As Tim Cummins sees it, companies using contract management software fall in a spectrum. At one end are organizations new to contract automation, out to achieve the basics—get spend under control, pipe it properly through a larger spend management system. At the other end of the spectrum are best-in-class companies looking to push contract management to new levels of complexity. He should know, since he's the president and CEO of the International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM).

"The perspective of different organizations in terms of its role and significance is varied," says Cummins. "Many still view it as one of those legally driven bureaucratic necessities, while others recognize that it is a critical underpin to brand image and reputation risk management." Since corporations have vastly different needs when it comes to finding the right contract management software suite, how do you choose?

First of all, where do you stand? Do you have a basic contract management system in place that ties in to a larger ERP suite, or is contract management in your organization still theoretical? If you're starting from zero, as with most software investments, getting up-front results is crucial. Tim Minahan, senior vice president of marketing at Procuri in Atlanta, emphasizes that newcomers to contract management need to aim for quick-hit goals like price volume breaks.

"The greatest initial value folks get out of this is visibility into their agreements," he says. "Study after study illustrates that very few companies have a clear understanding and easy access to all of their contractual agreements." Many software companies offer on-demand programs for fast turnaround time.

Burlington, Mass.-based Emptoris' Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Ammiel Kamon says making the most of these crucial first-step processes is akin to an on-ramp to contract management. Other companies, however, are ready to take their programs a step further, especially if they're global, says Kamon. These companies recognize contract management can be an important part of its global risk-management strategy and want the software to go to "the next level," with features such as active supplier monitoring or multilingual contract administration support. These programs are more intertwined with back-end data from departments like legal and sales, and are often both on-demand and licensed.

Of course, delivery is only one consideration out of many when weighing contract management programs, some of which are listed on the following page. Says IACCM's Cummins: "contracting is more than some unfortunate bureaucratic requirement. It is a strategic enabler, so if you don't understand how your contract procedures and terms affect relationships, you're leaving substantial amounts of money on the table."