Migrating your legacy contract management into the Weagree CLM can be automated by the Weagree Wizard. It is possible to automate the import not just of contract data, but of documents and entities for the party database as well. Unless only a handful of contracts or entities would need to be imported, using the migration tool is highly recommended. This tutorial will explain how to set up and execute your migration.
A. PREPARING CLM DATA AND DOCUMENTS
Importing your all your contract lifecycle management data and documents into the Weagree Wizard requires that they are all collected in one place. For CLM data, this means gathering them in one Excel spreadsheet (which may consists of multiple sheets). If you are currently using Legisway (formerly Effacts), the database can be exported into an Excel document. Such exports can likely be made with other CLM solutions as well. Principally speaking, all documents can be moved to one folder and uploaded to the Weagree Wizard from there. This will not work if different documents share the same name, however. In that case, a good idea would be to create one or more subfolders to keep such ‘duplicates’ apart. There are a few things to take into account:
1. Contract sheets
Imported contract data is mapped to Weagree contract sheets. These determine what data is managed per contract. It is only possible to select one contract sheet per imported Excel document. Therefore, it is important to choose beforehand whether to use a single Excel document for all contract data (in which case it is advisable to use a generic contract sheet), or to use multiple Excel documents, each containing only data for a single type – or small number of similar types – of contract (e.g. NDAs, SLAs, licence agreements and so on). In the latter scenario, the migration process would have to be run once for each Excel document and contract sheet combination. For further information on contract sheets, see the preceding tutorials of the Contract lifecycle management (CLM) section of this knowledge base.
2. Contract data
All default, general contract sheet data (e.g. contract title, contract number, signing date) should be contained in a single sheet within the Excel document. Each row within the sheet should represent a single contract, with the various columns containing the contract details.
3. Contract owners
Migrated contracts can be assigned to different users, just like contracts created in the Weagree Wizard. This can always be done manually for each separate contract, but may also be automated during import. There is a general setting with which all imported contracts can be assigned to several users (i.e. each will have access to all contracts). Should different contracts be assigned to different users (e.g. user A will have access to contracts X and Y, but user B will only have access to contract Z), then one column of the imported sheet with the contract data must contain the e-mail addresses of the users. These must match the addresses linked to their Weagree accounts. Do not include more than one e-mail address in one spreadsheet cell.
4. Entities
The full details of any entities that should be imported into the party database should be stored in separate sheets to distinguish between own party, other party, and individuals who are any entity’s board members or representatives. References to the same entities should be identical and appear in the sheets related to contract data, appointments and authorisations, and participations (i.e. shareholders and subsidiaries). The details on board members and representatives should at least suffice to distinguish between roles (managing director, supervisory director or representative), and ideally between forms of authorisation (solely authorised, jointly authorised or limited authorisation) as well. The exact terminology does not matter for the migration process, however.
5. Shareholders and subsidiaries
A separate sheet is also required for details on shareholders and subsidiaries. This only applies to relationships within your own organisation however; other parties (counterparties) should be excluded from this sheet.
6. Documents
The spreadsheet should state which documents relate to which contract. Otherwise, it will be impossible for the Weagree Wizard to automatically match them and you will have to manually add each document to whichever contract it belongs to. Ensure that the full document details are contained in a separate sheet of the Excel document, while the sheet with the contract data includes a column with the document names. Both sheets should include a column with identical entries.
Note: there is no client-side batch-upload functionality yet. That also applies to administrators. Unless you are willing to manually upload each document to the correct contract (after importing the contract data), please contact Weagree. We will be able to handle the uploading for you. You can import the CLM data afterwards and the uploaded documents will be matched to the contracts.
B. READYING THE WIZARD
Some minor setup is required before the process of mapping the data in the Excel document to the various data fields in the Weagree Wizard can be started:
1. First, ensure that the migration service functionality is enabled. If you open the CLM (contract lifecycle management) item on the Administrator page, and no subitem Migration service appears in the list on the left, it is currently disabled. In that case, open the subitem Key functionalities. On the main part of the screen, move the Migration service slider to the right (i.e. “ON”) position and click Save.
2. Open the Migration service subitem (that has now appeared under CLM (contract lifecycle management)).
3. Click Insert.
4. Select the external CLM system, if applicable and available. The Generic option will work with any Excel document.
5. Select a contract sheet.
Note: you will be able to configure how the imported data will be used in the contract sheet later on. At that stage the contract sheet can still be freely altered to accommodate all the contract data. Be aware, however, that this may affect how existing contracts in the Weagree CLM are be managed. It will also be possible to return to this screen and choose another contract sheet.
6. Select the Excel document from your hard drive or network, or drag-and-drop it.
7. Click the first magnifier to select one or more user groups. All imported contracts will be accessible for these user groups.
