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I can highlight a couple of other scenarios regarding my main use case or how I've implemented Infor CloudSuite. One is Infor Document Management, which I've seen in the past with other ERP systems that haven't involved as much, but Infor CloudSuite does give you an extra edge when it comes to managing customer invoicing, purchase orders, or customer order acknowledgements. Infor Document can be configured by your IT or super key users, so whenever you produce these documents, they automatically get attached to the actual orders. If it's a customer order verification, as soon as you produce that document, it is attached to that particular customer order, and anybody who wants to retrieve that document can easily access it from the customer order form. It is easily configured and appears as a widget. That's a great feature to have.

Another great feature in Infor CloudSuite is the in-built workflows, which can produce user alerts. For instance, if there is a purchase order that needs workflows, they can be set in place and configured to send alerts to the approvers. These are a couple of examples that I can highlight, which enhance the user experience in my opinion.

Infor CloudSuite is a kind of ERP that is suitable for a medium or small discrete manufacturer, especially in the health sector, life sciences, and biotechnologies. My experience with Infor CloudSuite is that it provides the basic features for any manufacturer who is looking into implementing an ERP solution out of the box and has a system that works. There are no defects or bugs, and it comes with implementation accelerators. So, if any company is interested in getting a good investment, Infor CloudSuite with implementation accelerator could be a better option. Any organization that is a discrete manufacturer finds Infor CloudSuite to be a good fit for the requirements that manufacturers usually have.

Infor CloudSuite made a difference for a manufacturer I worked with through an end-to-end implementation. One example is that once there is a customer order on SyteLine, that customer order gets picked up by advanced planning and scheduling. This is a firm demand, and there can also be soft demand based on parameters such as safety stock and reorder point. Infor CloudSuite has a smart, advanced planning and scheduling system that takes into account both types of demand, processes those demands, and comes up with supply suggestions. These suggestions are reviewed by the planners, and once they are happy, they release the plan for production or the shop. Then, once the plan is released, the job order at the shop floor gets completed, and if we have established a link with the customer order, the customer order gets automatically updated with the status to be shipped, eligible for shipping. By integrating the upstream processes with the downstream, that has really helped one of the organizations I implemented this process in their overall process efficiencies. That's a great example of an end-to-end integrated solution.

I have seen specific improvements after implementing Infor CloudSuite, such as reduced processing time and better visibility. In terms of the previous legacy system, it did not have the modern technology that the latest ERP system provides. The processes were clunky, requiring downloading and sending documents to customers or suppliers. With Infor CloudSuite, you can manage and maintain document profiles. With this feature, you can automate the dispatch of your documents either to customers or suppliers, significantly cutting down the admin time for your order processing team or procurement team. Previously, they would spend ages retrieving documents from emails and trying to find the relevant third party to send them to. But now, this is completely automated, enhancing the overall processing time and user experience.

I can provide rough estimates on time saved after implementing Infor CloudSuite. Users can generate documents in a matter of seconds now, compared to the previous minutes they took. If we imagine creating ten orders, and previously the legacy system required spending five minutes per order, that totals fifty minutes. However, in the new system, with properly automated document management, it only takes about one minute for each order. Therefore, you end up saving around forty minutes for ten orders raised.

There are areas where Infor CloudSuite can improve. I have touched on the pros and key strengths of Infor CloudSuite, but end-user feedback indicates that there are several areas where the user experience can improve. For instance, when it comes to reporting, it comes with a very limited number of reports, and the standard reports are clunky, requiring a technical resource or developer to enhance or make them presentable. Another area is user experience; it takes several clicks to get to the information, and the user interface isn't that intuitive. Compared to other solutions, such as top-tier options such as Oracle or SAP, this stands out as an area needing improvement.

When it comes to integration, Infor CloudSuite does offer a great deal of flexibility. It comes with APIs, so you can integrate with any third-party systems you may use. On that front, it's sufficient; however, it does require some specialized resources, as it's not a layman's job, and developers need to help with the integration. This is generally the case for any ERP.

The user interface could indeed be better, and there is a steep learning curve for users; it takes time for them to get accustomed to Infor CloudSuite's interface and forms. However, once users adapt, it becomes easier and smoother to navigate. There are great features associated with Infor CloudSuite, such as DataViews and Birst as a business intelligence tool, which can be integrated with the basic product. Implementing Birst isn't plug-and-play; it requires a team of technical resources to execute. Additionally, there is a feature that allows integration with Excel, which can be installed by your IT team.

As a part of Infor CloudSuite implementation, I think at the end of the day, it is a tool, but it gives the best results if we have robust processes implemented. For instance, if we are talking about planning, then the results or outcomes we get from APS or production are totally dependent on how accurately we maintain data in CloudSuite. It's data-hungry, and we have to have robust and rigorous processes in place to support master data management because this feeds into your planning and processes since it's a highly integrated solution. One wrong data point can jeopardize the outcome, and users can spend hours trying to fix that. In my opinion, it's a great tool, but any organization looking to implement Infor CloudSuite or any other ERP needs to ensure they have defined roles, responsibilities, and processes around master data to feed good, accurate, and quality data into the system. When I implement Infor CloudSuite as a project manager, I overemphasize this and reiterate to the main sponsors and stakeholders that this is paramount to getting the best results out of Infor CloudSuite implementation.

