Dolphin launches one-off automated legacy contract audit service

• Designed as the first step in implementing contract management
• Faster, more accurate & cost-effective than traditional manual audits

29th March, 2011, UK

Dolphin Software has launched what it believes to be the world's first ever one-off automated legacy contract audit service, providing an entry-level introduction for companies considering implementation of contract management. This standalone services is designed to be the first step in helping companies to identify the scale of their contractual obligations.

Says Dolphin's Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Ronan Lavelle, "Many companies are looking at implementing contract lifecycle management systems right now, but without full awareness of their existing contractual obligations, then they are missing the bigger picture and still exposed to risk.

Our research reveals that around 80 per cent of companies do not have visibility of all their existing contractual agreements, which may number tens of thousands. Up until now, discovering legacy contracts has been carried out either in-house or by consultants at huge expense, or not addressed at all. Our service enables them to locate these legacy contracts and make them more accessible."

The service involves a one-off cost and uses Dolphin AutoCapture technology, which Dolphin estimates provides an accuracy rate of 90% or higher when compared to manual contract audit processes which are typically costly, laborious and depend on considerable human intervention. Available either installed on the customer's premises or as a cloud-computing option, pricing starts from as little as $15,000/£10,000, which Dolphin claims is a fraction of a cost that a thorough manual discovery process would typically involve. Dolphin AutoCapture is a natural complement of Dolphin Contract Manager, which since its launch in 2009 has been adopted by organisations worldwide, including Etihad Airways, Friesland Campina and Valve Inc.

Automatic contract discovery can:

• Discover and identify list or hidden contracts in Windows file shares and computer desktops

• Automatically extract key contract data (like critical dates, contract parties, locations, right to assign, currencies and values) from contract documents

• Provide a management dashboard with instant visibility into contract milestones and key terms

Key features of Dolphin AutoCapture

The vital ingredients include advanced search and artificial intelligence-based technologies that are able to automatically locate and classify legacy contracts hidden in Windows file shares and computer desktops, and to then extra key contract milestones from those contracts. An OCR engine is able to scan and integrate paper-based contracts, which are then automatically indexed.

From a technical point of view, fields are 'normalized' to rich text and common formats Intelligent rules engine extracts relevant contract details such as key dates, contract obligations, and rights to assign. The artificial intelligence is able to 'learn' as the project processes, thus speeding up the processing of information.

This information can then be presented in an accessible form that can be easily integrated into third party systems, such as contract lifecycle management, ERP and CRM systems. Captured contracts and data can also be analyzed in a management dashboard.

Organizations may decide to use automatic legacy contract discovery as a one-off audit, or implement on-going contract discovery, to ensure that as business users continue to save contracts and legal documents in Windows file shares and their computer desktops, that they are automatically identified, captured and profiled. In this way, the technology can act as a natural complement to the contract lifecycle management system being implemented.