Right on the heels of Agiloft Summit 2019, Agiloft staff headed south to the IACCM Americas 2019 conference in Phoenix, AZ, where the team engaged with an international audience of contracting professionals. The International Association of Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM) host events around the world like this one where they bring in renowned speakers, facilitate workshops, moderate debates, present awards, and lead important discussions on the future of contract and commercial management.
“Another fantastic IACCM Americas Conference, with over 450 contracts and commercial professional coming together to be inspired by top notch speakers and have the opportunity to share innovative and evolving best practices and technologies,” said Bob Emery, VP of Global Business Development and Alliances at IACCM.
With sessions on contract design, AI, ethics, integrations, and more, this year was laser focused on 2020 and beyond and how emerging technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts, contract design, and other commercial innovations will create a new world for contract professionals. Here are a few of the themes we saw at this IACCM Americas 2019 and what they mean to us:
“The winners are those who simplify the lives of others.”
Said by Sally Guyer, Global CEO at IACCM, during her opening keynote. This is a foundational idea for Agiloft as we create solutions to do precisely that. As businesses experience pressure to move faster, continually grow, as well as navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, the need for simplicity and the automation that can provide it have never been more essential.
Contract design matters
The content of contracts has always mattered (while not always completely understood), but with today’s global economy, the structure and simplicity of contracts has never been more important for trading relationships. Dr. Stefania Passera, Contract Design and Visualization Consultant of Passera Design/IACCM, hosted a fascinating hands-on workshop on contract design that allowed attendees to redesign contracts to increase user-friendliness. This workshop even discussed the concept of completely word-free graphic contracts called comic contracts, which illuminates the true fundamentals of an agreement and how to create contracts that can overcome language or even illiteracy barriers.
This workshop also debuted the IACCM Contract Design Pattern Library, which is a fantastic resource that provides “guidelines, explanations, and examples to inspire and support you in exploring user-friendly approaches to contract simplification and visualization.”
“Contracts are about brand image.”
Said by Tim Cummins during his keynote titled “From Zero to Hero: Becoming a Champion of CCM.” We like this quote because not only is your company name all over the contract, but the effects of the contract (good or bad) can be felt both internally and externally. Tim went on to describe the importance of innovation and integration in contract policies. To us that means integrating departments and processes to limit oversights, miscommunications, and enable transparency throughout the contract lifecycle, which is the foundation of Agiloft’s contract and commerce lifecycle management (CCLM) methodology. While software helps achieve this, the culture surrounding your contract processes must also support integration and collaboration to ensure success in contracting.
Tim Cummins also presented on this topic at Agiloft Summit 2019. Watch his keynote here:
Agiloft was a proud sponsor of IACCM Americas 2019. To learn more about Agiloft, please go to our contract management page or contact our sales team for a personalized demo.
