Читать книгу Contract management with CATS CM® version 4 - Gert-Jan Vlasveld - Страница 6

You are looking at version 4 of the CATS CM methodology. CATS stands for Contract Administration and Tracking Scenarios. CATS CM offers a comprehensive contract management methodology that has the flexibility and scalability necessary to adjust its use to meet your organization’s specific needs.

This first English version of the CATS CM methodology has been preceded by Dutch books on three earlier versions of the methodology. The methodology is continuously tested against interactions with contract management professionals in the field. In recent years, CATS CM has also been regularly tested based on the practical experiences of the authors as well as the professionals in related areas of expertise such as procurement, legal specializations, and auditing. This has also contributed to the further development of the methodology.

We believe that professional contract management will continue to develop and be further validated and structured into detailed best practices. We are proud that CATS CM – as a contract management application methodology – is playing a role in the development of these best practices.

Contracts give form and content to the collaboration between clients and suppliers. Wherever contracts are used, there is some form of contract management. Organizations that have not structured the management of those contracts can be sure of one thing: they will never get the most out of the intended added value of those contracts. Structuring contract management based on CATS CM can significantly improve this. It is also exactly why ‘from working on contracts to contracts that work’ is the subtitle of this fourth version of the methodology.

We have made an effort to use gender-neutral language in this book and, as we look at the field of contract management, we notice that the number of female contract managers is growing rapidly. The same is true for us, now that Linda Tonkes – who has been giving CATS CM training programs for many years and very successfully – has joined our ranks as a partner.

This book could not have been written without the support of several people who are close to us. They know that we thank them with all our hearts. Moreover, this book would have looked very different and would not have been so easy to read without the positive feedback and input of Arjen van Berkum and Richard Steketee.

We hope you will enjoy reading this book.

Linda Tonkes, Gert-Jan Vlasveld

June 2020