As cross-functional contract growth soars, Ironclad doubles down on education and community
At its quarterly State of Digital Contracting (SDC) event, Ironclad, the leading digital contracting platform, announced its first Skills Verified badge program, the first phase of a more robust certification program. The badge program, powered by Ironclad Academy, will encourage Ironclad product adoption, validate technical skills within Ironclad, and give recipients referenceable workplace merits.
Over the past year, Ironclad has seen a dramatic increase in contract usage, with contract volume increasing by over 140% year-over-year. Contracts have become a core business function across the entire organization, with more departments leveraging their functionality than ever before.
“Contract management and execution is quickly growing beyond the legal purview. We’ve seen a 285% year-over-year increase in sales workflows launched, a 230% YoY increase for HR, and a 214% YoY increase for procurement. Our data shows that for every legal user, there are eight business users,” said Leyla Seka, COO of Ironclad. “Contracts are no longer simply agreements – companies are using them as a vehicle for innovation, speed, and efficiency. When your contracts move fast, your business moves fast.”
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Across organizations in the business, teams use Ironclad to:
- Navigate complex business environments: Asana, a leading work management platform for teams, uses Ironclad to focus on speed while still maintaining compliance, control, and accuracy during shifting environments after becoming a publicly traded company.
- Provide flexibility and nimbleness: With contracts centrally located in Ironclad’s robust contract repository and using its AI-powered SmartImport feature, the finance team at Demostack, a company that lets revenue teams create demo environments within minutes, was able to complete due diligence for a funding round in record time.
- Streamline vendor contracts at scale: As the company doubles in size, Thumbtack, the modern home management platform, uses Ironclad to streamline and automate the complexity and wide-ranging nature of vendor contracts – something that touches every single department across the business.
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New badges signal first phase of Ironclad certification
As a first step in the path to launching formal, legally-defensible certifications, Ironclad is releasing Skills Verified badges that can be earned by users who complete a learning path and pass assessments. The learning paths include Skills Verified Badges for Sales Contracting, Clickwrap, Contract Ownership, Core Administration, and Procurement. The launch of its more formal certification program, which will certify mastery with an in-depth, proctored exam, is currently on the roadmap for the future.
“Proven expertise in digital contracting technology is becoming an increasingly important skill across the business – not just with legal teams and contracts managers. To date, it’s been difficult for professionals to verify that they have these skills in a meaningful way,” said Caitlin Wood, director of customer success at Ironclad. “Ironclad’s Skills Verified badges offer improved confidence in skills competence to the earner, and also act as a powerful resume differentiator. Additionally, employers looking to hire professionals with verified digital contracting skills can find talent pools easily by accessing the Ironclad Badge Earner Directory.”