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News
For Immediate Release: June 19, 2003
63% of North American companies rate their Contract Management processes as “Poor”
Research sought to identify the state of contract management processes across industries, generated some surprising results
EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA—Upside Software Inc., an integrated enterprise contract management software provider, announced today the availability of research findings, conducted by the International Association of Contracting and Commercial Managers (IACCM), with support from Upside Software. This research was based on a survey sent out to IACCM members across North America and Europe and sought to determine the level of recognition that contract management has in organizations, and the level of formality that exists in contracting and contract management processes.
The survey attracted replies from more than 200 corporations with some surprising results. The following is a small subset of the findings:
- Procurement in North America is lagging badly in its control over contracting / contract management (over 63% ranked their processes between 1-3 on a scale of 7); Sales contracting in the US is 'most mature', followed by Europe Procurement and Europe Commercial / Contracts.
- In Europe over 65% of respondents told us that the importance of 'contract management excellence is recognized by the CFO' - against only 50% in North America.
- Sales contracting leads Procurement by more than 15% in concerns over Corporate Governance and Accounting and Europe leads the US in its concerns!
- The wide variation and fragmentation of decision makers on CM acquisitions is slowing - and in some cases stifling - investment and process improvement initiatives.
- Nearly 2 in 5 Procurement Groups in North American corporations believe that they will invest in CM software this year.
“Many of our members are excited by the performance improvements they know they can achieve with these tools,” said Tim Cummins, IACCM Executive Director. He went on to say “But they are frustrated by the lack of executive focus. Decisions and projects are going too slowly. It’s a direct result of the lack of ownership; the fact that virtually no corporations have yet realized that contracting is a process, not a set of documents. Of course, those that have understood are delighted that their competitors have failed to grasp the point. And we are seeing the difference each day in the results from our worldwide research and benchmarking studies.”
“This research has indeed demonstrated a need for organizations of all types and sizes to review their contracting and contract management practices and processes” said Upside Software CEO, Ashif Mawji. Mr. Mawji went on to say, “These findings have indicated that the opportunities for improvement vary geographically and that support for such effort also varies. I hope that with such research we can help to benchmark the general conditions that exist in the contract management functions across many companies, and that companies can use this to help determine where they should start investing in improvements to their own processes.”
About the IACCM The International Association of Contracting and Commercial Managers (IACCM) is a not-for-profit association dedicated to improving the quality and professionalism of contract management and negotiation. Established in 1999 with the backing of major international corporations in the United States and Europe, IACCM undertakes extensive original research and benchmarking. It has grown to be the leading global association for commercial contracts professionals and has members from more than 450 corporations in over 75 countries. Visit www.iaccm.com.
About Upside Software Inc.
Upside Software provides the leading Contract Management Software solution in the market – UpsideContract – as well as other integrated business solutions to handle Electronic Tendering and Procurement Management, Invoice and Billing Management, Project Management, and Travel & Entertainment Expense Management. Upside Software’s products are well suited to Enterprise (e.g. Fortune 500, Global 2000), Public sector (Federal, State/Provincial, Municipal and Health Care) and the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector customers. Through improved business processes and leveraged business intelligence, Upside Software’s customers can reduce operating costs and improve customer and supplier relationships. The company’s Corporate and ASP implementations are delivered to customers in as little as 3 days and provide a full return-on-investment (ROI) in much less than one year. Upside Software is a profitable company with a very mature and comprehensive Contract Management software product. The company has extensive experience delivering real value to a large number of public- and private-sector customers of every size including small and medium enterprises and large global customers. For more information about Upside Software and its suite of business solutions, visit the company’s Web site at or one of its product sites: http://www.upsidecontract.com/, http://www.upsidecontractlite.com/, http://www.upsiderfx.com/, http://www.upsidebilling.com/, .
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