How To Utilize Contract Metadata Through CMS

Legal data and paperwork consume organizations. Every enterprise aims to capture this vital data to streamline its business and contract management procedures. But more than often, they fail to do so. And any deficiency in the contract data selection and analysis process can lead to glaring gaps in their contract portfolio. 

That is where contract management software comes in handy. It makes relevant contract data accessible and functional across the organization. Consequently, it makes the company more confident in its dealings with contracts and its obligations. Below, we discuss contract metadata and how organizations can make the most of them through CMS (Contract Management Software). 

What is contract metadata? 

Contract metadata is information about the contract that explains its contents. It assists stakeholders in reviewing, tracking, and sorting legal agreements. Organizations process a large amount of digitized contract data daily. They depend on contract metadata to sort out the information they collect and store. The contract data is stored against the contract record for easy access and visibility.  

Contract metadata represents untapped resources for many businesses. Inefficiency in leveraging contract metadata can mean missed opportunities for the company. They never reach their true potential or deliver their purpose for long-term benefits. Organizations cannot go through this information for every contract manually. Hence, businesses make use of CMS to navigate and utilize contract metadata. Before we further discuss that, let us take a look at the distinct types of metadata and their uses for contract lifecycle management. 

What are the different types of metadata? 

Metadata or data about data is of three types: structural metadata, administrative metadata, and descriptive metadata. These key metadata types help to optimize contract management. They enable organizations to sort contract data efficiently to derive value from them. Sorting that data depends on categorizing them. 

• Structural Metadata 

Structural metadata, as its name implies, offers details regarding the organization or structure of a piece of data. For instance, for several documents stored within a folder, the structural metadata describes how they are related.

• Administrative Metadata 

Administrative metadata describes the technical information about a digital asset. It includes creation date, file type, access control, use, and requirements.   

• Descriptive Metadata 

Descriptive metadata describes the digital asset. It defines information like title, author, keyword, or other descriptive markers. When searching among endless content, descriptive metadata helps to find relevant data.  

In the case of contract metadata, the above classification mainly falls under the following categories:

• Contract value 
• Contract types (MSA, NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), SoW) 
• Named parties (Counterparty Name, Contract Owner) 
• Key dates (Expiry/Renewal Date) 
• Internal departments or divisions  

Why is contract metadata important?  

At any given time, an expanding business handles more than thousands of contracts. All these legal documents contain vital information that needs to be reviewed and analyzed regularly. It can be costly and time-consuming to carry out the process individually. That is why enterprises should adopt methods to capitalize on contract data.  

Contract metadata can describe the contract, search for contracts, and even search for individual pieces of the contract itself. Metadata, when done right, can bring efficiency and consistency to a business operation. Contract metadata helps to identify and mitigate risks across channels to improve workflows. It provides a better overview of the untapped information hidden in the contracts and legal documents. Contract metadata and contract management software are effective for large-scale changes. 

How to utilize contract metadata through CMS 

A well-defined legal agreement will have concise terms and conditions outlining the specific contract. All the information established in the document can prove beneficial for the business. But no legal team has the time to go through all their contracts searching for relevant information. Fortunately, enterprises can unlock the value hidden in legal agreements by utilizing metadata through contract management systems. Some of the strategies include the following: 

• Improve searchability  

Expanding businesses do not deal with contracts in the single digits. Innumerable, intricate legal documents mire their daily proceedings, making it hard for legal and other teams to find valuable data in time. But organizations can employ CMS to add contract data to centralized repositories. As a result, the entire contract portfolio is more searchable and feasible.  

A well-structured archive with metadata can make the whole search process go smoothly. Rather than looking for a needle in a haystack, users can search specific contracts with metadata such as author, value, or date. An efficient search process can bring about an optimum operation with reduced response time. Organizations can get accurate and precise results within seconds. For an expanding business, this means enhanced vendor and customer relationships.  

• Effective monitoring 

Tracking all the contract metrics is an impossible task. But with contract management software, organizations can pick and monitor the ones that matter most to their business. Segregated contract metadata makes for better reporting and tracking. It can aid enterprises in contract renegotiation or supplier expansion. Organizations can extract data from contracts that affect their performance and compliance.  

The legal and financial departments may benefit from this enhanced knowledge. Businesses can arm themselves with pertinent metadata for future opportunities. Users can also generate relevant updates and reminders from contract metadata. You can set up alerts for contract renewals, expirations, and other events. It gives organizations an edge over their competitors.  

• Strategic decisions 

Giving importance to every piece of data means businesses can make strategic decisions based on the information itself. Both micro and macro view of metadata can improve contract reporting and analysis. For instance, organizations can maintain scorecards for their suppliers, customers, or employees using accessible contract metadata. Users can gain an understanding without scrutinizing individual legal agreements.  

Comparison and contrast between suppliers or clients are incredibly straightforward with contract data. Without refined contract metadata, it would take businesses a lot of time and resources to make informed choices. Accelerating the review and selection process streamlines the whole operation. 

• Concise summaries 

A well-written contract can tell you all you need to know about the business relationship and its future. However, it is of limited value if the organization does not have the resources and tools to take advantage of it. But by capturing contract metadata, businesses can fully understand the legal documents and stay on top of them. 

Comprehensive metadata can provide clear summaries of individual contracts for quick reviews. Information pertaining to a legal agreement’s purpose, type, future, key dates, etc. can be easily recorded and stored. And decision-makers have no trouble retrieving this data whenever necessary.  

• Navigate contracts 

Centralized repositories offered by contract management systems enable organizations to digitize and archive contracts. But just safely storing contracts is not enough for efficient contract management. Users must be able to retrieve and utilize these saved contracts for desired outcomes.  

But thanks to contract metadata, businesses can sort and group contracts according to any specific criteria like the author, counterparty, or type. Consequently, it would be easier for the legal team to navigate contract repositories and retrieve necessary legal documents. 

• Establish compliance

Contract performance and compliance are essential for continued partnership, particularly for sectors like healthcare, where poor terms and conditions can result in significant losses. The contracts are to be routinely examined to ensure continuous compliance. 

With advanced contract management systems and metadata, organizations can effortlessly keep track of relevant documents to ensure compliance. It is especially helpful for businesses dealing with numerous contracts. For instance, the procurement team handling countless vendors will not have the time or resources to go through each legal document. But by capturing relevant contract data, compliance check is much easier. 

• Macro-level management 

As we have already discussed, contract metadata enables businesses to identify, analyze, and utilize contract-related information. But apart from that, metadata also provides tools and resources for macro-level contract management. It empowers the legal team to make smart, informed decisions affecting the contract portfolio.  

Organizations can categorize contracts to evaluate their collective value. This grouping benefits in assessing the compliance and performance of legal documents. Consequently, it will be easier for users to find which contract is underperforming or risky. A holistic view of contracts can also go a long way in identifying favorable trends and practices.  

Conclusion  

There are endless benefits to the information hidden in a legal document. However, manually exploring this data can mean endless hours for the legal team. That is why businesses should adopt any means necessary to unlock this wisdom without wasting away time or resources.  

Contract metadata is a set of data that has been analyzed, sorted, and linked. Businesses can utilize it as targeted data to optimize contract lifecycle management. Contract metadata can be used to identify potential business partners, customers, or suppliers who may be interested in your products or services. 

Choose a live demo today to know more about the benefits of the contract management system.