Managing contracts can be a massive time suck but also an often under-utilised way of mining for gold when it comes to discovering savings opportunities.In this podcast, I speak to Daniel Barnes of Ikaros Consultancy. Daniel is a law graduate and also recently launched his own podcast, World of Procurement.We talk about how the human touch, combined with automation of repetitive tasks, is the best solution when considering how to best manage your supplier contracts.Contract Management – Daniel Barnes from Ikaros Consultancy2:42Daniel explains how he landed into the contract management space in the procurement world.6:30How Daniel took his experience working on government defence contracts and was able to take these key learnings into the private sector and civilian industries.7:38Are there significant differences in approach when considering smaller businesses versus larger corporates?9:45How the technology and resources could be different depending on the size of the business and the amount of contracts processed in any given organisation.11:28I ask Daniel whether it's better to approach contract management by size of spend basis first and foremost, or by category. The answer he gave was not what I was expecting.13:20A funny story of the building with no windows which nonetheless had £100k of invoices for replacement of windows.16:00We talk technology, and the advantages and limitations of using tech to be able to make contract management easier.20:52Why a digital contract management solution will only work if your organisation is ready to embrace it and your existing systems and processes can support it.22:40How to build a business case for a contract management solution. Is it primarily cost avoidance? And if so, how to convince a CFO to part with their budget to implement a solution to successfully manage it?25:52Does operational and tactical procurement have a future? Daniel has some pretty strong views on how these roles will likely be eliminated over the coming years.How to connect with Daniel:Daniel's LinkedIn profileIkaros Consultancy websiteHow to connect with James:James Meads Consulting websiteJames' LinkedIn profileBook a Call with JamesFollow The Procuretech Podcast on LinkedIn