Why So Many CLM Implementations Fail—And What We Haven’t Learned from the Icertis Lawsuit

The 2021 lawsuit between Change Healthcare and Icertis wasn’t just a vendor dispute—it was a case study in how CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management) implementations can go very wrong.

75% of deliverables needed rework.
Over $3 million in losses.
And still—many organizations are repeating the same mistakes.

Too often, CLMs are sold as the magic bullet, but without a strategic plan, they turn into expensive super repositories with a sprinkle of AI—full of documents but devoid of insight.

Here’s what many still miss:

1. CLM features ≠ CLM value
You can have all the right features and still fail if they’re not aligned to real commercial outcomes.

2. Implementation ≠ Enablement
Without training, documentation, and change management, your users won’t adopt the system—and ROI will stall.

3. AI ≠ ROI without clean, structured data
AI on top of disorganized contract data is like building a mansion on sand. You need AI-ready contract data first.

The result?
Many CLMs become digital filing cabinets instead of value-generating tools.

If your CLM feels more like storage than strategy—it’s not too late.
You don’t need more features. You need a new approach.

If you don’t want your CLM to turn into just another place to store contracts, let’s talk.

#CLM #ContractManagement #CLMStrategy #AI #DigitalTransformation #10XContractValue