Many sales or procurement professionals will have likely experienced a scenario where a crucial contract negotiation hinges on knowing your historical success rate with specific terms. Their colleagues on in the legal team can, no doubt, picture a situation where they must quickly identify all contracts with a particular supplier across multiple regions to assess the potential risks they pose in light of new cybersecurity regulations. Or a general counsel will recognize being under pressure to outsource routine contract review and needing to know what attributes of a contract qualify it for outsourcing. The trouble is that traditional contract management, with its focus on document storage, drafting and basic approvals, often leaves businesses flying blind in such situations.

The tide is turning, however, with a new wave of data-driven contract management solutions emerging to offer businesses powerful platforms to unlock hidden insights within agreements. This article defines the different types of contract data and demonstrates how a data-first contract management approach can transform a business.