Enterprise contract management: higher stakes require advanced approaches

Contract management isn’t just a necessary part of office duties—it’s a business-critical process. Especially so in large enterprises.

Why?

For one, it’s the sheer amount of documents to organize, make sense of, track, and risk assess in large organizations.

For two, it’s the likely higher value of the contracts signed and executed within enterprises as opposed to smaller to medium businesses.

In large enterprises, poorly managed contracts lead to more painful revenue leakages, compliance risks, and operational inefficiencies. While SMEs may rely on simple repositories and manual tracking, enterprises face a different level of complexity.

So, in this article, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about enterprise contract management. From how it’s different from managing contracts in SMEs to the specific challenges, approaches, and best practices.

Enterprise vs. SME contract management: key differences across areas

First, let’s compare enterprise vs SME contract management across five areas, from contract storing to document signing.

Contract storing

Imagine you have a small library with just a few books. If you only have a handful of books, it’s easy to just put them on a shelf and know where everything is. You might not even need labels for each book because it's simple to find them when you need them.

Now, imagine a huge library with thousands of books from all over the world. 

These books come in different languages, have different topics, and need to be organized in special ways. You can't just throw them on a shelf and hope to find the right one.

You need a smart system, like a catalog or computer system, to organize the books by title, author, genre, language, and location. The library needs special rules and tools to keep track of all these books and make sure they're easy to find quickly.

Now apply that metaphor to storing contracts in a small to medium business vs storing contracts in an enterprise—not much other explanation is needed.

Tech stack

Besides just storing the documents, enterprises and small businesses use other technology to help keep up with the contracts and their obligations. From signing to risk mitigation.

Imagine you’ve just started a small manufacturing business making custom furniture. You only have a few contracts—maybe with a wood supplier, a shipping partner, and a couple of retail stores. Managing contracts is simple:

• You store agreements in Google Drive or Dropbox.
• You set calendar reminders for contract renewals.
• You use email or simple automation (like Zapier) to notify suppliers of upcoming orders.

It’s a simple system that works because you don’t have too many contracts to track.

Now, imagine your furniture company grows into a global manufacturer with factories in multiple countries and hundreds of suppliers. Suddenly, contract management gets much more complicated:

• You need an enterprise contract lifecycle management (CLM) system to track thousands of agreements.
• Your system automatically flags risks, like a supplier failing to meet contract terms.
• Contracts integrate with ERP and supply chain systems so that legal, procurement, and finance teams all have visibility.
• AI scans agreements to ensure compliance with international trade laws.
• Advanced approval workflows make sure contracts go through the right legal and financial checks before signing.

Legal & compliance

Imagine you have a small SaaS startup. You store contracts in Google Drive or another simple tool. To keep them safe, you set a strong password and maybe turn on two-factor authentication. That’s good enough for now because you don’t have a lot of contracts or strict rules to follow.

Now, imagine your SaaS business grows into a huge company with thousands of clients, including banks and healthcare companies. These industries have strict legal and regulatory requirements (like GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2). That means you need super-tight security:

• Only the right people can access certain contracts (role-based access).
• Every action is tracked (audit trails) so you know who viewed or changed a contract.
• Contracts are encrypted and backed up to prevent hacking or data loss.

Negotiations

Now going into the negotiations area—imagine you’re running a small insurance company. You offer a few products like auto and home insurance, and you mainly work with local partners and agents. In your negotiations:

• You handle negotiations personally with brokers, partners, or clients, adjusting terms to close deals.
• There’s more flexibility—you can make exceptions on premiums or adjust coverage to fit a client’s needs.
• But because your company is small, you don’t have as much bargaining power—larger insurance companies usually set the market trends and prices, and you have to follow.

Now, imagine your insurance company grows into a global enterprise offering multiple insurance products across the world—health, life, auto, and more. 

You’re now negotiating with large insurance companies, healthcare networks, and corporate clients. Your negotiation process looks much different:

• You use structured negotiation playbooks that include standardized terms and predefined conditions for different types of clients or partners.
• Procurement teams or contract managers lead negotiations rather than individual agents.
• You rely on data and analytics to determine the best terms and pricing. This means less flexibility in custom deals, but much more efficiency and standardization.
• You have much more influence—because of your size and global presence, large insurers and partners are eager to work with you, offering better terms and pricing.

Contract signing

Last, but not least, we’re going to go over the differences in contract signing when it comes to SMEs and enterprise operations.

Let’s go with an example of a marketing agency this time.

In a small marketing agency, you might have just a few contracts with clients, contractors, or agents. In a large, globally working marketing agency, contracts are coming in from various stakeholders across different regions and business units.

But no matter the size of your business, you have the choice to go for either traditional signing or electronic document signing.

Here’s how contract signing may work for you using traditional signatures:

• You might print out contracts, sign them manually, and then scan or mail them back to the client. It’s a simple process, but it’s time-consuming and paper-heavy.
• You may even meet clients in person to finalize agreements, which works for small volumes but can get inefficient over time.

Now, see how signing can work with e-signatures:

• You simply send contracts electronically, and clients sign them online with a click of a button.
• It’s a quick, cost-effective solution that reduces paper waste and speeds up the process.

💡90% of documents in business circulation can be easily signed with simple e-signatures, making them universal and efficient.

