Tips to Manage Contract Management Security Threats

Like any management process in an enterprise organization, a contract management system is also vulnerable to security threats. Now more than ever when the majority of the workforce is based remotely, working from home, the chances for security risks are high. Contract management security is a very sensitive process, the agreements between two companies involve sensitive data both organizational and personal. Since all parties involved in the contractual agreement have a financial investment in it, these documents must be ensured complete data security and the contract management teams have to handle them with discretion.

Read on in our previous blog if you are new here, about commercial contract management and its intricacies.

Contract Document Repository

 As we discussed before contract documents are sensitive, they need to be handled in a manner so discrete and secure. It is at this point the importance of efficient document storage comes into play. It should not come as a surprise that even today many companies in and around the US still use the conventional way of document storage, i.e., keeping hard copies of documents in a file cabinet or other such means. This type of document storage poses some serious security threats. The method also has other setbacks when it comes to storing and retrieving files, it's time-consuming and ineffective. But the major concern here is the security risk, you could lose a file, or the files could be accessed by unauthorized personnel, etc. The main issue in contract management security is that in this process such threats could result in a series of troubles including legal.

Using a centralized digital document repository for contracts could effectively avoid all that trouble. It not only brings together all the files but also ensures the security of the documents. Using high-end access control features you can track and monitor who accesses the files at all times.

The contract management system also provides automation of your contract process along with centralized storage. Using the digital contract management platform, both contractual parties can easily collaborate on the documents. It also helps sales leaders close deals quickly.

Ensuring security in digital contract management solution

We have discussed in the previous section how a digital contract management solution can be more effective in storing documents more securely. Here are a few steps that you can administer to effectively track and monitor contracts in a digital space.

• Centralized document repository.
• Impose role-based security throughout the system.
• Ensure that all data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
• Implement E-signature capabilities.
• Use reliable forms to intake the contract data.

Commercial Contract Management – Risks to look out for

There are several areas that you could go wrong in a commercial contract management process when you are not using an automated contract management system.

1. Missed deadlines/renewals: We cannot stress this enough. Manual processing could easily result in such a fault. A missed deadline or renewal date could also be considered a security risk in contract management as the result would be litigation and or losing business. A dedicated software can ensure that you do not miss a deadline or renewal date, using features like automated workflows and push notifications.
2. Corporate Espionage: This is a serious security threat, with the efficient security measures and audit trail features of contract management solutions you can be sure that your organization’s vendor contracts and other contract details are safe from corporate espionage.
3. Cyber data thefts: If you are strictly following the measures, we mentioned in the previous section then you can be certain to an extent that your data is safe in the digital space.
4. Non-compliance issues: you do not want to be the one who violates the terms of the contract. Non-compliance can do much harm to the company’s reputation and future business opportunities. With a contract management solution, you can always easily review and propose updates to them without any trouble.

Conclusion

Contract management is an important process for any business. And it is a professional obligation to make sure that the contract data is safe and secure in your hand. Security threats are common to all organizations but what is important is how you tackle those threats. Contract management cybersecurity should be a part of your contract management plan. The security systems contract management tools offer are great, but you have to be careful in choosing the right contract management solution. You can never fully trust a third-party solution to handle sensitive organizational data. That is why most companies when choosing an enterprise solution such as contracting software, choose ones that are built on SharePoint and Office 365, that way you can ensure that you have full control over your data.

Dock 365’s contract management system is built keeping data security as the priority. Dock 365’s solution can be modified to have a custom security hierarchy that leverages SharePoint access levels. If you are an enterprise company looking to streamline your contract management process Dock 365 contract management is the right solution for you.