How to Successfully Implement CLM

There are two folksy lines that I tell prospective buyers of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) when we discuss implementing their system:

1. Implementing CLM isn't rocket science.
2. Implementing CLM is relatively simple, but it's not necessarily easy.

Implementing CLM isn't rocket science. On the grand scale of human achievements, implementations of CLM certainly doesn't rank up there with putting humans on the moon. Even in the world of IT and software implementations it is nothing compared to the likes of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations. But...

Even though implementing CLM is relatively simple, it's not necessarily easy. Chairs and tables are simple items. But compare a chair made by a complete novice to a chair made by a master woodworker. The woodworker's chair will be miles better in design, quality, and comfort. Why? Because building a simple chair isn't easy, and the woodworker has the expertise that comes from the experience of building countless chairs. She knows what it takes to successfully implement (build) a chair.

So how do you successfully implement a CLM system when you don't have the experience or expertise to do it? Read on to find out.

Prepare

Preparation is key to success in CLM implementation. There are several areas where you'll want to prepare your organization for a successful implementation.

Identify Challenges

To successfully implement CLM first you must define identify and document the CLM-related challenges you're trying to overcome. Keep in mind that different groups will have different challenges, so it is important to identify not just what the challenges are but who faces them. Here is a process you can take to properly identify and document challenges:

• Interview affected parties. Set up workshops to interview the organizations and people who would benefit from a CLM system. Understand their current contracting process and the challenges they face.
• Organize into personas. Identify the key personas that would benefit from CLM and organize the list of challenges into those personas. For instance, you may need to create separate personas for sales, sales ops, and sales leadership. Or you may find it makes more sense to organize all sales-related challenges to a broad sales persona.
• Quantify challenges. Where possible, try to quantify the exact impact of the challenges people in your organization face. Do people waste time tracking down reviews or writing edits or dealing with version control? Try to quantify just how much time and the exact cost of all that effort.
• Create a Business Requirements Document. Armed with an understanding of current challenges, turn your attention to the future solutions. Create a business requirements document (BRD) that stipulates what your organization requires from a CLM system.

Gather, Prepare, and Motivate Stakeholders

Even though a CLM implementation is relatively simple, it still takes an investment of time and effort from a lot of people to do well. Before starting your project, make sure to gather, prepare, and motivate the relevant people.

The Executive Sponsor should be prepared to provide strategic direction where needed and drives stakeholder engagement as well as accountability of the entire project team. She is the champion of CLM who can lead from the top.

The Project Owner executes on and clarifies the vision of the future. He helps define business requirements, goals, objectives, and sign-off. He is the first line decision maker and first point of escalation.

The Project Manager coordinates meetings, follows up on task completion, and drives the day-to-day progress of the project. She provides continuity between the various business groups within your organization.

The IT Subject Matter Experts work to provide technical requirements, reviews design and build, and provides guidance / requirements for fitting CLM into the greater IT architecture and strategy.

The Business Subject Matter Experts are experts in their department or group -- sales, legal, contracts, finance, procurement, etc. They provide requirements, review design, review build progress, and often help write and execute test cases against the CLM system.

The CLM Business Administrators are the ongoing subject matter experts of the CLM from a business perspective. They help users, act as first-level application support, and make simple administrative changes to CLM as part of its ongoing maintenance.

The CLM IT Administrators/Developers support CLM on a functional and technical level. They make configuration changes and changes requiring heavier development to CLM as part of its ongoing maintenance.

You may need more people than those identified above. And you may have individuals that take on multiple roles, depending on the size of your implementation. Regardless, each person should know their role, why it's important, and be motivated to help the CLM implementation succeed.

Work With a Systems Integrator

While you don't have the experience and expertise that comes from countless CLM implementations, there are many System Integrators (SIs) out there who do. I strongly recommend working with an SI to guide you in your CLM journey. Here is how to find, assess, and work with an SI.

Find a True Partner

A great SI will act as a partner in your CLM journey. Partners are interested not only in configuring CLM and collecting a paycheck; they seek to learn about you, help you with your challenges, and develop a relationship that goes beyond a single implementation. Here is what to look out for in a good partner:

• They ask good questions. A good SI partner seeks to understand your business and the challenges you face. They're more interested in learning about you than showing off their skills and expertise. They let their own skills do the talking for them.
• They manage expectations. A good SI partner won't be afraid to tell you what is a good idea or a bad idea. They are not afraid to challenge you and say "no" when saying no is in your best interest. They mean what they say and you can trust them.
• They understand people. Configuring and developing your CLM platform is only half the battle. A good partner understands that successful implementations and partnerships require working with and understanding people.
• You like them. A CLM implementation can take weeks, months, or even years. Find a partner that you like working with; you'll be working with them a lot.

Deploy and Maintain

Anyone who works with contracts knows that getting to signature is really only the first step. After signature comes the actual business of doing business -- tracking obligations, managing milestones, and maintaining the contract. Your CLM system helps maintain your contracts, but you need to maintain your CLM system. Here's how to do that:

• Be rigorous in your deployment and rollout. Rolling out a new system comes with myriad challenges. Organizational change management (OCM) is an expertise in and of itself that is beyond the scope of this article, but absolutely crucial to successfully rolling out your CLM system to users (and a good partner can help you with this).
• Realize that maintenance is required. Many clients do not realize that the work is not over after the initial implementation. Like any system, it needs maintenance to work at its best. Users will need help, issues will need fixing, and updates will need making.
• Identify administrators and developers. Know who will be responsible for maintaining your CLM system. These people should be aware of their responsibilities and the time commitment required of them.
• Put together a development operations plan. Development operations (DevOps) are the tools, strategies, and plans that help you efficiently support and maintain your CLM system. DevOps is another expertise that goes beyond the scope of this article, but is crucial to maintaining your CLM.
• Plan to reassess. You will learn a lot as you implement CLM and you will learn even more after you start using it. Plan to revisit your use of the system every quarter or half a year and evaluate what is working well and what can be improved. Make an effort to improve your CLM system over time.

Conclusion

Implementing CLM isn't rocket science. It's relatively simple, but not necessarily easy and takes expertise that comes from experience. There are steps you can take to maximize your chances of implementation success:

• Prepare
• Work with a Systems Integrator
• Deploy Maintain

If you have any questions about how to successfully implement CLM, reach out to me and I'd be happy to help you!