How ecosio Handles 500+ Contracts a Year – Stress-Free
- Scaled with ease: Enabled a small legal team to handle 500+ contracts annually.
- No missed renewals: Automated reminders eliminated costly oversights.
- Freed up legal: Templates empowered teams from other departments to self-serve on contracts.
- Reliable partner: Trusted platform with fast support and a team that listens.
Background
ecosio specializes in seamless electronic data exchange (EDI) and e-invoicing, positioning itself as a leading provider of B2B integration solutions across diverse industries. The company enables automated communication throughout entire supply chains, driving efficiency and streamlining business processes.
Wolfgang Vanas joined ecosio as the first legal hire four years ago and currently serves as Head of Legal, leading a team of three. When he first joined ecosio, the organization faced significant challenges in efficiently managing contracts while scaling, with no formalized processes in place. Wolfgang played a key role in establishing streamlined legal operations that would support the company’s growth.
Challenges: Overcoming Growing Pains in Contract Management
When Wolfgang joined ecosio as the first legal hire, the company had no structured system for contract management. Contracts were stored in a shared drive folder, and there was little visibility or control over their status.
Employees across departments would often be asking the legal department about contracts for specific suppliers, only to find that they couldn’t be sure if they had all the relevant documents or information at hand. The absence of a formal process meant that there was a lot of uncertainty around whether contracts were valid or if the documentation was accurate.
“You go on a journey of finding more information while not knowing if there is any other information out there. This was the biggest pain point that we had to tackle head-on.”
As the company scaled, so did the complexity of managing contracts across departments. Wolfgang and his small legal team needed a way to handle this increasing workload. One of the key friction points came from manual processes—especially in HR—where employment contracts had to be tailored for different entities with various add-ons. Editing these contracts in Word documents proved cumbersome and time-consuming, often requiring multiple revisions and constant oversight. This consumed significant legal time and energy, often unnecessarily.
Another costly pain point was contract renewals: without centralized tracking, key dates were easy to miss.
“We had one or two occasions where a renewal was missed, and that, of course, had a financial impact. And it was something that we could only trace back to not having a proper system in place to keep track of those dates.”
These ongoing inefficiencies and missed opportunities made it clear: they needed a smarter, more scalable way to manage contracts.
Key challenges:
- Missed contract renewals led to financial consequences due to lack of deadline visibility.
- Legal was overly involved in routine tasks like repetitive contract creation.
- No centralized system for managing contracts, versions, or contract ownership.
Solutions: Building a Scalable Contract Management System with Precisely
To meet the demands of a growing contract volume and reduce legal’s involvement in routine tasks, Wolfgang turned to Precisely for a more efficient and scalable way of working.
After evaluating various Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platforms, Precisely was selected for its comprehensive range of features, including:
- A robust digital archive
- Customizable templates
- Efficient approval and signing workflows
- Automated reminders for important dates.
“What I loved most was that Precisely was so well-rounded. I felt like there was nothing missing and every aspect is just great. I don’t have to compromise on this or that.”
A standout improvement came through the automated template functionality. Previously, contracts required manual edits and frequent legal oversight—even in standard cases. With templates, those processes became self-sufficient and hands-off for legal. Once set up, templates enabled teams to generate compliant documents independently, freeing up legal’s time for higher-value work.
The shift to a centralized contract repository replaced scattered email threads with a structured review and approval process. This change dramatically reduced inbox chaos and enabled legal to handle a consistently high volume of contract activity without being overwhelmed.
Most importantly, Precisely also helped the team avoid missed contract renewals with automated reminders. This not only prevented financial losses but gave leadership confidence in the legal function’s oversight.
Wolfgang and his team implemented workshops with key departments to create clear, tailored processes, ensuring that all contract management was handled through Precisely and properly tracked.
Key solutions:
- Precisely was chosen for its balanced feature set including: archiving, templates, e-signatures, and reminders.
- Streamlined contract creation workflows empowered departments to manage contracts without always relying on legal, and significantly reduced administrative work.
- Precisely’s user-friendly platform enabled a smooth onboarding process across departments.
- Automated reminders helped avoid missed contract deadlines and their associated costs.
Results: Empowering Growth with Streamlined Contract Oversight
With the implementation of Precisely, ecosio saw a complete transformation in its contract management processes. Contracts were now centralized, and legal had full visibility over all agreements, ensuring that everything was properly processed through the legal department. The company experienced a reduction in administrative burdens, as contracts were handled more quickly and easily.
“I don’t see a lot of employment contracts anymore. It’s just off my mind and offloaded onto the Precisely templates.”
Notably, the legal team was able to prevent missed renewals, saving significant costs. As the company grew, the system scaled seamlessly, handling over 500 contracts annually. Moreover, the implementation fostered greater collaboration across departments, particularly with HR, where templates helped streamline contract creation.
“Without Precisely we would have a hard time keeping up. There would have been no scaling option. Precisely works whether you are a small department, or a big department. The use of Precisely can evolve with your growth.”
ecosio’s workflows and processes they had built with Precisely scaled effortlessly alongside them. What began as a solution for a lean legal team proved flexible enough to support the evolving demands of a larger, fast-growing business.
Key results:
- Full contract visibility and control across the company, reducing risk.
- No missed renewals since implementing automated reminders, preventing costly oversights.
- 500+ contracts processed annually, with templates significantly reducing manual work.
- Increased collaboration and streamlined processes across departments, especially HR.
- The system scaled seamlessly as the company grew, handling more contracts without increasing overhead.
The Precisely Difference: People & Product
Over four years of using Precisely, the relationship has evolved beyond a typical vendor-client dynamic. ecosio’s experience has been shaped not just by a reliable product, but by a responsive and passionate team committed to continuous improvement. From fast feedback loops to a consistent product experience, Precisely has become more than just a tool — it’s a trusted companion in ecosio’s daily work.
“Precisely has always been like a steadfast companion over the last four years. There’s never been a glitch, there has never been a downtime. It was just always there when I needed it.”
The level of service and reliability has been a key differentiator, particularly when comparing Precisely with other platforms.
“The product is really great, but for me the distinctive factor is always the people. Everyone I get in contact with at Precisely is really excited about what they’re doing. If you have a question, the response time is just insanely fast.”
And importantly, feedback doesn’t just disappear into the void — it’s heard, acted on, and often turned into new features.
“You are actually heard. So I am thankful for that.”
Highlights:
- Passionate, engaged team at Precisely
- Exceptionally fast, helpful support
- Active responsiveness to customer feedback
- Regular feature improvements and updates
Key metrics:
- 500+ contracts processed annually
- Zero missed contract renewals
- Countless hours saved on routine administrative tasks