Know what you already own before you buy it again.
Northmap turns a software request into clear requirements, then scores the applications you already run against what the market offers, on the same requirements. Your team decides, and the reasoning stays on record.
Hosted in the EU · Operated by Northmap SAS, France · Your data never trains AI models
Supplier contract management
In progressHighRequested by Legal operations
| Requirement | ContractHubReuse | CLM suite ABuy | CLM suite BBuy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clause library with approval workflowMust have | |||
| E-signature for external partiesMust have | |||
| Sign-in with Microsoft Entra IDMust have | |||
| Contract data hosted in the EUMust have | |||
| Renewal alerts 90 days aheadShould have | |||
| Fit score | 74% | 88% | 79% |
ContractHub already covers 3 of 4 must-haves. Missing: e-signature for external parties.
Example demand. Product names are anonymised.
Every software decision starts the same way.
A business team asks for a new tool. What happens next is slow, hard to compare and soon forgotten.
- Nobody knows what you already own
- Finding out whether an application you run already covers the need takes weeks of emails. So you buy duplicates and pay for shelfware.
- Evaluations don't compare
- Spreadsheets, scattered demos and gut feel. Each evaluator scores differently, and each decision takes weeks.
- The reasoning gets lost
- The why is never written down. Eighteen months later the same request comes back and starts from zero.
AI made delivery faster. Deciding is still slow.
Code ships faster and business teams ask more often. Committees and spreadsheets still move at the old pace, so teams either wait for governance or go around it and buy the same thing twice. Northmap works on decision speed.
Every application inventory sends this question, by form, to dozens of application owners:
“Does this capability already exist in another application? If so, which one?”
From request to recorded decision
One workflow in five steps. Northmap does the groundwork, your team makes the call.
Step 1 · Capture
Describe the need in plain words
The requester writes a few sentences or attaches a brief. Northmap drafts the use cases and ranked requirements, and flags what is missing. You correct a draft instead of starting from a blank page.
- Must have, should have, nice to have
- Gaps flagged before the evaluation starts
- Business and IT work on the same requirements
The request
Legal needs one place to manage supplier contracts: standard clauses, approvals before signature, and a reminder before renewals. Must work with our Microsoft login.
Drafted by Northmap, reviewed by you
Draft and approve supplier contracts
- Clause library with approval workflowMust have
- Sign-in with Microsoft Entra IDMust have
- E-signature for external partiesMust have
Track renewals and obligations
- Renewal alerts 90 days aheadShould have
Missing · No requirement on where contract data is hosted. Add “Contract data hosted in the EU” as a must-have?
AddStep 2 · Search
See what you own next to what you could buy
Northmap searches your application catalog and an external product catalog in one pass. Your own applications appear next to market products, judged the same way.
- Search by meaning, not by keyword
- Reuse checked when the demand arrives, not after the contract
- Duplicates caught before the budget round
Already in your landscape
Reuse- ContractHub76% match
In production · Legal
Covers clause library and approvals
- Legal document library41% match
In production · Legal
Stores contracts, no approval workflow
On the market
Buy- CLM suite A88% match
Contract lifecycle management
Full CLM with e-signature
- CLM suite B81% match
Contract lifecycle management
Strong workflow, EU hosting partial
Step 3 · Score
Score every option against your requirements
Each candidate is checked requirement by requirement: met, partly met, not met or no information, with the reasoning shown. Your evaluators can override any score.
- Every score shows where its information came from
- Reuse, buy and build on one scale
- Export the fit matrix for your committee
| Requirement | ContractHubReuse | CLM suite ABuy | CLM suite BBuy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clause library with approval workflow | |||
| E-signature for external parties | |||
| Sign-in with Microsoft Entra ID | |||
| Contract data hosted in the EU |
Step 4 · Ask vendors
Ask vendors in one place
Send questions to vendors by email. They answer through a secure link, without creating an account. Each answer is kept with the evaluation as a vendor declaration.
- No spreadsheets going back and forth
- History kept per vendor
- Answers labelled as vendor-declared
Where is customer contract data hosted?
AnsweredFrankfurt and Dublin. Sub-processors listed in our DPA.
Vendor-declared
Do you support SCIM provisioning with Entra ID?
WaitingSent 2 days ago
Can clause templates be versioned per legal entity?
AnsweredYes, with approval history per version.
Vendor-declared
Step 5 · Decide
Decide, sign off and keep the reasoning
Reviewers sign off by domain, such as architecture, security and finance. Northmap prepares the pre-read, never the verdict. The decision is recorded with its rationale and the options ruled out.
- Reuse, buy, make or hybrid
- Approve, approve with conditions, or reject
- A decision log you can search later
Decision
HybridReuse ContractHub and add an e-signature module
ContractHub meets 3 of 4 must-haves and already uses Entra ID. Adding e-signature costs less than a new CLM contract and avoids a data migration.
Options ruled out
- BuyCLM suite A · Highest fit, but a new contract and a migration
- BuyCLM suite B · EU hosting only partially confirmed
Sign-offs
- ArchitectureApproved
- SecurityApproved
- FinanceConditionalConfirm module price before the order
Recorded 14 Oct 2026
Built for the people who carry the decision
- Enterprise architectsSpend your time on judgement, not collection. Requirements, options and the pre-read arrive ready to review, and your standards apply to every demand.
- IT portfolio managersOne workflow from intake to decision. Reuse is checked at the start and every decision is on record for the next budget round.
- CIOs and IT leadersFaster decisions you can defend, fewer duplicate purchases, and less shadow IT, because the official route is quick.
AI prepares. People decide.
Northmap is built for decisions you have to defend in front of a committee.
- Every score is justified
- Each answer shows its source: your own data, external research or a vendor declaration. The three are never mixed.
- A person signs
- The AI drafts requirements, finds options and prepares the pre-read. It never makes the decision.
- Your data stays in the EU
- Operated by Northmap SAS in France and hosted in the European Union. Encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Never used to train models
- Each customer's data is kept separate and is never used to train AI models.
What we measure with you
We don't show a euros-saved dashboard. That number can't be checked, and a figure you can't defend weakens your case. We track these instead:
- 01Time from demand to structured requirements
- 02Time from demand to a scored shortlist
- 03Share of demands where an internal option comes up
- 04Requirements your architects judge usable as drafted
- 05Decisions recorded with their reasoning
Questions
See Northmap on one of your real demands
Bring a request you are working on. In 30 minutes we show you the requirements, the reuse and market options, and how the decision would be recorded.