Gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân optimises contract management with Anchr

Súdwest-Fryslân was looking for an efficient contract management tool that would allow them to manage and process all agreements and arrangements with suppliers - for the fields of Information Provisioning and ICT - effectively and legally in one central location. In addition, the tool needed to be accessible to everyone involved at all times and from anywhere. 

The choice fell on contract management. In the first quarter of 2021, the implementation consultants from Anchr began implementing Anchr Contract Management, a module from the Purchase to Pay platform, the Anchr end-to-end solution in procurement, inventory management, contract management, supplier management, and digital invoice processing.

A phased approach based on the NICV model for contract management

'For the implementation, we chose a phased approach,' says Koen Laurijsen, Sector Manager Public NL at Anchr. 'As a starting point, we use the NICV model, a survey tool developed by NIC. This gives you easy insight into which phase of contract management your organisation is currently in and provides guidance to achieve the next maturity phase of contract management. This way, Gemeente Súdwest-Fryslân can grow organically alongside all the possibilities our software offers. It's always rewarding to see that your clients can achieve their goals with your solutions.'

From our expertise and experience with various clients, we see that contract management is becoming increasingly relevant within public institutions. Once the basics are in order, smarter spend management coupled with Business Intelligence and Data Science can provide more insights and also lead to better forecasting. Silent contract renewals that went unnoticed in time, missed opportunities, and inefficient management truly belong to the past.

By centralising contracts, organisations can reduce the number of (permanent) suppliers. This way, it is possible to implement cost savings and negotiate discounts. Contract management alerts when a contract is about to expire. This reduces the likelihood of unwanted extensions or overlapping contracts within your organisation, and all contracts are made visible at a glance. Evaluations are conducted entirely digitally, which significantly shortens the processing flow and makes labour-intensive paperwork unnecessary.