One of the most important areas of focus for companies that want to manage uncertainty, mitigate risk and eliminate obstacles to competitiveness is implementation. After all, the success of any CLM implementation will play out over time in terms of adoption and value creation.
There are some common concerns expressed by companies facing an
Contract implementation according to Olivier, and they usually include questions are system features and functionality, how the IT organization will be impacted, and whether or not the implementation can be completed on schedule. While these are all valid concerns, they may obscure the areas where procurement should really be focusing – and unintentionally limiting their own success.
It matters less which hammer you pick than that you pick a hammer and get to work.
Driving a
CLM implementation with a focus on value and action rather than features and functionality allows procurement to unlock the precise categories of improvement they selected the system to deliver. By putting the right implementation team in place from the outset, defining success criteria, measuring progress and celebrating successes, and – most importantly according to Olivier – having an active executive sponsor,
procurement lays the groundwork for long term continuous improvement.
At the end of the day, procurement can’t create value without broad scale adoption, and that adoption requires procurement to define the primary areas of focus before leading the way forward. This is the best approach to building the momentum required to ensure successful implementation, adoption, and success.
