The Forrester Wave™: Contract Lifecycle Management, Q2 2023

Contract Lifecycle Management Vendor Product Comparisons 2023

Key features and pros and cons of top Contract Lifecycle Management products:

Agiloft - Leaders

Pros:

Comprehensive functionality for all contract types with 10-year history in business process automation
Breadth and depth demonstrated through robust buy-side and sell-side contract capabilities
Large partner network, multilingual UI, and OCR capabilities support global customers
Robust prebuilt integrations native with Coupa, SAP, Oracle, plus CRM including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and HubSpot
99.6% implementation success rate with flexibility and scalability
Pretrained AI capabilities including clause recommendations and repository comparisons, plus AI model training services

Cons:

Charges for AI capabilities and integrations separately, not bundled in base pricing
User interface received mixed reviews from reference customers
Additional costs for key features leaves door open for competitors that bundle them in

Ironclad - Leaders

Pros:

Redefined digital contracting for innovative companies since 2014 with $150M Series E funding in 2022
User-based commercial model provides access to entire platform, encouraging self-paced expansion
Native integrations with document management systems OneDrive, Box, and Dropbox
Bulk digitalization capabilities among the fastest observed during demo
Risk scored at clause and contract level, plus OneTrust integration adds entity risk data
Strong contract negotiation and routing capabilities that reference customers rate as 'just that good'

Cons:

Post-contract execution and contract optimization lag behind other vendors in evaluation
Must do better job communicating timing and details in release notes to avoid surprising customers with UI and workflow changes
Lackluster repository search and limited admin capabilities noted by reference customers

LinkSquares - Leaders

Pros:

Powerful native AI capability with transparent commercial model based on documents stored and analyzed
One of the fastest bulk uploads in evaluation with AI automatically classifying contract type and applying naming conventions
AI-extracted fields create contract summary and combine with user-defined tags in search, analysis, and reporting
Multitenant SaaS platform with some hybrid tenancy and no-cost implementation and support
Reference customers commend searchability, analysis, and risk management features
Innovative roadmap includes AI-powered playbooks and integration with Outlook, DealHub, and CPQ products

Cons:

Lack of implementation partners will hinder growth
Limited configurability compared to other vendors
Lackluster adoption by internal users reported by reference customers
Limited integrations relative to competitors

CobbleStone Software - Strong Performers

Pros:

Object-oriented approach and relational data structure makes it easier to deduplicate data, detect anomalies, and avoid data integrity issues
High scores for buy-side contract support, risk and compliance management, and interoperability
US General Services Administration vendor working toward FedRAMP Moderate designation
Single-tenant platform hosted on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud with on-premises deployment support
Unique integrations with risk and compliance aggregators such as FAR/DFARS, SAM.gov, and PacerMonitor
Diverse partner network with auto-redlining and AI clause recommendations

Cons:

VISDOM AI features offset by slow speed and legacy contract migration challenges
Assigning contract type is manual process despite native AI
Bulk upload via web browser limited to 10 contracts at a time with slow upload speed
Reference customers use less than 40% of the tool, some primarily as repository and contract expiry management
Enhanced user permissions identified as area to prioritize in future releases

ContractPodAi - Contenders

Pros:

$115M growth funding in Q3 2021 to target digital transformation for legal professionals
AI virtual legal assistant Leah combines proprietary AI, Microsoft Azure, IBM Watson, and OpenAI's ChatGPT
Revenue split almost evenly between sell-side and buy-side use cases with integrations to SAP, Coupa, and bidirectional Salesforce
Impresses in contract review and negotiation with conversational search
Offers sandbox/POC testing environment as differentiator in competitive opportunities
Leah takes first pass at redlining and compares language to previously executed contracts

Cons:

Contract creation does not utilize AI
Contract digitization requires template download and bulk import by users limited to 20 contracts
Platform less configurable than others in evaluation
Reference customers want improvements in conditional logic, broader use of AI, and help center with more published documentation
Need improvements in global customer support and features to increase user adoption

Conga - Contenders

Pros:

Superior product security including incident response plan
Supports OCR and data extraction can be verified by attorney
Uses Salesforce's logic to deduplicate and supports fuzzy search
Multiparty, sequential review with comments when using Microsoft Office 365
All six CLM lifecycle modules bundled and aligned on Salesforce platform
Strong partner channel attracts customers

Cons:

Views CLM through revenue lifecycle management lens with little buy-side capability
Requires custom integration to support buy-side contracts on first-party paper beyond repository storage
Reference customers gave below-par scores to UI and configurability
Subpar AI and Word add-on capabilities noted by customers
Has not made much progress fortifying areas of weakness in two years since last Forrester evaluation
Roadmap not differentiated relative to others evaluated

Coupa - Contenders

Pros:

Superior product security and assurance with FedRAMP Moderate authorization
Range of deployment options including data separation, dedicated pod, or dedicated cloud
Buy-side contract support capabilities among strongest in evaluation
Active customer community contributing to Community Insights with metrics on spend, contract cycle times, and benchmarking
Community benchmark data contributes to contract optimization
Real-time, streamlined spend visibility process that no longer requires a lawyer

Cons:

Roadmap plays catchup with features like AI-powered obligation extraction and automated clause selection that competitors already have
Lacks basic sell-side features such as ability for business users to work in Salesforce and native SLA tracking
Reference customers struggle with data flow between Coupa Risk Assess and CLM
Pain points include noise from previously imported contracts, lack of links between request and final contract, and absence of standard clause library
Dedicated pod and cloud deployment options come at additional cost

DocuSign - Strong Performers

Pros:

One of most recognizable names in CLM thanks to e-signature success
Robust integration capabilities
Visualizations benefit from combination of preconfigured and user-defined dashboards and reports plus Tableau integration
Strong community, advisory council, and product champions program
Ability to build complex workflows with CLM+ version
Name recognition and market strategy on point