Here’s how electronic contract signing works at scale with Autenti:

• You still simply share the documents to be signed and complete them with a click of the button.
• e-signatures have become the standard practice across the entire company.
• You can sign multiple documents at once thanks to mass signing.
• As an enterprise, you chose a platform that offers advanced features, such as audit trails, document version control, and compliance with regional laws (e.g., GDPR, eIDAS, ISO).
• e-signatures are integrated into your contract management workflows, so the signing process is part of the larger automated contract lifecycle. This speeds up the process and ensures that no contract is ever lost or delayed.
• You have access to all major e-signature types in one place, SES, AES, and QES—making it easy to sign every needed document.

See how TZMO Group—a global supplier of hygiene, cosmetic, and medical products saved 90% of their time managing contracts by implementing Autenti’s e-signature solutions.

Or test Autenti yourself signing up for a free 14-day trial—no credit card required.

Do you qualify for enterprise contract management? A checklist

Not sure if you have that many contracts leading you to have to implement enterprise-level solutions for contract management?

Check with the table below to find out. If you answer most of the below questions “yes”, it’s time to look for more advanced options for managing your documents.

Key challenges in large-scale contract management

Enterprise contract management is not free from the standard contract management challenges, but times hundred due to their complexity and volume of documents.

Volume & complexity

As a business scales, managing thousands of contracts across various regions, languages, and jurisdictions becomes increasingly complex. This often results in contracts being misplaced or overlooked.

For example, a company could lose track of over 100 contracts, leading to missed renewals or expiration of key agreements, which can result in a big revenue loss due to missed business opportunities, penalties, or failed negotiations.

Additionally, the sheer volume of contracts slows down the review and approval process, causing delays in business expansion or project launches.

💡e-signatures speed up the execution process, eliminating paper-based inefficiencies, and enhancing security at the same time.

Check how Medicover—a provider of comprehensive employee benefits, from physical and mental health, to dental care and gym memberships, shortened the time required to sign contracts from two weeks to just one day switching from traditional to electronic signing with Autenti.

Siloed processes

In large enterprises, various departments like legal, procurement, sales, and finance often operate in siloed workflows, without proper integration. This disconnect can cause significant delays in contract execution.

For instance, if the legal team is unaware of changes made by the procurement team or the finance team doesn’t know about pending contract negotiations, approvals get delayed. It’s also more difficult to manage their contractual obligations.

As a result, a business could experience 30+ delayed approvals each month, leading to missed deadlines and lost opportunities. Additionally, losses in revenue occurring simply because finance and legal departments weren’t aligned on the status of contract renegotiations, causing agreements to go unsigned or terms to expire.

💡Connecting CLM systems with ERP, CRM, and procurement tools could streamline approvals and ensure better compliance.

Regulatory compliance

Large-scale businesses often face the challenge of adhering to a variety of complex regulations such as GDPR, SOX, HIPAA, and industry-specific rules. Navigating these regulatory mazes becomes increasingly difficult without a centralized system to track compliance requirements.

For instance, a company may face a high fine for non-compliance with GDPR due to improper handling of personal data in contracts.

Similarly, the absence of a reliable system can lead to missed audits or compliance checks, putting the business at risk of further legal trouble, loss of reputation, and costly fines.

Third-party risk management

Effective third-party risk management is a crucial aspect of contract management, especially for large enterprises that rely on vendors and partners across the globe.

Without a centralized contract system to track vendor compliance, obligations, and contract renewals—companies often find themselves managing risks poorly.

For example, 5-10 vendors may fall out of compliance, resulting in potential legal disputes or disruptions in business continuity. This can lead to additional costs to resolve the issues.

In some cases, businesses miss vendor renewals, costing them even more money due to the absence of a reliable contract renewal system that ensures timely notifications and tracking.

💡Use AI to help you out. AI-assisted contract creation reduces manual work. Automated risk assessment identifies red flags before signing. Machine learning helps in contract analytics for better decision-making.

Data fragmentation & visibility issues

In the absence of a unified contract management system, contracts often get scattered across various systems like email, shared drives, and outdated databases.

This makes it difficult to retrieve information quickly when needed. 

For example, a company could experience thousands of contracts being buried in emails and old systems, making it nearly impossible to find the right document in a timely manner.

As a result, businesses face delays in contract execution or risk forgetting critical contract details.

💡A single source of truth (cloud-based preferably) ensures that contracts are easily searchable, reducing risk and improving visibility.

Measuring Success in Enterprise Contract Management

Last but not least, let’s discuss a few of the contract management KPIs you should track specifically if you’re working with enterprise-level volume of documents.

1. Cycle time: measure the time taken from contract creation to execution. Shorter cycles indicate more efficient processes.
2. Compliance rate: percentage of contracts compliant with legal and regulatory standards.
3. Renewal rate: percentage of contracts renewed on time, reflecting effective tracking and management.
4. Risk mitigation: number of high-risk contracts flagged and resolved before execution.
5. Contract value realization: percentage of negotiated terms (e.g., discounts, penalties) realized as expected.
6. Approval time: time taken for contracts to move through the approval process.

SMEs generally focus on basic metrics like cycle time, approval time, and cost savings to keep things simple and manageable.

Enterprises track more advanced KPIs, such as compliance rate, risk mitigation, and vendor performance to manage the complexity and scale of their operations across regions and departments to make sure they reap all the benefits of contract management.

What can help you manage and track all those KPIs? A more advanced enterprise contract management software or a CLM solution (contract lifecycle management software).