ContractZen vs. GEP SMART

This is a big step up from our use of an Excel spreadsheet to manage hundreds of clients. There is more functionality in the product than we are currently using. It would be useful to learn from others how they are using the tool as we might discover some improved efficiency that we haven't considered.

Incentivized

GEP SMART is well suited to equip procurement professionals to manage multiple RFx's at one point in time and help provide structure to the process. If an organization has an existing ERP and they want to acquire GEP SMART as a bolt-on, then integration is key. If there is any customization then it is more difficult to take advantage of the latest upgrades.

Incentivized

• Download of all entries
• Reminders
• Searchability indexes

Incentivized

• The customer service level is incomparable to any other software providers I work with. The GEP Technical Team is very supportive and flexible.
• The GEP Team takes enhancement requests seriously and always tries to further develop/enhance the tool, especially with small requests from users.

Incentivized

• No contract lifecycle management.
• Governance may not be adequate for large organizations.
• Sign-in with SSO or without SSO can be improved; it's a bit confusing for new users.

Incentivized

• Our organization has yet to take advantage of upgrading to the latest version of GEP SMART. The version that we are on does not make use of the full screen for the different internal windows and pop-up windows. I find it cumbersome to scroll left-right and up-down on the smaller windows when there is much real-estate on the screen that could optimize the user interface.
• GEP SMART provides technical support but our vendors seem to have some difficulty logging in to their profiles and updating their information. Occasionally, the salesperson delegates to another internal member so we'll have to set up the new member with their log in.
• The digital signature process requires that the signers of the agreement be defined before the agreement is routed for approval. Sometimes our vendors have a pool of signers that could sign the agreements and it can become a small challenge to change the signers after it has already been defined in GEP SMART.

Incentivized

The inexpensive ContractZen saves time and money and is a joy to use

The tool is fantastic, but we are investigating a broader spend management solution at the moment which may mean we look in a different direction for this capability, most likely internally developed.

Incentivized

Good product.

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The application is highly usable, but there are some parts of the design that could be improved such as the layout and scaling on the pages, the amount of unused white space within the interface, and the consistency of the interface between modules.

Incentivized

The performance of the GEP SMART platform overall has been excellent. We do not hear complaints about system performance and have not experienced any slowdowns in adjacent systems due to the GEP implementation. Of all the (largely self-inflicted) change management challenges we've dealt with, system performance and platform reliability have not been on the list of concerns.

Incentivized

Have not needed much but available when I do have questions

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The support team is responsive, smart, and knowledgeable about their product and about our business needs. They are also flexible to respond to questions and find solutions to our requirements.

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The capture of the new contracts is more important than the old contracts, somewhat counterintuitively. Once you start saving time using the electronic signing and retrieval, adding old material is easier. Old material additions fit our annual schedule as we've done them during periods of less administrative work.

Although we had encountered many bugs, GEP was able to address them quickly, and sent a technical person to sit in our hands-on training sessions to address bugs efficiently

Incentivized

The barrier of entry with ContractZen was so low. Competition offered a paid proof-of-concept, multiple sales call, and pre-sales analysis for which we had no time and had low interest. ContractZen gave us a demo in 30 minutes, gave me an account and walked me through the product. The cost was significantly lower. Yes, features were fewer in ContractZen but the features were the right ones we needed. Security of the system was adequate and it was cloud-based, which meant we didn't have to maintain servers on premise. Onboarding was easy and describing the system to others to get buy-in was exceptionally easy.

Incentivized

We selected GEP SMART for its ability to offer a full end-to-end integrated source-to-pay solution, pricing, and ease of use. There was an implementation series offered by GEP, as well as flexibility, customization, account management team dedication, and the overall service and support.

Incentivized

• I have saved 50% of my time when managing and sharing bids and agreements.
• I'll never miss a contract end date - ContractZen has already saved 15% of my total annual contract value.

• GEP SMART has improved our spend analytics speed by allowing analysis to be completed in minutes compared to days when we previously used Excel spreadsheets.
• The SMART Sourcing (RFX) solution has greatly improved the consistency of our supplier quoting and information gathering process.

Incentivized