8. Click the second magnifier to select one or more users. All imported contracts will be assigned to all these users.
Note: if the Excel document’s contract data sheet contains a list of Weagree users’ e-mail addresses, that can be used to assign individual contracts to individual users. If you wish to use that list instead, or to assign all contracts to your own account, do not select any users here.
9. Click Save.
10. The page will refresh and the selected Excel document will be listed in the table below the other fields. Click the pen icon to begin the mapping process.
Note: you may stop the mapping process described below at any time and freely resume it again later.
C. DATASHEET
The first step of the mapping process is determining which sheets in the Excel document relate to which sorts of data. The Datasheet subtab of the migration service page produces a list of said sheets. While the overall layout of this subtab will be identical for any Excel document, the names appearing in the columns, dropdown menus and pop-ups may therefore appear different from the names in screenshots below. In all cases, however, the following data – insofar as available – should be mapped:
- contract data;
- entity (party/CRM) data;
- appointment (board member and representative) data;
- participation (shareholder and subsidiary) data; and
- document data.
Because names and phrases may vary, and they might not always be in English, the purpose of each sheet and its contents must be identified for the Weagree Wizard. The sheets with contract and entity data should always be mapped first, because other sheets must be linked to them.
CONTRACT DATA
This sheet (or ‘tab’, as it is called in the Weagree Wizard and as it will be referred to from this point on) will at the very least contain the general contract details, and is required for the standard CLM fields.
1. Click on the applicable tab name.
2. Select Contract main tab from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
3. Click Save. The type of tab selection will now appear in the Tab type column.
4. Click the tab name’s pen icon.
5. Find the name of the column that contains the ‘own party’ names and click on the link.
6. Select Own party reference from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
7. Click Save in the pop-up.
8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for the ‘other party’ column. In this case, select Other party reference.
9. Click Close.
ENTITY DATA
The full details of ‘own’ and ‘other’ parties should be stored in separate tabs. Again, these must be identified for the Weagree Wizard.
1. Click on the name of the tab containing your organisation’s own parties.
2. Select Own party main tab from the dropdown menu.
3. Click Save.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the other parties. In this case, select Other party main tab.
APPOINTMENT DATA
Details regarding board members and representatives must be split into two tabs. One will be used as a reference for the appointed entities (either organisations or individuals) and need only contain their names, the other for the complete details of their appointments such as position and authorisations within specific parties. The first is required to either add individuals to the Weagree Wizard’s party database or connect one organisation to another, the second is needed to insert all relevant data into a party’s entity management fields.
1. Click on the name of the tab containing the appointed entities’ names (not the full details of their appointments).
2. Select Director from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
3. Select the column with the appointed entities’ names from the Director name column dropdown menu.
4. If applicable, select the column with notes on these entities from the Notes column dropdown menu.
5. Click Save.
6. Click on the name of the tab containing the full details of the appointments.
7. Select Appointment from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
8. Select the column – in the tab with the full own party details – with the complete own party names (e.g. “Company X LLC” rather than “Company X”) from the Column in own party tab dropdown menu.
9. Select the column with the appointed entities’ names from the Director reference column dropdown menu.
10. Select the column – in the tab with the full appointments details – with the complete own party names from the Organisation reference column dropdown menu.
11. Click Save.
PARTICIPATION DATA
Also included in a separate tab must be the shareholder and subsidiary details regarding own parties (participation data), which will be inserted into their entity management fields. With those data, the Weagree Wizard’s entity management can also dynamically generate organisational charts.
1. Click on the applicable tab name.
2. Select Participation from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
3. Select the column – in the tab with the full own party details – with the complete own party names (e.g. “Company X LLC” rather than “Company X”) from the Column in own party tab dropdown menu.
4. Select the column with the complete names of the shareholders from the Shareholder reference column.
5. Select the column – in the tab with the appointment data – with the complete own party names from the Organisation reference column dropdown menu.
Note: because this intended for shareholder/subsidiary relations between own parties, none of the three aforementioned columns should include any names of other parties.
6. Click Save.
DOCUMENT DATA
Finally, for matching documents with contract, a separate tab with the essential document data is required. The migration service will check whether documents uploaded to the server correspond with those of any contract; if so, they will be added to the contract’s repository.
1. Click on the applicable tab name.
2. Select Contract related tab from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
3. Select the column – in the tab with the contract data – with the document names from the Columns in main tab dropdown menu.
4. Select the column – in the tab with the document data – with the document names from the Matching column in this tab dropdown menu.
Note: the data in these columns do not need to include the file extensions (e.g. “.docx”, “.pdf” or “.xlsx”). It is sufficient if each row in the tab with the document data also contains a cell that includes both document name and file extension (e.g. “NDA 2021-03-16.pdf”). See also step 7.
