Sample Contract Lifecycle Management RFP
Choosing a contract lifecycle management system can be a daunting task. While a broad array of functionality is available in the marketplace, each system has
different capabilities and strengths across a range of categories. In the following RFP, we’ve focused on six key areas for CLM success to help you evaluate
your options and make the right purchase decision.
No.
1. Functionality
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
Item
Product name functional description
When was the first version of your product released?
What is the most current version of your product, and
when was it released? When is the next major
release, and what will be included in the new version?
Describe the top three qualities, capabilities, and/or
differentiating factors that give your product a competitive
edge over other products in this space. Provide
documentation of market share.
Describe how your product supports all contract types from
a single repository.
Does your product have a UI-editable rule for
authoring contracts using Q&A screens to determine
term values and clauses?
Can the data entry screen be created and maintained in the
UI, or does it require coding?
Does your product have self-service capabilities for the
current generation of standard contracts including a
contract terms and conditions repository, pre-approved
templates, and a configuration wizard for assembling
clauses?
Can a draft contract be created directly from Microsoft
Word or by a browser form?
Response
No.
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.12
1.13
1.14
1.15
1.16
1.17
1.18
1.19
1.20
Item
Can your product conditionally select content to be
included based on a set of term values?
Can the product create a contract based on metadata and a
template, where the template is automatically populated by
a click of a button?
Does the product support user-defined forms that capture
any type of data, in any format, and with any type of
validation, including integration with the workflow
governing the contract life cycle?
Does this form need to be custom programmed, or can it be
developed with a third-party tool like InfoPath?
Can the contract summary be set up in a user-defined
format?
Does your product have native Word integration; Word
templates, versioning, red lining and track changes?
Does your product lock terms so that they cannot be
altered?
What versions of Microsoft Word are supported? Do you
support DOCX format?
While in Word, can users pull metadata values directly from
the contact management system? Can users select clauses
and alternate clauses from the clause library?
Is security applied at the user level to lock clauses that
should not be modified?
When a Word document is returned to your product
does it check to confirm that the document’s term
value and the values stored as metadata in repository
are consistent??
Does your product ensure the information tracked in
the contract repository is the same as the information
in the contract document? Can it compare a contract
with the template or previous version and report all
changes made by the user?
Response
1.21
No.
1.22
1.23
1.24
1.25
1.26
1.27
1.28
1.29
1.30
Does your product provide notifications or reporting that
ensures contract standards are met, both in in creation and
after execution?
Item
Does the product provide the following reporting
tools?
 Graphical charts and dashboards
 Ad hoc query reporting for on-the-fly views of
contract information
 Cube reports for financial analysis
 Standard, ready-to-use reports
 A reports designer for modifying and creating
reports
Can it export report results to spreadsheet and PDF formats,
as well as into standard, supported database views for
integration with other reporting products? Can reports be
scheduled and automatically distributed via an electronic
distribution list?
What reports are available that specifically support
disclosure and regulatory filings?
Is the reporting engine from a third party, or is it integrated
with the product? Are multiple reporting engines available?
Describe are how custom reports are supported. How are
these reports managed and exposed to users?
Does your product have a wizard that supports different
workflows by client/industry, contract type, regulations,
etc.?
How are legal and business policies incorporated into
a contract’s creation, (i.e., for specific suppliers,
payment terms, or item categories)?
Can users override if necessary? Is override permission
based on role?
Does your product provide tools for importing preexisting
contracts into the repository, with tagging of specific terms
and conditions against the topology of terms and
Response
1.31
1.32
1.33
No.
1.34
conditions? Can legacy contracts be uploaded in mass via
spreadsheet?
Is contract import a standard feature for certain roles?
Does it need coding or vendor support?
Can existing contract import (single or mass import) be
done via your product's UI?
Do you provide services for converting paper contracts into
electronic format for entry?
Item
Does your product have a simple utility to transfer thirdparty contracts into the library of terms and conditions?
Does your product manage and negotiate third party
contracts by using contract templates to inventory and
enforce acceptable language and terms within
standard workflow and security controls?
2. Architecture
1.35
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
Does your product highlight variances/exceptions between
language in third party contracts and standard, in-house
legal language when importing third party contracts?
Does your product have a wizard that follows a predefined
approval process to generate updates to contract clauses
and the library of terms and conditions?
Does your product automatically extract business term
variables and structured data contained within the contract
language? Does it treat structured data extraction from
Word docs differently from scanned legacy contracts held as
image formats?
Does your product support populating and modifying
structured data and business terms directly from the
language as well as from the term sheet?
Does your product provide for enforced approvals at the
document level, andclause approval that supports contextsensitive exceptions (where specified users and groups
perform approvals if a specific clause is changed)? Can
approvals be triggered by metadata values (terms, value,
etc.)?
