How do you set up contract management in TOPdesk?

Contracts, suppliers, expiry dates, SLAs, contract management touches almost every part of an organisation, yet it's a topic we don't see a lot of shared knowledge on.

One thing that tends to help keep it under control is assigning three clear roles:

• the contract owner: responsible for the budget and the need behind the contract
• the contract manager: negotiates with the supplier and checks whether agreements are being met
• the contract administrator: records contract data consistently and keeps it up to date

Within TOPdesk, you can combine this with features like automatic alerts before a contract expires, linking underpinning supplier contracts to the services you deliver yourself, and a supplier assessment that supports your procurement process.

That's the theory, the practice is more interesting. How have you set this up?

• Do you work with the three roles above, or split responsibilities differently?
• Do you manage contracts in Asset Management, in Contract & SLM management, or keep a separate overview?
• What was the biggest challenge when you first set this up?

Share your approach (pitfalls included) below. We'll round up the best insights into a follow-up post for the whole community.