5. Click Save. The type of tab selection will now appear in the Tab type column.
6. Click the tab name’s pen icon.
7. Find the name of the column that contains the full filenames (i.e. document name plus file extension) and click on the link.
8. Select Document reference from the Type of tab dropdown menu.
9. Click Save in the pop-up.
10. Click Close.
This completes the basic mapping process. The Weagree Wizard now knows which tabs are connected to which areas of its own database. Individual columns within each tab can now be matched with individual data fields in Weagree. The principle is much the same as for mapping the entire tabs, but generally more straightforward.
D. CONTRACT FIELDS
The Contract fields subtab of the migration service page links the default contract sheet fields (listed on the left) to specific columns in the Excel document’s contract data tab (in the dropdown menus on the right). It can also be used to determine to whom the imported contracts will be assigned. Always click Save after making any changes on this subtab.
1. Contract owners
The ‘owner’ of a contract is the user to whom the contract has been assigned, and who therefore is always able to access it and will be (primarily) responsible for managing it. If the mapped contract data tab includes a column with the e-mail addresses of multiple Weagree Wizard users, selecting that column from the Contract owner dropdown menu will automatically assign the contracts to the corresponding users. As noted before, only one e-mail address per contract is permitted (but of course the same address may be used for multiple contracts). If all contracts should be handled by one user, click the magnifier icon next to Fixed contract owner and select that person from the pop-up that will appear. If neither a column nor a specific user is selected, all contracts will be assigned to the account completing the import.
2. Contract fields
All the other fields on this subtab correspond to the default contract sheet fields, i.e. the ones that will ordinarily appear (unless explicitly disabled) on any contract sheet for any managed contract. These concern basic contract details, although not all might be relevant to each contract and not all might be reflected by the data in the Excel document’s contract data tab. Mapping these fields is simply a matter of selecting the appropriate column from each dropdown menu. You are not required to select a column for each field; only Contract title and Background (which will also be used for the contract’s description) should always be mapped. Technically speaking, at least, it is therefore not an issue if certain data are not actually present in the Excel document.
Note: should any particular detail be stored in a different tab, possibly even one that has not been mapped so far at all, it is possible to link the relevant column in the Excel document to any custom field in the contract sheet. This will be explained in section G below.
E. PARTY FIELDS
The Party fields subtab of the migration service page links the various basic party detail fields (listed on the left) to specific columns in the Excel document’s entity data tab. Always click Save after making any changes on this subtab.
1. Update if found
When enabled, if an entity from the imported Excel document has a name matching an entity already existing in the Weagree party database, that entity’s details will be overwritten or completed with the data from the Excel document. If left unticked, a separate entity with the same name will be created. Generally speaking, therefore, it is advisable to enable this functionality.
2. Party fields
As mentioned, the fields on this subtab correspond to the various basic party detail fields for ‘own’ and ‘other’ parties, i.e. CRM data shown when editing a party on the Entity management overview page or from within a questionnaire. Not all might be relevant for your organisation’s and contracting needs and not all might be reflected by the data in the Excel document’s entity data tab. Mapping these fields is simply a matter of selecting the appropriate column from each dropdown menu. You are not required to select a column for each field; only Short name and Full name should always be mapped. Technically speaking, at least, it is therefore not an issue if certain data are not actually present in the Excel document.
3. Identifier column
In some cases, entities may be identified by a unique key in addition to their actual names. This can be important if the Weagree Wizard should also exchange entity data with an external service. Should the Excel document’s entity data tab include a column with such identifiers, select it from the dropdown menu.
F. ENTITY MANAGEMENT FIELDS
The Entity management fields subtab of the migration service page links details related to shareholders (and thus in effect to subsidiaries) and appointments to specific columns in the Excel document’s participation and appointment data tabs. Always click Save after making any changes on this subtab.
1. Shareholder fields
The fields in the left panel correspond to the various details of any shareholder on the Weagree Wizard’s entity management page of a particular entity. Not all might be relevant for your organisation’s and contracting needs and not all might be reflected by the data in the Excel document’s participation data tab. Mapping these fields is simply a matter of selecting the appropriate column from each dropdown menu. You are not required to select a column for each field, although logically speaking % financial and % voting (concerning financial interest and voting rights, respectively) should always be mapped. Technically speaking, at least, it is therefore not an issue if certain data are not actually present in the Excel document.
2. Director fields
The fields in the right panel correspond to the various details of any board member or representative on the Weagree Wizard’s entity management page of a particular entity. Again, the Excel document might not include all these details, and the migration process does not require that you map all fields either. However, Type should always be mapped in order to distinguish between the managing board, supervisory board (if applicable) and representatives (see also below).
