Contract management software: the requirements template to download

The requirements specification first helps you reach internal agreement. It forces the legal department, business teams, the IT department and the DPO to state their needs before meeting vendors.

It then helps you compare. When every vendor answers the same questions, the differences become visible, and the decision depends less on the quality of the demo.

A short document tied to your real cases will be used more than a long feature list. If everything is mandatory, nothing is left to separate the answers. For the full approach, see our article on choosing CLM software.

A few elements of context allow vendors to answer accurately and to price on a realistic basis:

• Your objective. The problem to solve first, in one sentence, and the expected result.
• Your portfolio. Contract types, annual volume, the backlog to migrate and the share of scanned documents.
• Your people. Who drafts, approves, negotiates, signs and tracks contracts, and how many people per role.
• Your tools. CRM, email, storage, e-signature and corporate directory.
• Your constraints. Sector, hosting policy, requirements from a law or a contract, languages and timeline.

Add two or three real scenarios, anonymized if needed. They will be replayed during demos and will tell you more than a written answer.

Follow the contract lifecycle, and ask for a demo on the points that matter most:

• Drafting. How are templates, variables, questionnaires and conditional blocks handled? Is there a clause library? Who can modify an approved template?
• Approval. Can you define workflows by contract type, with an order and approval rules? Where is each decision retained?
• Negotiation. How does the counterparty access the document? Do change tracking and version comparison work with Word files?
• Signature. Which signature levels are offered under the eIDAS Regulation: simple, advanced, qualified? What does the evidence file contain, and where is it stored?
• Contract repository. Which searches are possible, both full-text and by attribute? Can you create your own fields and restrict access by folder?
• Tracking. Which dates can you set a reminder on? Who receives it? How are an auto-renewal or a termination notice period represented?
• AI. Which tasks are covered? Do the results cite their source? Can you configure your own analysis rules? Who validates the extracted data?
• Integrations. Which connectors are available today, and what exactly do they do? Is there a documented API?

This section is written with the IT department and the DPO. Ask for documents rather than statements.

• Hosting. Where are contracts, backups and logs stored? Do some services process data elsewhere, for example to send emails?
• Subprocessors. What is the up-to-date list, with the role and location of each? How are you informed of a change? Article 28 of the GDPR governs this point.
• Transfers. Does any data leave the European Union? On which basis under Chapter V of the GDPR?
• Encryption and access. How is data encrypted, in transit and at rest? Are two-factor authentication and SSO available, and in which plan?
• Certifications. Which certificates are held, for what scope and by which entity? A framework used as a reference is not the same as a certification.
• Testing and incidents. Are penetration tests carried out, and how often? What is the incident notification procedure?
• Continuity. How often are backups made? Which recovery objectives are announced, and are they contractual?
• AI. Which model is used, from which provider and in which location? Are your contracts used to train models? Can these features be turned off?

This part determines the real timeline of the project and part of its budget.

• Migration. Which formats are accepted? How are scans handled? Who checks the extracted data, and using which method?
• Configuration. Who turns your Word templates into dynamic templates? Is this work included?
• Getting started. Can you start with one contract type or one team? What steps follow, and who leads them?
• Support. Which contact person follows you after launch? What are the support commitments and hours?
• Internal time. How much time will your teams need to spend, and when?
• References. Can you speak with an organization of comparable size and sector?

Ask for a dated schedule for your scope, showing what depends on you. A timeline announced without this detail remains hard to compare.

The exit is prepared at the entry. Your contracts and their data must remain usable on the day you change tools.

The European Data Act, applicable since September 12, 2025, provides a framework for data processing services, and its Recital 81 cites SaaS. Its Article 25 provides in particular for a notice period of no more than two months, a default transition period of thirty days and at least thirty days to retrieve the data. Under its Article 29, switching charges are limited to direct costs until January 12, 2027, and can no longer be charged after that date.

This framework does not replace your questions. Its Article 31 provides a specific regime for certain custom services, and analyses by law firms indicate that early termination penalties are not covered by the removal of charges. So ask for details on:

• What the export contains. Original files and signed versions, intermediate versions, metadata, templates, evidence files and the audit log.
• The format. An open, documented format, with the link between each file and its data preserved.
• The conditions. The plan concerned, the timeline, any price and assistance.
• The evidence. How the evidence file for a signature remains accessible after you leave.
• The end. Deletion of the data and its confirmation, as required by the rules on what happens to data at the end of the service.

The safest approach is to request a test export during the selection, then check its content.

Ask each vendor to qualify its answers with the same codes. Our document offers five levels: available as standard, available through configuration, custom development, planned with a date, or not available.

Then rank your criteria in three levels: essential, important and useful. An essential criterion that is not covered rules out the vendor, unless an explicit decision is made. For the others, give a score supported by what you observed.

Finally, compare the budget over several years, with the same scope assumptions. Our article on the cost of a CLM lists the cost items that should appear in each proposal.

You can send this questionnaire to Docform as you would to other vendors. The Trust Center already publishes some of the answers: hosting in France on Microsoft Azure, the list of subprocessors, encryption and backups. It also states that ISO 27001 is a framework in use, with no certification claimed. Features by plan are listed on the pricing page.