Free Online Contract Management Platform for SMEs Launches
Netherlands start-up Cloudtract has launched a free online contract management platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where they can store contracts and set alerts.
The Amsterdam-based company says that businesses often waste money as they forget to cancel contracts they no longer want. Cloudtract’s co-founder, Angelique Schouten, offers an example: “We forgot to cancel an IT contract and wasted €40,000 paying for a software licence we didn’t need anymore.”
Cloudtract adds that entrepreneurs and SMEs rightfully focus on running their day-to-day business and typically pay less attention to managing their contract administration.
“When we researched contract management behaviour at companies, we concluded that contracts are usually kept in a folder in the corner of an office or at a secretary’s desk,” says Schouten. “Sometimes a simple spreadsheet or calendar programme is used. Especially facility and maintenance contracts lack attention. These contracts regularly do not make money, they just cost money and consequently are not top of mind.”
Schouten adds that a market study showed there were two categories of contract management solutions: “Contract management software that is either part of an expensive enterprise resource planning (ERP)-software package or an over-engineered pay-per-user license model. Not the solution we were looking for as we only needed a place to store contracts safely and receive an alert.”
Cloudtract says it aims to tackle the problem head-on with a free online platform that makes it easy to securely store contracts and set alerts.
The company ultimately intends to offer the solution to businesses and consumers as well, but initially the company has launched its beta version for companies only. It is available in English and more languages will follow shortly.