3. Type
Weagree’s entity management distinguishes between the managing board, supervisory board and representatives. It is important that the Excel document makes such distinctions as well, so that any entity can be assigned to the correct category. First, select the column from the dropdown menu that identifies the type of appointment: Managing director, Representative or Supervisory director. Then select whichever values in that column must correspond to which category listed below the dropdown menu. It is possible to select multiple values for one of each type of appointment.
4. Authorisation
Weagree’s entity management also distinguishes between forms of authorisation. By default, these are: solely authorised, jointly authorised, or limited authorisation. These can be customised in the entity management’s settings in the administrator tooling. Ideally, the Excel document should make such distinctions as well. Select the applicable column from the dropdown menu and then match values in that column to the various forms of authorisation.
Note: if none of the values (more or less) correspond to one of the forms of authorisation, you may leave that field blank.
5. Function type
A further distinction is made between function types, or rather corporate titles. By default, these are: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Data Protection Officer. As with forms of authorisation, these are customisable. Select the applicable column from the dropdown menu and then match the values in that column to the various corporate titles.
G. MAPPINGS
The Mappings subtab of the migration service page can be used to map data from any column in any tab of the Excel document to any custom CLM field within the contract sheet selected at the beginning. In other words, any data – even data that in a strict sense might not be part of the contract – can be linked to the CLM fields available in the contract sheet. This should at least be used for any pertinent contract details that were not mapped under the Contract fields subtab.
Note 1: existing CLM fields can be tweaked from this subtab, but the contract sheet as a whole can of course be edited independently of the migration process. For further information, see the preceding tutorials of the Contract lifecycle management (CLM) section of this knowledge base. If you break off the mapping stage, edit a contract sheet and then resume mapping again, your changes will be visible here as well.
Note 2: to aid in mapping data to the contract sheet’s CLM fields, consult the Unmapped subtab. This will display all columns from all tabs in the Excel document (or a selection thereof if you filter by tab or search term) that have not yet been mapped to a CLM field. Be aware that columns that have been mapped on any of the other subtabs may still appear in this list.
1. Click on the CLM building block with any field that need mapping.
2. Click on CLM field’s links icon.
3. Select the applicable Excel document tab from the top dropdown menu.
4. Select the applicable column from the second dropdown menu.
5. Click Save.
H. COMPLETING THE MIGRATION
Finally, the Results subtab of the migration service page allows you to complete the migration process and check for any errors.
1. Click Import contracts to begin.
Note: a pop-up will appear to inform you that the process may take a few minutes. You may close the pop-up and refresh the page whenever you like and however often you like – this will not interrupt the import. If the import process is still ongoing, an orange blob will appear on the Results subtab. After successful completion, the blob will be green. A red blob will be displayed in case of errors.
2. Use the Result type dropdown and Find term search box to filter the results overview.
3. Click the pen icon next to a contract description to open it in the CLM and review or manually edit the contract.
I. ERRORS
It may be that the Results subtab reports one or more errors. In most cases, these will be related in one form or another to how data have been mapped. For example, if on the Party fields subtab the columns for Short name and Full name were accidentally swapped and their values were not identical, the migration process will in effect create entities with the wrong names and will not able to match them to the right contracts. It may also be that documents cannot be found due to incorrect references, or simply because the documents were somehow not previously uploaded.
MAPPING ERRORS
This requires that the contracts are imported again after the errors have been fixed. The import cannot be run again without first undoing the first import, however. Doing so in the following manner will preserve all your mappings, but simply reset the actual import.
1. Return to the Migration service subitem on the Administrator page.
2. Tick the checkbox of the import that must be run again.
3. Click either Undo contracts or Undo, depending on whether you only want to undo (i.e. delete) only the import of the contracts or of both contracts and entities. The blob next to the Excel document’s name will turn grey.
Note: deleting imported entities can result in the deletion of entities that already existed, but were merely updated by the import. If any such entities were party to any contract that was also pre-existent in your CLM, this may cause unwanted issues. If you are unsure, it is best to click Undo contracts.
4. Click the pen icon next to the Excel document’s name to open the migration service page again. Fix whatever mapping errors there may be and then click Import contract on the Results subtab again, as outlined in section H above.
MISSING DOCUMENTS
If any documents referenced in the Excel document (and mapped via the Datasheet subtab) are not found during the import, the Results subtab will report this. In case this is the result of a mapping error, or if doing another batch upload would help, you may obviously correct this as described directly above. In case certain specific documents are not present on the server or the Excel document simply lists the wrong filename, however, you can manually upload them from the Results subtab. You can filter for Document not found from the Result type dropdown menu in case some other errors are also reported.
1. Click on the contract name to see which documents are missing and locate them on your network.
Note: the filenames don’t actually have to match those in the Excel document.
2. Click the plus icon to the right of the contract description. This will open the contract’s repository pop-up, where you can upload any missing documents. Close the pop-up after you finish uploading.
3. Select Success from the Status dropdown menu.
4. Click Save.
