In the intricate world of financial services, legacy contracts are often created and stored in various formats and locations, which can pose significant challenges for organizations. Migrating these contracts into a new system can be a cumbersome and time-consuming process, often requiring manual data entry and validation.
Challenge
The firm's investor services subsidiary was grappling with several significant challenges:
Cumbersome Contract Migration and Management
The process of migrating and managing various types of service agreements, process frameworks, and fee agreements for thousands of funds across various asset classes was becoming increasingly cumbersome and time-consuming.
Disparate Document Storage
The firm was dealing with multipage contractual documents stored in disparate repositories and shared folders. This scattered storage system was leading to a lack of centralized access and visibility, making the retrieval and management of contracts a daunting task.
Manual Compilation and Monitoring
The firm's process of manually compiling documents, monitoring Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and defining actions was laborious and inefficient. This manual approach not only consumed considerable time and resources but also increased the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
Compliance with Regulatory Standards
The firm was required to ensure compliance with stringent IT guidelines for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and AML/KYC legislation. Managing these compliance requirements while also dealing with the complexities of contract management posed a significant challenge.
Preserving User Experience
Amidst all these challenges, the firm needed to preserve a smooth user experience for its staff. A complex and inefficient contract management system could potentially hinder productivity and lead to frustration among the team.
These challenges clearly highlighted the need for a more streamlined, efficient, and compliant contract management system.
Solution
To address the growing challenges in their contract management process, the firm made a strategic decision to employ Aavenir Contractflow, a powerful application built on their existing technology platform, ServiceNow. Here's how this solution transformed their contract management:
Seamless Integration with ServiceNow
A key reason for choosing Aavenir Contractflow was its design to integrate seamlessly with the ServiceNow platform, a crucial part of the firm's existing technology infrastructure. This integration formed a highly connected ecosystem, providing a unified platform for contract management. It enabled the firm to leverage their existing ServiceNow investments, maintain data in a single secure platform, and automate various aspects of contract management.
AI-Powered Legacy Contract Migration
One of the standout features of Aavenir Contractflow is its ability to tackle the issue of legacy contract migration using Artificial Intelligence (AI). By employing AI, Aavenir Contractflow automates the process of extracting essential data from legacy contracts, irrespective of their format or location. This means that key contract elements, such as parties involved, contract terms, termination clauses, and other obligations, are recognized and extracted by the AI, which then populates them into the appropriate fields within the Aavenir Contractflow repository.
Improved Contract Repository
Aavenir Contractflow does more than just store contracts; it organizes them in a searchable, filterable repository. This means that contracts can be quickly and easily located using a simple keyword search or by filtering by contract type or client name.
Automated Contract Monitoring
The automation capabilities of Aavenir Contractflow extend to contract monitoring as well. The solution tracks contractual obligations, monitors Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and sends alerts for key dates such as contract renewals or terminations. This proactive contract management approach helps to avoid penalties due to missed deadlines and ensures ongoing compliance with contractual obligations.
Enhanced Security
With Aavenir Contractflow, the firm's contract data is stored securely within the ServiceNow platform. This not only helps to keep sensitive information safe but also aids in compliance with IT guidelines for regulations like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and AML/KYC legislation.
By leveraging the power of Aavenir Contractflow and its seamless integration with ServiceNow, the firm was able to transform its contract management process. This resulted in a more efficient, secure, and user-friendly system that not only met their needs but also provided a platform for future growth and scalability.
How is AI helping?
This AI-driven approach not only accelerates the migration process but also significantly reduces errors that can occur due to manual data entry. The automatic extraction and population of contract data ensure that all critical contract information is accurately captured and readily available for future reference and analysis.
But the role of AI in Aavenir Contractflow goes beyond just migrating legacy contracts. The solution uses AI to create a robust contract repository, where contracts are not just stored but are also made easily searchable. Contract managers can perform a Google-like search across contracts using any keyword, or filter contracts by type or customer name - all with the click of a button. This advanced searchability feature, powered by AI, drastically reduces the time spent on locating specific contracts or contract information, thereby improving productivity and efficiency.
What about AI-driven Contract Repository?
Another key aspect of this connectivity story is the secure contract repository offered by Aavenir Contractflow. This feature ensured that sensitive contract data remained secure as it never left ServiceNow. This seamless integration helped the firm pass a rigorous IT audit process, ensuring compliance with stringent security and risk audit requirements.
The connectivity between Aavenir Contractflow and ServiceNow facilitated automated reporting capabilities, eliminating the need for manual report creation and spreadsheet updates. Using Aavenir Contractflow's dashboards and reports, the firm could track deliverables, monitor SLAs, and identify the volume of contracts in approval or sent for signing, all within the ServiceNow platform. This integration brought about faster and more efficient reporting, enabling the firm to better manage their contracts and SLAs.
What improved?
The implementation of Aavenir Contractflow and its integration with ServiceNow led to significant improvements in the firm's contract management process. Centralizing contracts on the unified Now platform standardized the process, made it secure, and easy to maintain. The low-code/no-code integration with other systems ensured a single version of truth, demonstrating the power of a connected ecosystem in improving contract management efficiency.
The firm experienced massive time savings in contract management, completing tasks that used to take days within hours or even minutes. With increased visibility into SLAs, contract managers could better manage their contractual obligations and improve their service delivery. All of these advantages were made possible due to the seamless integration between Aavenir Contractflow and ServiceNow, highlighting the transformative potential of connected technology solutions.
Next Steps
In conclusion, the connectivity between Aavenir Contractflow and ServiceNow played a pivotal role in overcoming the firm's contract migration and management challenges. This integration not only streamlined the contract management process but also improved the SLA tracking and reporting capabilities, enhancing overall business operations. The seamless integration and data flow between the two platforms resulted in a single, secure, and efficient contract management system.
The success of the firm illustrates the potential of Aavenir Contractflow and ServiceNow to elevate contract management practices, providing a promising example for other businesses in the financial services sector. As these organizations navigate the complex world of contract management, the value of a connected, centralized, and secure solution like Aavenir Contractflow integrated with ServiceNow becomes increasingly evident. By offering a comprehensive solution to the contract management challenges, Aavenir Contractflow with ServiceNow is not just enhancing operational efficiency, but also setting the standard for contract management in the financial services industry.
Schedule A Demo today to know more about the AI capabilities of Aavenir Contractflow, and how can you get started on the ServiceNow platform.
