Koen Vercauteren, Product Management Leader at Birdseye
Organizations that take contract management seriously choose the CATS CM methodology. And that is no coincidence. At a time when contracts are becoming increasingly complex and the risks of mismanagement are only increasing, CATS CM offers the combination of structure and clarity needed.
Many organizations struggle with fragmented contract management, unclear responsibilities and contracts that disappear into the archive after they are signed. This leads to risks, missed appointments, reputational damage or even financial losses.
CATS CM offers a clear framework that makes contract management a predictable discipline, with room for direction, collaboration and value creation.
The strength of the method lies in four interrelated and equally important pillars, two of which we will highlight here: contract management essentials and contract management processes and scenarios. We will discuss the other two pillars in the next blog.
CATS CM stands for Contract Administration and Tracking System for Contract Management. It is a methodical and results-oriented approach for professional contract management that was developed in the Netherlands.
It differs from traditional approaches in that the CATS CM methodology states that a contract is not just a legal text, but that it is about the results and performance that the contract enables.
It focuses on process-oriented working rather than reactively adjusting, which ensures a continuous process with set steps and associated tasks. From ensuring a contract starts properly to monitoring, evaluation and timely renewal or termination.
The method helps organizations to draw up contracts and actively manage them throughout their term, so that their intended value is actually realized. In the CATS CM domain, this is often described as the shift from paper certainty to continuous operational control.
Essentials are the necessary building blocks for good contract management. Without these ten preconditions, contract management remains vague and ad hoc. CATS CM explicitly identifies these essentials, so that organizations can work with them consciously and systematically. This prevents surprises and ensures that contracts are not forgotten, but actively managed. An important part of this pillar is also the attention to organization-wide coordination: contract management almost always affects multiple departments, from procurement and legal to finance and operations. The ten essentials ensure that everyone works on the basis of the same principles.
The other pillar relates to the process steps. After all, contracts go through a life cycle, and CATS CM makes that cycle visible and manageable. The methodology uses a process model consisting of five clusters, from initiation to closure. These five set process steps provide guidance not only for starting up contracts properly, but also for continuing to monitor and optimize them along the way.
In addition, the CATS CM method makes use of contract management scenarios, because not every contract is equally important or risky. The methodology helps organizations determine which type of contract requires which approach. This prevents too much energy going into small and less essential contracts and allows you to link the right effort to the right contracts.
By combining the essentials and process steps, contract management changes from an administrative task into a strategic instrument. Contracts become transparent, performance becomes measurable, and collaboration predictable.
The two pillars we discussed in this blog form the backbone of a mature approach to contract management. In the next blog we will discuss the other two pillars: the distinction between ‘Work to be done and all other contractual matters’, and the clear division of ‘Roles’ that CATS CM prescribes.
