Contract management glossary

The advanced electronic signature (AES) enables the authenticity and integrity of signed data to be verified. It establishes a unique link to the signer and enables the signer to be identified.

The advanced signature provides a higher level of security than the simple electronic signature and creates a perfect balance between security and usability, making this signature method very popular.

Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially by computer systems. Specific applications of AI include natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition, and machine vision.

Clickwrap agreements are clickable elements that confirm users’ agreement to the terms of a website or application. They are commonly used for online agreements that users agree to and click on a button or checkbox.

Contract administration is the management of contracts entered into with customers, suppliers, partners or employees. It refers to the management of all actions related to contracts.

Contract administration software helps organizations create, negotiate, renew and manage contracts. Contract administration software is an indispensable tool for ensuring that the intent of each contract is fully realized, accelerating time-to-revenue and reducing the risk of non-compliance.

Contract auditing is the process of reviewing a company’s contracts. The purpose is to ensure that the quality, compliance and fulfillment of contracts are correct and to reduce contract risks as much as possible.

Contract automation eliminates manual work in Word documents and lets you create legally compliant contracts automatically.

Unlike traditional ways of storing contracts in different locations, a contract database is a central repository where contracts are stored in an organized and accessible way.

Contract lifecycle is the process of tracking and managing every aspect of a contract for performance, compliance, and other success factors - from execution through renewal or expiration.

Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is the effective management of contracts and relationships between organizations through proper planning of all phases of contract management, resulting in the reduction, elimination or mitigation of financial and legal risks.

Contract management encompasses all activities that revolve around contracts in a company: From the contractual negotiation between the parties, to the creation and approval of the contract, to the management of deadlines, to the archiving of the contract.

A contract management platform is used to create, negotiate, sign, and renew contracts and to collect actionable data about business contracts. It helps companies and lawyers replace manual management of physical contracts so that large volumes of contracts can be handled quickly without requiring more staff.

Contract management software serves as a centralized management of legal agreements such as contracts with suppliers, leases, service contracts, license agreements, etc. An important purpose of contract management software is to streamline and reduce administrative workload.

A contract management system is an indispensable tool for ensuring that the intent of all contracts that affect an organization are adhered to.

A contract manager is responsible for the administration and management of contracts and for overseeing the process of consolidating, creating, and executing contracts.

A contract repository is a place where contracts are stored. In the past, it was usually a physical location where originals and copies of paper documents were stored. Nowadays, it is understood as a digital storage of contracts.

A contract review is a process used to identify and analyze the key provisions of a contract. The purpose is to minimize legal and financial risk.

Contract software maps the process of digitally managing contracts with customers, suppliers, partners or employees. This includes the creation, management, sharing, analysis and archiving of contracts.

Deep Learning goes beyond Machine Learning by creating more complex hierarchical models designed to mimic how humans learn new information.

With increasing automation, paper contracts are a thing of the past. Digital contracts increase efficiency and enable companies to keep pace with their competitors.

A digital document management system is a system for receiving, tracking, managing and storing documents and reducing the amount of paper used. It is an indispensable tool in today’s digitized world.

A digital signature (also called an electronic signature) is the equivalent of a handwritten signature. The eIDAS regulation of the European Union distinguishes three quality levels of electronic signatures.

A DMS software is a software used to capture, store, manage and easily retrieve digital documents within an organization. It provides the necessary functionality for companies to digitize documents and automate their business processes.

Document management systems are used to digitally archive and manage electronic documents.

A document management system (DMS) tracks documents electronically using software instead of keeping track of them in folders, spreadsheets, or loose papers. It enables the creation, storage, management, categorization, protection, and retrieval of digital documents.

The eIDAS regulation is an EU regulation on the use of electronic signatures. eIDAS is the abbreviation for Electronic Identification, Authentification and Trust Services.

An electronic signature (also called digital signature) is the equivalent of a handwritten signature. The eIDAS regulation of the European Union distinguishes three quality levels of electronic signatures.

The term “eSign” stands for “electronic signature”. The so-called eIDAS regulation governs the use of electronic signature procedures. A distinction is made between simple electronic signatures, advanced electronic signatures and qualified electronic signatures.

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force on May 25, 2018, on the basis of an EU regulation and regulates the handling of personal data by companies and other legal entities.

Legal SaaS is a collective term for software that deals with the digitalization of processes in legal departments or law firms. It includes many different types of software, from case management to billing to contract automation software.

Machine Learning is a concept that allows computers to learn automatically from examples and experience and to mimic humans in decision making without being explicitly programmed.

NLP or Natural Language Processing refers to all tasks that enable a computer to process data in human language.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a technology that can analyze text and convert it into a format that can then be processed by machines.

The qualified electronic signature (QES) meets the highest security standards of all three types of electronic signatures.

A Qualified Trust Service Provider (QTSP) offers one or more qualified trust services and must have been granted qualified status by the national supervisory authority. The decision of the supervisory authority granting the qualified status is included in the corresponding national trusted list.

Redlining is the process of editing a contract where two or more parties negotiate or collaborate. The goal is to produce a joint document that satisfies all parties.

A signature field allows you to add a blank digital signature form field to a document. When a signer clicks on the field, a dialog opens and prompts the signer to co-sign the file.

Signing a contract means that the parties agree to the terms and conditions contained therein and their contractual obligations.

Signing software is the basis for agreeing to the terms of a contract with an electronic signature.

A simple electronic signature (SES) does not require any special technical precautions. Due to its simplicity, it has little probative value in legal disputes.