Cons:

Many features cost extra - need CLM+ to access contract analytics through separate Seal platform
Product falls short in contract creation, negotiation, and post-signature management
Contract creation uses conditional logic but not AI
Cannot compare in-line redlines, only two versions of a contract
Obligations can be reported against but not tracked
Reference customers cite lack of intuitiveness and request better workflow that doesn't create duplicate records
Product roadmap leaves room for improvement with little specificity and differentiation

Evisort - Strong Performers

Pros:

AI-first, end-to-end CLM vendor with differentiated vision that contracts are data meant to connect with enterprise systems
AI-extracted contract data can track clause renegotiation frequency, term deviations, and workflow completion times
AI-recommended clause revisions draw on similar clauses in recently executed agreements
Reference customers claim AI captures useful data supporting decision-making and boosts legal team adoption
Strong analytics and post-signature management
Punches above its weight strategically, stronger than many evaluated vendors

Cons:

Workflow is rigid and product not as easily editable as others
Reference customers question accuracy of data extraction
Auto-redlining still on roadmap, not yet delivered
Needs stronger partner ecosystem to be truly competitive
Founded in 2016, relatively new to CLM market
Customers need more flexible workflow

Icertis - Strong Performers

Pros:

Established CLM player with impressive customers, strong revenue growth, and plenty of funding
$230M in funding between 2021-2022 to accelerate investment in AI, machine learning, and blockchain
Minority investment by SAP in 2022 enabled enhanced integration with SAP Ariba, CPQ, Fieldglass, and S/4HANA
Strong in contract creation with authoring wizard and playbook automation
Bidirectional integrations with Coupa, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle E-Business, SAP products, Salesforce, and Workday
Scored well for product security and native mobile app
Breadth of features, bountiful integrations, and impressive product roadmap

Cons:

Customers struggle to unlock critical insights due to process complexity and selective uses of AI
Premium price tag and above-average implementation cost historically limited appeal to large enterprises
Complexity issues - described as expert tool versus intuitive/user friendly
Inconsistent customer experience identified by reference customers
Reference customers requested strongly improved interface and better search as roadmap priorities
Lack of critical insights challenging despite positioning as contract intelligence platform

SirionLabs - Strong Performers

Pros:

Customers in more than 70 countries with 50% in North America
$110M Series D funding helped scale operations and boost R&D
Microservices architecture enables custom application development
Native AI performs similarity and deduplication analysis to extract metadata, obligations, service levels, and pricing
Uses deviation score during negotiations highlighting small word changes that alter meaning significantly
Post-execution capabilities classify obligations, track contract performance against terms, and monitor service levels
Supports pre- and post-signature activities well

Cons:

Vision lacks differentiation
Workflow is clicky requiring high effort
Reference customers highlight high effort required to manage data quality
Customers want more admin capabilities and better integration between modules
Pricing vague and hard to understand with 35 product SKUs and half-dozen variables in commercial model
Shines in post-signature but users want more control

Wolters Kluwer - Challengers

Pros:

Legisway acquired in 2018, CLM Matrix in 2019, and Della AI in 2022 providing complementary products
For North American customers, platform hosted on AWS; in EU hosted on AWS Europe or private cloud
Implementation done by local teams
Helped customers satisfy regulatory requirements and reporting obligations
Eliminated surprise terminations and renewals according to reference customers
Supports redlines and in-platform chat

Cons:

Three acquired products (Legisway, CLM Matrix, Della AI) not yet integrated with unclear roadmap for integration
Built for corporate legal departments but launched in US only in 2022
Contract data extraction in Della AI captures only basic details and six clauses
Search requires exact match or custom if/then queries
No smart authoring features or guided experience present
Prepackaged integrations limited to Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce
Workflows programmed with very basic editability
Pricing based on number/type of users with AI as additional cost

Zycus - Strong Performers

Pros:

Merged with Ultria CLM in 2022 to round out buy-side with sell-side capabilities
Merlin AI native contract assistant bundled into per-user cost, not an add-on
Straightforward pricing model with two variables: number of users and company size
Configurable, easy to navigate, and easy to search platform
Dedicated mobile app for Apple and Android with real-time push notifications for contract on the go experience
Reference customers utilize more than 75% of iContract capabilities, among highest rates in evaluation
Implementation times same for enterprise and midmarket: six to 12 weeks

Cons:

Partner-led implementations only 20%, must be 30-35% for Zycus to scale
Lack of online customer community is big miss according to reference customers
Managing renewals and tracking actual costs to contract values is challenging
Requested enhancements include integration with electronic document management and analytics platforms like Tableau and Power BI
Improvements needed in process analytics
Overlooks importance of online community despite differentiated AI vision

FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2023?

A: Agiloft, Ironclad, LinkSquares

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

A: Leaders in the Forrester Wave demonstrate the strongest current offering and strategy in the CLM market. They have comprehensive functionality supporting both pre-signature and post-signature processes across buy-side and sell-side contracts. Leaders typically show: extensive AI capabilities integrated throughout the contract lifecycle, robust integrations with upstream and downstream systems, strong customer satisfaction and reference feedback, clear product vision and differentiated roadmap, ability to support enterprise-wide contracting needs across procurement, sales, legal and HR, and proven implementation success and partner ecosystems.

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

A: https://www.forrester.com/policies/forrester-wave-methodology/

Report:

Top Vendor Products for Contract Lifecycle Management in 2023

Contract Lifecycle Management Vendor Product Comparisons 2023

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FAQs

Q: Which vendors are Leaders in 2023?

Q: What does "Leader" mean in Forrester Wave terms?

Q: How do I interpret a Forrester Wave?

Reference