management.  You’ll be able to meet key dates and milestones more easily thanks to automated alerts.  Additionally, audit trail history logged in Contract Insight gives you and up to date record of all changes made to every contract.  

With an intelligent, automated contract management workflow solution designed to be supportive and intuitive for a remote work environment, you can be confident that your processes will not suffer when you are working away from the office.

3. Integrated eSourcing

Four’s eSourcing software helps businesses create a simplified bid management process in-office or remotely. The enterprise-grade eSourcing and bid management solution promotes compliance and transparency from sourcing to post-award contract management.

Contract Insight’s flexible and user-friendly RFP management interface integrates seamlessly with other mission-critical applications by centralising and streamlining electronic bidding, vendor management, purchasing, agreements, contracts, leases, obligation records and much more.

You can expedite and automate the entire source-to-contract lifecycle with:

  • bids that post on a branded portal
  • bid and contract authoring
  • notifications to appropriate suppliers
  • online supplier Q&A
  • electronic bid response acceptance
  • rating and scoring of responses
  • bid award management
  • integrated contract lifecycle management
  • automated email alerts & calendar notifications
  • easy searching and reporting
  • proven and fast implementation.

4. Electronic Signatures

Contract Insight’s configurable, streamlined and user-friendly document collaboration and electronic signing tool helps keep the approval and signing processes moving whether you are in the office or working remotely.  Your contract management, legal, procurement and sourcing professionals can utilise electronic signatures keep collaboration and electronic signing processes running smoothly thanks to:

  • faster signing
  • easy one-off signatures
  • a rules-based electronic signing process.

Master remote working with Contract Insight from Four

When employees transition to a work from home culture and are expected to maintain high productivity, your business requires a solution that will allow you to perform effectual source-to-contract processes.  Four recommends Contract Insight.

With a wealth of user-friendly features that empower businesses like yours to manage contracts more efficiently, secure and unite contracts and documents, oversee compliance, track costs, receive notifications and alerts and sign easily with electronic signatures, you can reduce the likelihood of squandered productivity and high costs that stem from out-of-date contract management practices.

Contract Insight is a cloud-hosted (SaaS) or deployed (on-premise) source-to-contract solution.  The acclaimed platform is trusted by thousands of professionals for their contract management, legal document management, procurement and sourcing needs. 

Used by many Fortune 500 companies, Contract Insight gives you real time visibility into your contracts. It doesn’t just shore up your security; it will help you meet contract compliance regulations, centralise your contract management and improve your overall contract administration process.

For more information, contact John O’Brien, CEO at Four Business Solutions, global business consultants and software integrators providing business processes improvements in Finance, Supply Chain & Operations, across a broad range of industries.