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Spring Branch
Independent
School District
Streamlines
Vendor
Contracting with
the DocuSign
Agreement Cloud

$4M 80% ↓
Saved through digital Contracts completed in Weeks to days
procurement initiatives under 2 days turnaround time for
vendor agreements

When Rick Gay signed on as director of procurement at Products Used

Spring Branch Independent School District, he brought a

Electronic Signature
lot of experience, a lot of passion and an ambitious vision
to create the most efficient procurement operations in
Contract Lifecycle
the K-12 world. There was one obstacle to take on first: Management
paper-driven contracting processes that led to poor
visibility, maverick spending and slow turnaround times. Explore Our Products

Located in the greater Houston area, Spring Branch ISD

Located in the greater Houston area, Spring Branch ISD
has 35,000 students, 46 campuses and solicits over 400
RFPs every year. “My team handles everything from
cafeteria food to construction, renovations, electricity and
curriculum materials,” said Gay. Getting the goods and
services the school district needs on time and within
budget is critical.

By moving from a paper-intensive procurement system to

a digital-first one, Spring Branch ISD is saving millions of
dollars and accelerating time to delivery while
empowering the procurement team to take a more
strategic role within the organization.

Lightening the administrative load

for vendors and district staff with
eSignature
One of the first transformation projects Gay and his team
took on was implementing an eBid system, providing a
simpler, electronic way to manage vendor registrations,
proposals and master service agreements. They
integrated DocuSign eSignature into the process for the
final step: execution. “Anyone who’s used to working with
vendors knows how difficult it can be to get a signed
document back in a timely manner,” said Brandi Pittman,
contract specialist. By replacing multiple manual steps
with a streamlined digital workflow, the procurement
team slashed time-to-signature from days (or weeks) to
less than 48 hours. 

Automated reminders help expedite the process, Pittman

said—and the transparency has been especially valuable.
“I get a notification every time a vendor opens an email
link and signs the document, which helps me stay on top
of the contracting process.” 

Vendors are happy, too. In addition to lightening their

administrative load, the DocuSign way gives them peace
of mind that what they’re signing is official and secure. “It
didn’t take long for the positive feedback to start coming
in,” Pittman added. 

Internally, the team gained greater efficiencies by using

Internally, the team gained greater efficiencies by using
eSignature to templatize commonly used documents,
such as renewal letters and vendor questionnaires, and
send them to multiple signers at once via Bulk Send—a
feature Pittman said have been a “big time saver.”

Paving the way for fully digital

procurement with CLM
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing school closures
and an abrupt shift to remote work, there was a silver
lining amidst the chaos: Gay was finally able to convince
executive stakeholders that all purchasing contracts
should go through the procurement team. “I’d been
pushing for that since I got here, but COVID was the
driving force to help us get senior leadership on board,” he
said. There were many advantages to a centralized
approach: 

1. It would eliminate maverick spend and reduce

compliance risks.
2. The superintendent, principals and other school
leaders could focus on what they do best: creating
successful schools.
3. Procurement experts could use their skills to negotiate
favorable contract terms and pricing.

Elevating procurement to a more strategic role in the

organization also paved the way for other transformative
initiatives, including automated contract lifecycle
management. For Gay, DocuSign CLM was a necessary
next step, especially during COVID times when trying to
stay on top of back-and-forth contract negotiations over
email became increasingly challenging. 

“Now, we’re all working from the same document and

have a central location for tracking where every
agreement is, where it’s going next and what changes
have been made,” said Gay. What used to require weeks
of meetings and emails now happens digitally—“and in 24
to 48 hours, we’ve got a signed contract.” The system
keeps tracking the contract long after it’s signed,
notifying Gay and team about upcoming renewals and
other key events. 

DocuSign CLM’s ability to dynamically generate contracts

from standardized templates, including MSAs, data-
sharing agreements and work orders, was a game-
changing benefit for the procurement team. “We don't
have to worry about people using an older version of a
contract,” said Gay. “Everything’s up to date and has been
vetted by legal services.” And, as a side benefit, the
branded templates “make the contracts look more
professional.”

Growing with DocuSign

Over 1,200 vendor agreements have been managed
through DocuSign within the first three months of the
district’s new fiscal year alone. And Spring Branch ISD’s
use of the Agreement Cloud will only continue to grow,
according to Gay. “Our standard operating procedure
now is that if it needs a signature of any kind, it goes
through DocuSign,” he said. 

The DocuSign Agreement Cloud is an all-

in-one encompassing platform that’s
allowed us to really grab ahold of our
contracting process.

Rick Gay

Director of Procurement Services

Spring Branch ISD