NDA Automation Made Easy

Learn how to automate Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)

Table of Content

• What NDA stands for?
• What is NDA automation?
• Risks and Disadvantages of Manual NDA Management
• What can be automated?
• How to automate NDA
• Advanced NDA automation (step-by-step guide)
• Why is drawing up NDAs so time-consuming?
• What role does NDA Management Software play?
• Why choose DocsCube over other software?

What NDA stands for?

An NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) or a Confidentiality Agreement (CA) is a legally binding document between two or more parties that protect sensitive information from being shared publicly.

Non-disclosure agreements can be used for many reasons and in many different industries from
Legal to B2B. Depending on the type of situation, an NDA may also involve different people from
different departments within an organization. Learn more: What is NDA and when you should use one?

What is NDA automation?

In simplest terms, NDA automation utilizes specialized software to help you create and streamline NDA creation. The software reduces the time and effort required to execute repetitive and mundane tasks.

Document Automation software enables:

• Automated NDA generation (data entry)
• Automated NDA approvals
• Automate reminders, emails, and alerts
• Contract tracking

Learn more about contract automation software

Contract Lifecycle Management platform also allows for automatic drafting and review.

Automated contract creation enables your team to maintain accuracy, and efficiency while reducing risks and being increasingly effective. No coding and minimal effort are required.

Primary goal of NDA automation is to frees up your staff to focus on more complex issues, eliminating bottlenecks and ultimately save time and resources.

Risks and Disadvantages of Manual NDA Management

• Human Error
  • Manually drafting NDAs or documents in general is inherently risky due to inevitable oversight- miss-spelled terms, a missing clause or term, or an error with any other vital information.
  • This type of errors can cause financial consequence for the company whether a penalty or the negation of the entire contract.
  • Accuracy is key. Automation is the answer.
• Lack of Transparency and Collaboration
  • Names, dates and key stakeholders must be included in any drafting process. It creates accountability and the insurance that each contract is executed correctly and efficiently. The process also instills a sense of confidence for all signatories.
  • Automation provides that sense of security as it logs all personnel involved in the drafting and signing of the contract.
• Losing Track of Documents
  • Filing systems can be complicated and messy.
  • Documents can be lost easily.
  • Tracking the progress of a document during drafting is crucial. It ensures that drafts are updated, the document moves the drafting workflow effortlessly, and is filed away in a secure repository for easy access.
  • Automation guarantees that each and every step is completed- error-free.
• Data Security Breaches
  • NDAs by nature require discretion and the handling of sensitive information. Outdated and inefficient security systems may cause the data to be lost or altered without permission, therefore running the risk of a breach.

What can be automated?

Drafting a routine document like NDA is simple and can be automated easily with NDA management and automation software.

Automated contract creation process alleviates stress on all fronts: from document drafting, management, communication, and collaboration to e-signing, execution, filing, and document recovery.

So where does one start? And what can be automated?

Automated Creation and Drafting of NDA:

• Begin by using one of DocsCube’s numerous ready-to-use templates. They are fully customizable making them perfect for just about almost any industry and NDA. Never miss a step in the drafting process. The NDA contract workflow created within makes it easy to track every step of the drafting process for fast and error-free documents every time.
• Easily pull date from your existing systems and automatically generate NDA.
• Additionally you can create fillable web form and by submitting all the necessary data you can generate pre-populated NDA in a few clicks.
• Collaborate with colleagues and clients seamlessly for full accountability and transparency during the entire process.

Automated Progress Tracking and Monitoring:

• Ensure that all parties are meeting necessary obligations and deadlines.
• E-signing an NDA does not mean the process is finished. Tracking contract status ensures that deadlines are met, updates and amendments are adhered to. Any changes to the document means that they will have to be re-sent, re-signed, executed, and re-filed appropriately. Do this by setting alerts at specific stages of re-drafting for example. Each of these steps takes time, effort and streamlining.
• Automation makes the process simple and error-proof.

Contract Renewal Automation and NDA Management

• Most contracts are usually drawn up with termination or renewal dates in mind. There are usually options for renewal; these need to be followed through by one or both parties- depending on the nature of the contract.
• Never miss renewal or filing dates. Use an automated contract management system for maximum accuracy, deadline management and efficiency.

How to automate NDA (simplified process)

Simplify and automate your NDA management with a few easy steps and with just a few clicks.

How it works

• Use NDA template OR Upload your own NDA contract
• Map dynamic fields in the contract
• Create fillable web form from document dynamic fields in one click
• Pull data from your current system (CRM) or populate the web form and your NDA document will be automatically generated
• eSign NDA in one click

DocsCube Tip: you can pull data from youe CRM and automatically generate NDA for your clients.

Advanced NDA management and automation (step-by-step guide)

If your NDA process is more complex and includes approval and/or negotiations, you can use an advanced contract automation approach.. This way you can assign and automate separate workflows for each phase.

