The Need for Change

‘The National Audit Office (NAO) said that changes in culture and practices are necessary after identifying a number of weaknesses in areas of contract management within government departments’

Out-Law.com, (2014). ‘NAO Says cultural change needed to improve contract management within government’. Online <http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2014/september/nao-says-cultural-change-needed-to-improve-contract-management-within-government/>

Here at Target we couldn’t agree more with this article. Unfortunately for some, it is not until an audit check that companies and organisations realise there is a problem in their work process in regards to a contract management system.

Take a moment to review your management system… How are you currently managing your contracts?
Have you found a flaw?

‘The NAO reviewed a number of the arrangements in place and said it found “widespread problems with how government manages its service contracts”. The watchdog highlighted problems in planning and governance, with senior management not involved sufficiently in contract management.’

Day to day we meet organisations exploring the world for a better contract management process; but what we understand that in your searching, you find faults in new systems that consequently make it easier to stay with the process you have.

‘The NAO called for “systems and processes” to be put in place by departments to ensure better oversight and management of supplier contracts.’

From our years in the contract management business we have found that in some existing contract management systems there is a lack of capabilities to meet the requirements you need to have and adopt to improve your work process. Moreover there is form of anxiety about change and how such an investment into a system is going to benefit the future.

As a result we meet organisations to lift the weight off their shoulders and show them how we can make a stress free contract management system that will save them both time and money in the long run. Target introduces Accord, our contract information management system that centralises all contracts, dates, documents, suppliers and stakeholders to provide longer lead times and negotiate improved value for cost reductions within supply chain. You can find out more and see our client testimonials at targetis.co.uk/case-studies/

 “In recent month’s we’ve seen various agencies such as the NHS, Central Government and now the NAO telling us of the need to improve. The smartest way to improve is initially gain 100% visibility and seriously start to manage your contracts information. Accord delivers this”

Phil Atkinson, Managing Director at Target

As we are a software company we like to stress to organisations that Accord is not the final product of our hard work and understanding, because as a software company we want to build a contract management platform that has all the capabilities you need to ensure a better oversight and management of your department and its contracts. As a business we put you in control, we put your requirements at the forefront so we can collaborate and build this unique tailored made system that will ultimately remove insufficient work processes and deliver compliance for internal governance.

Our thoughts on the article…

The need exists, change is positive and it ultimately improves a better process to handle the overwhelming.