Too Legit to Quit: Why Skullcandy is Teaming Up with Icertis

Previously Published to TMC Net’s Cloud Computing Magazine

No, we’re not talking about MC Hammer this time. We’re talking contract management.

Cloud-based contract management provider, Icertis, announced a recent partnership with Skullcandy, Inc. that will help the performance audio brand to excel in future business dealings within the global marketplace.

Since named “The World’s Coolest Ear Bud” by Fortune, Skullcandy has seen an increase in sales and interests, while already ranking as the third most-sold headphone in the United States. The company, preparing for rapid growth and adoption, has identified areas for improvement within daily business operations and structure.

After strategically analyzing multiple solutions, Skullcandy decided to go with adopting the Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform in managing the contractual segmentation of those operations.

With that, the IT department got busy.

Skullcandy plans on rollout of ICM within the next 60 days. Various departments, such as legal, human resources, procurement and sales will be trained and onboarded into using the systems. Strategic partnerships and marketing will also benefit form this new platform, as they will be able to keep better track of contractual obligations and hold others accountable – without having to dig into the crate to find the originating contract or the latest amendments to it.

“Contract complexity and audit scrutiny is only expected to intensify, so the days of manually tracking contracts and assessing risk are becoming a thing of the past,” said Samir Bodas, CEO of Icertis.

In the days where we must be careful not to sneeze in the wrong direction, some form of cloud-based contract management is essential to business operations.

Law firms will be able to integrate eDiscovery platforms in staying on top of client portfolios. After all, many of them are receiving retainer to continuously monitor business activities and ensure legal compliance along the way. Why not avoid trouble from the early beginnings of an official business relationship.

One major difference between Icertis and other contract lifestyle management providers is that they serve a more broad-based contract type. Many organizations are content with contract-specific filing, but this isn’t always enough, especially in the case of a company that has built such demand.

In the case of Skullcandy, Icertis provides a “360 view” of operational and financial data, outlining details of each contract and minimizing risks in process, including communication, cross-departmental accessibility and expiration dates.

What Skullcandy enjoyed most about the platform was its ability to push real time notification and reminders to all users on the system. It literally notified everyone at once about changes in agreement, while updating all amendments. This software also allows Skullcandy to keep some documentation off limits to certain individuals, while continuing to keep sensitive information safe and secure.

“As a global brand, we have an extensive contract library relevant to all departments internationally,” said Oriana Kacirek, Senior Manager & Corporate Paralegal for Skullcandy. “We wanted a robust platform to manage our process across all of our supply, vendor and license relationships. Icertis’ platform offers superior capabilities that align with our technology, business and operational needs.”

The global technology research firm, Gartner (News – Alert), has predicted that by 2017, we will see a huge increase in contract lifecycle management with rates growing as large as 40%. It’s set to become a billion dollar business, because organizations are steadily becoming more tech-savvy and are adopting solutions that will minimize risks – especially association with revolving contractual agreements.