Does your product have dynamic and/or static routing rules
Response
2.6
2.7
2.8
No.
2.9
per-contract-type? What roles are available in rules (e.g.,
task delegation, sign-offs)?
How are new roles created, added and supported by rules?
Does your product support configurable rules defining
standard contract business terms and route accordingly for
approvals? In parallel and/or serial format?
Describe how approvals are dynamically separated by
internal organization.
Item
How are deadlines set and enforced for workflow
tasks? Does your product monitor risky contract
language and term usage to automatically reroute to
the appropriate level of authority for approval?
3.
Usability & Upgrades
Can your product create a contract from an RFP, a quote or
3.1
any other commercial document with established header
data, items and price?
Can your product create contracts from an RFP with a split
3.2
award? Can it import vendor RFPs as clauses in a contract?
Can it import clauses to an RFP for preapproval?
3.3
3.4
3.5
How does your product handle automatic verification
to confirm that invoices and transactions are
processed in compliance with appropriate terms and
conditions?
Does your product do the following for buy-side
contracts?
 Track spending against obligations
 Identify opportunities for contract
consolidation
 Ensure pricing and discounts are enforced
 Verify service entitlements based on the
customer’s contract
 Support recurring and usage-based billing
Does your product support and analysis mode that
allows users to refine and improve templates based on
Response
changes made to the contracts that are initiated from a
given template so that the template can be continually
refined and improved.
3.6
3.7
No.
3.8
3.9
3.10
Does your product offer statistics on contract
negotiations including:
 Sections that are frequently renegotiated
 Cycle time
 Number of round trips
Does your product offer recommendations on what
can be done to improve cycle time.
How does your product schedule contract audits, store
outcome reports, and record action items? Can third
parties access and collaborate in audits?
Item
Does your product have unique process templates by
contract type? Do these templates include the ability
to add ad hoc tasks, set up dependent activities, and
schedule reminders? How far in advance can you
configure these options?
Does your product provide lifecycle management for
contract amendments, renewals, and termination?
Does the lifecycle management include the following
features?
 Visibility into amended agreements and their
prevailing terms
 Automatic relationships between contract and
amendments
 Renewals management to automate renewals
and avoid revenue leaks
Does your product support configurable lifecycles with
integrated role-based security?
Can it be configured by contract type, dynamic
lifecycles, and lifecycle stages?
Can it provide one view of all amendments?
Response
3.11
3.12
3.13
3.14
No.
3.15
3.16
Can your product format and print a contract based on predefined standard layouts and format (auto-numbering,
customer-specific numbering, dynamic clause crossreferences and auto-generation of tables of contents)?
How does your product provide external parties with
authorized access to the contract so they can review it and
make changes? Describe how external users securely access
the product to edit and negotiate contracts online.
Does your product allow external users to edit the draft
contract, either in Word or as online updates to online
screens? Does the product record third-party edits to the
contract with redlining and versioning?
Does your product support off-line edits (using a standalone, synchronized laptop through the same product user
interface to access this information? Could the contract
documents and information be viewed, changed, and
created during offline negotiations and then be
resynchronized when the negotiator/negotiation team goes
online again?
Item
Is there a mobile version of the website or do you have an
app?
How many customers are using the mobile app?
4. Investment
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
Provide your pricing model and your total investment
model.
What is your policy on application maintenance?
What percentage of your product’s deployments have
required custom coding? How do you manage these
changes? Describe the time and process required for
customer-specific configuration and coding to be
individually supported and upgraded/ported to future
releases of the platform.
Describe the strength of your integrator partners that have
completed three or more deployments of any version of this
Response
product in the past 18 months. How many services and
support employees do you employ who are dedicated solely
to this solution? What is the average number of years of
experience with this product?
5. Visibility
5.1
Does your product have role administration that supports
allowing certain users to create or make changes to a draft
contract while other users can view-only or comment or a
combination of these roles?
6. Viability
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
Company name? Parent company name?
Company address (corporate)?
Company telephone, fax and web site?
Year company founded?
Total number of employees?
Public or private? Describe the ownership structure.
Recent year revenue from this product? Year over year
growth? Profit? (omit if privately held)
7. Vision, Mission, Ecosystem
No.
Item
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
Does the product support role-based administration of
privileges?
Does it integrate with directory services?
Can security be applied to an individual contract?
Can security be maintained for each organization level, for
example where Sales cannot see Accounting contracts?
Can granular access and permissions to specific attributes of
the contract be set as part of this security?
Can security be maintained via standard interface or do we
need coding and service assistance?
For how many languages have the product's
documentation, interfaces, help screens, and error
messages been customized? What are they? In how many
languages is help desk support provided? What are they?
Response