How Icertis Helped Microsoft Overcome Contract Inefficiency

As companies grow and expand, they often realize that they are relying on outdated technology to manage essential workflows. Larger organizations have a web of intersecting contracts and agreements that can stack up and become difficult to manage.

More and more businesses are turning to AI-based solutions to solve these issues. SAPinsider’s recent AI and Automation in Finance Benchmark Report found that the need to improve the accuracy and efficiency of current business processes was one of the top drivers influencing the way that companies approach their strategy of deploying these advanced technologies.

Many SAP organizations are turning to options like the Icertis Contract Intelligence platform to handle these essential workflows. The platform centralizes all documents into one easily accessible location and infuses the process with AI and automation capabilities to help users perform essential tasks more effectively and efficiently.

Microsoft Success Story

Icertis recently shared the story of how it was able to help Microsoft better manage its massive, worldwide contract portfolio. As one of the largest corporations in the world, Microsoft has 220,000 employees. It wanted to get a better handle on its contracts, centralizing and automating the agreements with partners, suppliers, and customers.

Microsoft needed an interface that all of its employees could leverage easily, even if they did not have specialized legal training. Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs chose to work with Icertis to include all of its contracts in one searchable location. Now users can find the information and contracts that they need, as well as having a statement of work assembled automatically.

The Icertis Contract Intelligence platform now allows Microsoft employees to create 150,000 SOWs per year. Before this partnership, the average SOW took around 30 minutes to complete. With Icertis, that is now down to around five minutes. This centralization also allows Microsoft’s legal team to improve the rate at which they can perform document reviews, as the Icertis platform draws a contract’s clauses directly from an approved and up-to-date library of legal language.

Conclusion

Organizations must keep pace with the rate of change in the business world, otherwise they risk being left behind. Businesses can no longer afford to spend any extra time going over contracts, manually uploading them into disparate and siloed systems. In addition to being inefficient, this process also introduces the risk of manual errors and confusing language, which can lead to legal headaches and negatively impact partner relationships.

Companies should turn to trusted partners that can help them find the right solution that can save them time and stress in the contract process. Though companies likely will not have as many contracts as Microsoft, they can still leverage the same Icertis Contract Intelligence platform to help them overcome inefficiencies and backlogs and execute their business goals.