Square Enix
Square Enix speeds contract throughput while zeroing in on the “time stealers.”
“And with Contracts 365’s intuitive functionality, user adoption was a breeze. There’s been minimal training that we’ve had to offer which is incredible because it allows us to focus on continuing to improve our processes.”
Stephanie Pimentel
Purchasing & Legal Operations Manager
Customer Profile
Square Enix® is among the world’s leading video game publishers, with offices in North America, Europe, and Japan. Part of The Square Enix Group, they distribute and license entertainment content around the world and boast an impressive portfolio of intellectual property, including Final Fantasy®, Dragon Quest®, Star Ocean®, Kingdom Hearts®, and the legendary Space Invaders®.
Business Challenge
Square Enix had a smaller legal team that needed to increase throughput of high-volume contracts, such as NDAs, Work Orders, and MSAs, to better manage its processes and allocate resources to more time-intensive contractual reviews, which include licenses, deal agreements and the like.
Over the years, the legal team transitioned from pen and paper contracting to SharePoint. As the team grew, they decided to implement a new, digital contract management system not built on Microsoft 365, but—as is all too often the case—the pitch turned out to be better than the product. “I think I counted it out once: 14 clicks just to see a contract,” noted Adam Sullivan, Square Enix’s General Counsel. “And with every click, it was contacting the system, waiting, reloading, refreshing. It was absurd.”
Square Enix began an exhaustive review, looking for a contract management software solution that could improve automation, increase efficiencies, and nail the basics like electronic signatures. But, more than that, it had to be able to align with a highly complex workflow that spanned multiple levels, limits, locations, and different approvals for requests. At the same time, it had to deliver a granular reporting breakdown of efficiencies to truly understand where the “times stealers” were.
Why they chose Contracts 365®
The ability to have our team self-configure the software to support Square Enix’s specific business processes was critical. Noted Stephanie Pimentel, Legal Operations Manager, “We are always growing and innovating and wanted the innovation that Contracts 365 offered—that’s really what won us over.” After seeing specific use cases readily demonstrated in the software, and getting positive feedback from stakeholders, they decided to move forward.
Adam agreed, “One of the very first things that everyone looked at was the user interface. It was very clean, very easy. In terms of functionality, it was much, much easier. One or two clicks and you were looking at the contract. It was simple and easy to navigate.” And with Contract 365’s intuitive functionality, user adoption was a breeze". Stephanie went on, “There’s been minimal training that we’ve had to offer, which is incredible because it allows us time to focus on continuing to improve our processes.”
The early results
The implementation process was incredible, with the Contracts 365 and Square Enix teams collaborating to ensure a smooth transition. “Their availability was great,” said Stephanie, “Whatever we needed, Contracts 365 was always available. Taking us through things, from A to Z, explaining as well as teaching—they ‘taught us to fish,’ - so now we’re able to do a lot more on our end.”
Automated reporting has also been a huge plus. “With our previous system, we had to pull reports every time. With Contracts 365, reports are sent weekly. I can instantly check to see what’s come through and how many contracts have been closed out. I see who’s taking on what and how many tasks each person has.”
Stephanie continued, “It helps with turnaround, but also the transparency that the system offers to our business users. Now they know where to go. And they also have the responsibility of knowing that if something is waiting on them, they can respond in the system. That’s really increased the efficiency of requests that are coming through.”
Final score, Square Enix: 1, Time Stealers: 0