Contract lifecycle management software

Contract lifecycle management is the end-to-end process of managing contracts throughout their lifecycle - from pre- to post-signature. Contract lifecycle management software automates the entire lifecycle, digitalizing and automating each process. It means businesses like yours can improve your efficiency, eliminate delays, reduce risk and improve cross-functional collaboration.

To learn even more about contract lifecycle management, the software, the benefits and how to pick the best CLM software, explore our CLM Hub for guidance and information.

There are six stages within the contract lifecycle, each as important as the next.

1. Creation - drafting the agreement often using pre-approved templates or clauses for accuracy and speed.
2. Negotiation - collaborating and redlining terms until both parties reach consensus. CLM tools often support AI-powered review and redlining to streamline this stage.
3. Approval - sending drafts to relevant stakeholders for sign-off, often using automated workflows.
4. Execution - finalizing the contract with signatures to make it legally binding.
5. Management and renewal - storing signed contracts in a central repository and tracking key dates such as renewal or expiry dates to help manage ongoing obligations.
6. Reporting and analytics - generating contract insights and data to help proactively spot risks and to identify opportunities for business growth and additional revenue.

Want an in-depth breakdown of each stage and how they work together within CLM software? Check out our blog post that goes into detail about how contract lifecycle management works and how to make each stage efficient within your organization.

The best contract lifecycle management software is the one that streamlines your entire contract process - from creation and negotiation through to execution, storage and analysis - while fitting into the tools you already use. Luckily for us (and you) Summize is designed to be that solution.

Unlike traditional CLM platforms, Summize works where you do - and our AI-powered chatbot (also known as Ask SIA) and contract review functionality helps legal teams review and analyze contracts faster and more consistently. Legal teams reduce risk and admin work and the wider business gains faster turnaround times and better visibility of contract data. It's a win-win.

Want to read more about other CLMs and see how we stack up? Take a look at our full blog outlining the best CLM software for 2025 and beyond.

Best practice for contract management includes anything that helps your organization handle contracts more efficiently, reduce risk and improve visibility across the business. Here's a few essentials to focus on to help you manage your contracts even more effectively:

1. Automate and empower teams - speed up workflows with templates and let non-legal teams self-serve simple contracts.
2. Centralize and standardize - store contracts in one secure place and use consistent templates to reduce risk.
3. Integrate with everyday tools - embed contract workflows into platforms like Outlook, Teams and Salesforce (or wherever your team works).
4. Use AI for smarter reviews - save time and resources with AI-powered analysis, redlining and clause redrafts.

Want more insights into best practice when it comes to CLM? Check out our article on CLM best practices to find out more!

The cost of contract lifecycle management software can vary depending on your business' requirements and how complex your software needs to be.

Pricing for CLM software is usually bespoke to a company's needs, so you get exactly what you want from your software. When analyzing different CLM software it's important to look at how many integrations are included in the price, for example does your business use Outlook, Salesforce and perhaps Microsoft Teams? If so, you want to make sure all of the integrations are included in your final quote. Also consider storage caps or maximum requests and reviews, to make sure you can use your CLM software as much as is needed.

If you want to see how Summize's pricing compares, check out our pricing page.

CLM software can be used by businesses of all shapes and sizes. Typically, the in-house legal team or General Counsel will take ownership of the CLM software, but it's also invaluable for your non-legal teams too, such as:

• Sales - enables faster deal closures with streamline contract negotiation, self-service creation and AI-generated summaries to speed up reviews (watch our full webinar to find out more!).
• HR - accelerates onboarding and employment contracts with pre-approved templates, automatic date reminders and natural-language summaries to simplify legal jargon.
• Finance - improves financial compliance and forecasting through centralized contract data extraction, timely date reminders and AI-powered obligation visibility.
• Procurement - streamlines procurement cycles via embedded workflows, pre-approved templates, automatic alerts for key dates and consolidated contract visibility.

Find out more about the CLM benefits for your whole company in our article, the Benefits of CLM Software.

A contract lifecycle management system is a single platform designed to manage every stage of a contract’s lifecycle, from request and drafting through to execution, secure storage and ongoing analysis. With Summize, organisations do not need to buy multiple different packages. Instead, one platform brings together Contract Creation software, Contract Repository software and Contract Analytics software within a single, connected workflow, giving teams full visibility and control across their entire contract portfolio.