The life of a contract. Every contract goes through the same stages:

The life of a contract: it is drafted from a template, negotiated with the counterparty, approved by the legal team, signed, stored in one searchable place, and tracked for payments, renewals and penalties. Contract lifecycle management software handles every stage.

Software that handles all these stages is called contract lifecycle management, or CLM.

Why companies buy it. In many companies, signed contracts end up scattered across email inboxes and shared folders. Nobody notices when a contract renews itself automatically, when a supplier's discount should apply, or when a penalty could be claimed. The money lost this way is called value leakage. CLM puts every contract in one place and reminds people what each one requires.

Where the money leaks: when contracts are scattered across email inboxes and shared folders, nobody notices an automatic renewal, a supplier's discount or a penalty to claim, and the money lost is called value leakage. CLM puts every contract in one place and reminds people what each one requires.

Who buys it. The main buyer is the company's legal department. The procurement team, which buys for the company, uses it for contracts with suppliers. The sales team uses it for contracts with customers. (More on the software that runs the legal department in Market Segment 43.3, Legal practice and matter management software.)

The buyers come in two sizes. Large companies, with tens of thousands of contracts, buy big platforms that connect to their other systems, such as their ERP and CRM. Growing companies want something simpler that they can set up quickly.

India's own rules. In India, many agreements must carry stamp duty, a tax paid when the agreement is made. It used to be paid by buying stamp paper. E-stamping lets it be paid online. And under India's Information Technology Act, an electronic signature, such as Aadhaar eSign, is legally valid for most agreements.

India has produced several of the leading companies in this field.

Every company named here has posted software engineering jobs in India. Famous companies that don't actively hire software engineers in India are left out.