It's difficult to rate Infor CloudSuite precisely; it depends on each organization's requirements. If you are a mid-size or small to medium-sized manufacturer with discrete processes to implement, I would rate it a six out of ten. It provides out-of-the-box, ready-to-use processes.

The main reason I give a six out of ten rating is primarily due to the strengths we've discussed earlier. The implementation accelerators provide an easier and faster way to implement Infor CloudSuite and obtain a quick return on investment for organizations. It has a depth of features for discrete manufacturing. However, if you are looking for complex scenarios or processes, Infor CloudSuite might require some customization, which can become expensive. While it caters well for out-of-the-box solutions with foundational processes, it may necessitate exploring other Infor products if you need to automate factories or warehouses.

My advice for anyone considering Infor CloudSuite is to focus on a few key areas during their implementation. This is a solid and robust product, but it's essential to look closely at the design phase. Ensure you have your SMEs identified and dedicated, documenting the blueprint properly to understand what works out of the box and what the gaps are. Set the right expectations; you should enter the construction phase of the solution with a clear understanding of what is standard and what requires customization. It's also crucial to conduct thorough research when selecting the right partner, as not everyone in the market has full knowledge of how Infor CloudSuite works. I would rate Infor CloudSuite a six out of ten overall.

I used Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) to generate contracts within the legal department of a pharmaceutical company.

We maintained a library of contract templates and terms, and based on our configuration, we selected the proper template, added the details in the relevant fields, and the contract with all details was automatically generated by the system.

As part of the contract management process, we also sent the contract for review and for e-signatures through a DocuSign integration. Once the review was completed and the contracts are signed through DocuSign, the contract was automatically set as active inside our Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) database.

Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a system that is easily configurable on the Salesforce platform, which is a very flexible platform. It is very easy to use from a user perspective, and it is a very stable system that rarely has any bugs or downtime.

Based on the Salesforce interface, it is very easy to use, navigate and find the contracts that I want. It is also very easy to fill in the missing information on a contract by completing simple fields, and it is also very easy to send for online review or for e-signatures through buttons that appear on the page.

The time it takes to generate a contract and have it signed through an integration is considerably lower compared to having done it outside of the system. We have cases where we needed wet signatures on a contract, which means that the contract had to be sent for signature outside of Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), and this typically needed five or six times additional time to have it ready and activated. 

By using Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), the time it takes to manage a contract, from contract creation to signature, is significantly reduced.

At the time I used the system, it appeared that it was lacking AI features that are very recently developed. I believe that Conga should invest more in developing robust AI features that can be used for redlining a contract and also identifying terms that need to be revised within a contract.

Sometimes their support is not very efficient. That is something that they may need to consider as an improvement.

Their pricing models were not very straightforward, especially in the case where we needed to renew an annual contract. Based on the number of users, the Conga team would provide us every year with a new quotation. On the pricing side, I believe that it is a bit pricey, and the cost structure related to the licenses is not very transparent.

I have been using Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) for three and a half years as a power user and a system administrator.

Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is one of the most stable systems I have seen. We are talking about almost zero downtime.

Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is very scalable, especially the version that is available on the Salesforce platform that we used, which is, of course, a highly customizable and scalable platform. We are overall very pleased with the scalability and we are able to onboard a number of countries from different continents with different contract management processes in the same organizations very easily.

About customer support, I would say that in the beginning at about 4 years ago, they were not very efficient and we were not very satisfied with their support. But in the last year, we saw improvement there as well in terms of efficiency and quality of the fixes.

Positive

The previous solution was a custom-made on prem solution for the customer use case. It was switched because this solution was hardcoded, it was not flexible, and it did not have all the features that we needed to efficiently do the contract management together with redlining and e-signature integrations.

Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a solution built on the Salesforce platform, so it is a managed package installed in a Salesforce organization. The installation is straightforward, but the configuration can be complex so an implementation partner is necessary.

Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) was purchased through the Salesforce AppExchange. We used Conga managed services and a Salesforce implementation partner to set it up. Overall we were satisfied with the quality of the implemented solution.

There are definitely improvements as far as ROI is concerned, both money-wise and in terms of employees that are needed. Regarding the employees, I would say that it was manageable, with the introduction of Conga Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), to reduce the administrative team that handled the contracts to about half. From a team of six people, it was reduced down to three people by fully utilizing the system.

Licenses pricing was not very transparent at some times and we needed to negotiate it with the Conga Account Executives. The set up cost on the Salesforce platform was more transparent and done together with an implementation partner. 

Unfortunately, I do not have access to that information because it was already introduced in the company when I joined. I know that on the evaluation, ContractPodAI, Ronclad & Icertis were also potential vendors for contract management.

I would advise companies to focus on Conga's roadmap to develop solid AI features moving forward. I would also advise them to consider the scalability together with the stability of this platform and all the features that it has. Additionally, I would advise them to look into the different pricing options for licensing and demand transparency in terms of the contract they sign, especially if it is a multi-year contract with different license types. I rate this solution a 9 overall.