Contract Insights

Contract execution is a critical stage in contract lifecycle management. By this point, the terms of the contract have been negotiated. Parties involved have ensured that everything is understood and all necessary resources have approved the written agreement. From there, contract parties sign the contract to propel its execution.

Given the importance of this stage of contract management, you should know what an executed contract is and its meaning. As such, here is a brief overview of contract execution.

Unfulfilled contract obligations can create a post-award contract management nightmare that can escalate to stressful legal action – such as issuing a cease and desist or suing your counterparty. 

So, how can you avoid this? 

By clearly defining the obligation of contracts between you and your counterparty and leveraging contract management software tools to receive timely alerts for each obligation of contracts, you can retain contract obligation accountability instead of meddling with unnecessary disputes.

Government contract management is divided into three stages: procurement or acquisition planning, sourcing, and post-award contract management. 

The first two stages have had the most focused time and financial investment for improvement.  This approach leaves post-award management as a secondary duty for contract officer representatives (CORs) and contract managers within legal teams. Consequently, they are left unsupported for compliance, risk management, and opportunity realization. 

Arguably, contract processes after acquisition and sourcing are the most crucial stages for public-sector and private-sector contract managers. However, these stages notoriously lack proper visibility and resources.  This article will address the challenges and present actionable post-award contract management best practices with the help of contract management software.

CobbleStone Software’s Executive VP and Founder, Mark Nastasi, narrows down his top eight items of recommendation to help you lead your legal digital transformation in 2022.