This MGI 360 Rating™ is designed to help buyers, suppliers, and investors assess the product functionality, management teams, channel breadth, marketing strategy, and financial positioning of DocuSign‘s CLM tool.
We initiate coverage of DocuSign in the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) market with an MGI 360 Rating of 45 and a Neutral analyst outlook. DocuSign entered the CLM software market via the acquisition of SpringCM – a Salesforce-based CLM tool. Since then, the company has also acquired several CLM technology firms including Seal Software and Clause and invested in venture funding rounds of Pactum and BlackBoiler. The apparent strategy for DocuSign has been to translate its brand and market presence as the leading supplier of e-signature solutions into a critical mass in CLM while beefing up its product portfolio via acquisitions and investments. In our view, the execution of this strategy has faltered and been accompanied by losing skilled talent.
Who Is DocuSign?
DocuSign’s eSignature tool put DocuSign on the map and helped propel the Contract Management market from obscure to mainstream in a matter of years. The company is attempting to continue its growth, with a focus on increasing its functionality and reputation from a simple eSignature tool to a fully developed CLM. “DocuSign” has become the de facto verb for describing e-signature and the company serves nearly 1.5M customers.
What Is Contract Management?
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is the process of strategically managing and leveraging the entire lifespan of legally binding agreements between two or more parties within a business context. CLM tools are evolving rapidly. Not long ago, CLM software described a relatively simple system for document management and e-signature. Today, mature CLM solutions employ AI/ML data capture capabilities to turn the contract management process into an intelligent, real-time system of record. For more about the evolution of CLM software, read The Six Stages of CLM Maturity.
What Are MGI 360 Ratings?
MGI 360 Ratings™ are a comprehensive structured system for evaluating technology companies. The MGI 360 scores reflect analyst opinions based on a scale of 0 to 100, combined with an analyst outlook (Positive, Negative, or Neutral). The 360 Rating system is comprised of 149 unique data points across five pillars:
- PRODUCT: How strong is the product’s competitive position?
- MANAGEMENT: How competent and experienced is the management team?
- CHANNELS: Does the company have a sales capability and channels needed to bring products to market?
- STRATEGY: Does the company have a realistic view of the opportunity and a compelling strategy for success?
- FINANCE: Is the company growing and profitable?
360 Ratings in Contract Lifecycle Management condense hours of research and customer references into simple, easy-to-understand ratings and recommendations to clearly demonstrate strengths, weaknesses, and differences among CLM software vendors. All 360 Ratings in Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) are available in the CLM Top 35 Buyer’s Guide.
Get the report to find out how DocuSign compares to peer averages in the CLM market:
