To centralise supplier contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) has implemented a new software management system.

The MCC has the biggest membership of any sporting club in Australia with around 99,800 members with 175,000 on a waiting list while another 15,000 are nominated for membership each year.

The Open Windows Enterprise Contract Management System (Contracts 5) not only manages contracts but creates controls and processes around that data.

MCC financial and business support analyst, Ivan Dennis, said the main objective is to ensure contracts are managed and monitored appropriately.

"Also to ensure data is accurate and 'clean' and that no key date renewals are missed," he said.   "Contracts 5 has already led to cost savings by avoiding penalties and ensuring renewals are met on time.

"Contracts 5 provides alerts that give contract managers advance warning of contract trigger points, allowing them to take pre-emptive action on commercially critical deliverables and milestones."   Another benefit is reducing risk by ensuring compliance with corporate governance regulations.

"Not only has the solution helped to create contract management protocols, but the MCC has also found that the solution can assist in the preparation stage of agreements," Dennis said.   The MCC has implemented the solution with a phased approach starting with 'high-risk' contracts.

It will then be rolled out to company departments.

In addition to providing contract management software, Open Windows also provides the eTendering system used by governments throughout Australia.

The contract management software is used by more than 150 companies including ING, Bluescope Steel, Western Australia and Queensland governments.   The systems has an estimated 5,000 users per day, and manages in excess of $30 billion dollars in agreements.