Should you outsource contract management?

Contract management is one of those business functions that's absolutely critical — but also resource intensive. 

When managed well, it protects your business, accelerates revenue, and keeps operations moving smoothly. When mismanaged, it creates risk, friction, and endless admin headaches.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that many many teams consider outsourcing contract management services. But is it the right move for you? And what alternatives should you be weighing up before you take the leap? This guide shares all.

Why do legal teams outsource contract management?

Expertise on tap

External providers bring specialist knowledge across contract drafting, negotiation, risk management, and compliance. They can spot pitfalls your internal team might miss and often have access to best-in-class processes that would take years to develop in-house.

Cost efficiency

Building a full-time in-house legal or contracts function is expensive. Beyond salaries, you have to factor in benefits, training, management time, and the inevitable ramp-up period. Outsourcing offers a more flexible model where you pay only for what you need, making it easier to manage budgets. But it can become expensive despite this. 

Focus on core work

Internal legal and business teams are often overwhelmed with competing priorities. When they’re buried in low-value contract admin, it drags on their ability to focus on strategic initiatives like scaling operations, entering new markets, or product development. Outsourcing lifts that burden, giving back valuable time.

There are also instances where the legal team isn’t the one outsourcing contracting, because there isn’t that function in-house yet. 

The hidden costs of outsourcing

Outsourcing isn't a magic wand. It introduces its own set of challenges:

• Less control: External providers won't know your business as intimately as your own team. Nuances can get lost, and urgent contract needs might not get the attention they deserve.
• Integration issues: Outsourced workflows often sit outside your day-to-day tools and systems, creating silos. Syncing your CRM records with your contracts isn’t always possible, and you jeopardize data synchronicity between the two. 
• Scaling problems: As your contract volume grows or changes, rigid outsourcing agreements can hold you back. You’ll risk overpaying for seasonal fluctuations if you have set fees, or face skyrocketing costs during those busier periods. 
• High costs: Although outsourcing promises cost efficiency upfront, long-term reliance on external providers can become surprisingly expensive. Service fees, hidden charges for out-of-scope work, and premium rates for urgent contract requests can quickly add up, eroding any initial savings.

In short: you may reduce some administrative pain, but you risk creating new inefficiencies elsewhere, too.

Is there a better alternative to outsourcing contract management?

For many scaling businesses, the smarter move isn't outsourcing — it's automating.

Modern contract management tools (like Juro) take the repetitive, error-prone work off your plate without removing your control. Think:

• Self-serve templates: Empower business teams to create contracts without legal bottlenecks.
• Automated workflows: Approvals, signatures, and renewals handled with minimal manual intervention.
• Centralized repository: No more chasing versions across inboxes or shared drives.
• Real-time collaboration: Legal stays in the loop without becoming a blocker.

The benefits of automation over outsourcing

For many businesses, especially those experiencing growth, automation offers a more scalable and sustainable solution than outsourcing. Here's why:

• Greater control and visibility: With automation, your contracts stay within your organization. You retain full oversight of every stage of the lifecycle, reducing delays, minimizing risk, and ensuring consistency.
• Faster turnaround times: Automation removes the dependency on third parties, allowing contracts to move from draft to signature in a fraction of the time. Companies using contract automation report reducing cycle times dramatically, as our customer stories show.
• Better alignment with your workflows: Automated tools integrate seamlessly with your CRM, HR, and procurement platforms, reducing manual data entry and syncing contract data across systems in real time.
• Cost predictability and efficiency: Unlike outsourcing, which may involve variable costs, automation tools typically operate on predictable pricing tiers. This makes budgeting simpler and ROI easier to track.
• Enhanced data security: By managing contracts within your tech stack, you reduce exposure to third-party risks. Leading automation platforms offer advanced encryption, access control, and audit trails to keep sensitive data secure.
• Empowerment for business users: Self-serve templates and automated approval flows reduce legal bottlenecks and allow commercial teams to generate contracts independently, without compromising compliance.

Ultimately, automation doesn’t just streamline processes — it transforms how teams work. Rather than relying on external providers, businesses can scale their operations with agility, reduce risk, and build stronger cross-functional collaboration.

Is Juro the right alternative for you?

Juro offers an intelligent contract management platform designed for legal and business teams. 

With Juro, you can create, approve, negotiate, sign, and manage contracts in one unified workspace — without the need for endless email chains or third-party tools.

Key benefits include:

• No-code automation: Build dynamic templates that adapt to your business needs, without any technical expertise.
• Collaboration-first workflows: Negotiate contracts directly in the browser, with full visibility for all stakeholders.
• Native eSignature: Close deals faster without needing separate eSignature software.
• Intelligent dashboards: Track contract status, renewal dates, and key metrics to make smarter business decisions.
• Integrations: Seamlessly connect Juro with tools you already use, like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Slack, keeping contracts aligned with your broader tech stack.

By choosing Juro, you're not just managing contracts — you're empowering your teams to work smarter, close deals faster, and reduce risk, all while maintaining control and visibility.

With automation, you don't just "hand over" your contracts — you upgrade and futureproof the entire lifecycle.

Outsource, automate, or in-house: what should you choose?

Every business is different, but here are some guidelines:

• If contracts are highly bespoke and low volume: Outsourcing might make sense.
• If contracts are high volume but low complexity: Automation will deliver far greater ROI.
• If you have the resources and appetite to build a legal ops function: In-house expertise could be your best asset. 

In most cases, especially for scaling businesses, automating first is the more future-proof strategy. It keeps contracts close to the business, accelerates deal cycles, and strengthens collaboration across teams.

Next steps…

Outsourcing contract management services might seem like an easy win. But the real opportunity? Building smarter, faster contract workflows internally with the right tools.

Juro powers more than two million contracts globally for legal and business teams seeking to reduce the time they spend on routine contract admin, and the results speak for themselves:

• MDLBeast’s Venues team execute contracts 253 per cent faster with Juro, cutting average execution times from almost 15 days to just four. Read their story.
• Talentful enable their commercial teams to self-serve on contracting with Juro, empowering reps to go from conversation to contract in less than ten minutes. Read their story. 
• Salecycle reduced the need to hire another FTE by reducing time spent on contracts by 88 per cent, and winning back roughly 72 hours per month. Read their story. 

If you're tired of the contract chaos and want a solution that scales with you, it's worth exploring automation before you hand over the keys.

Because the best contracts don't manage themselves — but with the right platform, they almost can.