For example, NDA process can have the following phases:

• NDA Request Received
• Automatically Generate NDA
• Approval
• Send to the client for E-Sign
• Completed
• Archived

Each phase can have a separate contract workflow that will execute actions associated with the request phase.

For example, NDA approval workflow will have the action:

• Send For Approval (you can define responsible person)
• You can define each action when a document is approved or rejected.

Contract approval workflow

How contract process can be defined and automated?

• Create process phases that suit your business
  • Define your contract lifecycle phases (Example: Generate NDA, Approval, Send For Signing, Signed)
• Assign workflow to each process phase
  • Automate manual repetitive actions such as contract pre-fill, approvals, emails, etc.
• Create automated contract request
  • The workflow will be automatically triggered when the request enters a specific phase.

Contract Process Automation

Additionally, you can define contract lifecycle management rules, for example

• When NDA request is received -> notify the responsible person
• When a document is approved -> send it for signing
• When a document is rejected -> notify the responsible person and send more details why the document is rejected and what changes are requested.
• When a document is signed -> mark it as signed and move to the next phase

The process is streamlined and takes much less time compared to the hard copy version.

DocsCube Tip: You can use our process library to simplify initial setup. Install the process in just one click.

Why is drawing up NDAs so time-consuming?

• An NDA is overseen by multiple people. Each document may require multiple reviews, edits, and approvals. The NDA may undergo bottlenecks at multiple points as it goes from one firm to several counterparties.‌
• Most NDAs are drawn up quickly. They are therefore prone to human error– from spelling mistakes to outright missing information. They therefore may need to be re-drawn, followed up on, or edited.
• ‌Each new version requires careful legal review and it is time-consuming. Depending on the type of NDA, many versions of one document may exist.
• NDAs are most often completed very quickly by companies. Time is pressing – professionals are keen to move on to more pressing business- again leading to oversight.
• NDAs are drafted and re-drafted numerous times to fit various situations, passing through many hands. Many versions of the same document may exist, each document is manually created sometimes leading to confusion and inefficient use of time. Transparency and accountability are also more difficult to track.
• Companies rarely follow up on these agreements once they are signed and filed away.
• Potential risks associated with signing NDAs are often overlooked by companies signing them.

NDA automation and its impact on business:

Non-disclosure agreements protect sensitive information. They are crucial support documents in any business. Larger companies have hundreds of these agreements, and spend an enormous amount of time drafting, editing, and collaborating on them.

Streamlining these processes allows the legal team to standardize these processes, eliminate human error and eliminate wasted time and bottlenecks.

Improve the quality, collaboration, and oversight

Manual document creation involves elevated risk in that human error is inevitable. Several problems may occur:

• Using outdated forms
• Oversight. Not receiving relevant approval at each stage of the document creation/execution process.
• Execution oversights and tracking of documents: e-signatures are a quick, easy, and error-proof way to execute documents efficiently and in a timely manner. But tracking the document from drafting to execution is just as important to ensure accuracy. Standardizing these workflows ensures transparency, accountability of each party involved, and correct execution of each stage of the drafting process.
• Misfiled and lost documents. Using automation ensures that each document is filed in a centralized repository, so none of your documents are ever lost or misfiled. They are also quick and easy to locate.
• Data and security breaches. The existence of an NDA is something a company would like to keep confidential. A failing security system may cause the breach itself. A state-of-the-art, cloud-based security system alleviates that threat.

Automating NDA contract generation eliminates several risks allowing you and your colleagues to focus
your efforts on tasks that matter most.

• Automation keeps all forms current and updated preventing the use of old documents.
• Store multiple versions of documents in a secure online repository and access them securely anywhere, any time.
• Simplify document drafting by using and editing pre-defined workflows and templates for faster and more accurate doc execution.

To summarize: With Automated NDAs

• Execute documents faster and more securely.
• Standardize templates
• Negotiate
• Monitor Compliance
• Save time

What role does NDA Management Software play?

NDA Management System streamlines the entire document drafting process from initiation to negotiation, approval, execution, management, compliance, and renewal.

Every key stage is accounted for through an efficient and error-proof workflow management system for ultimate efficiency, transparency, and accuracy. Automating the document drafting process uses legally binding, pre-approved templates that use common, easily understood language and repeatable, consistent content.

Combining these factors in turn creates a cohesive corporate message and a sense of confidence that reverberates not only through the company but to clients as well.

Save money, boost the bottom line and create a reliable, consistent corporate reputation that exemplifies accuracy, efficiency, and client satisfaction through automation.

Why choose DocsCube over other software?

Contract drafting is time consuming and errors can be expensive and detrimental to client confidence. Using complicated CLM products can cause dissatisfaction and frustration on the part of the person using it.

DocsCube is simple to use and efficient! Software is also backed by a dedicated team of IT professionals ready to help at any point of your automation journey.

Choose DocsCube contract management and automation platform and boost your productivity, focus on tasks that matter most and secure your peace of mind. Contact us for a trial run and meet our team.

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