Customer Success Story
A modern, SharePoint-based solution standardises processes that have evolved over time and significantly increases user acceptance.
Hubert Burda Media looks back on a long history. Historically, the group has been characterised by a decentralised structure: a lean holding company provides the framework, while the individual business units operate largely independently. This long-established diversity makes group-wide standardised processes particularly valuable, but also challenging to implement – including in contract management.
“Burda is colourful,” says Elisabeth Hueck, Manager of Legal Tech & Operations at Hubert Burda Media, describing the diversity that has developed over time within the group, and emphasises: “Particularly in such a heterogeneous environment, centralised contract management governance is not only more cost-effective than many decentralised, isolated solutions, but is simply essential.”
The roots of Hubert Burda Media Holding KG stretch back more than 120 years. The company was founded in 1903 as a printing works in Offenburg, which remains one of its headquarters to this day, alongside Munich. It has since grown into a global media group with around 9,000 employees worldwide, with the majority of its business taking place in Germany. Its portfolio includes well-known media brands such as Focus, Bunte and Chip, as well as online platforms such as HolidayCheck, XING and kununu.
A third-party system had previously been in use, serving as an archive since 2016, but after around ten years it had become technically outdated. “User satisfaction was correspondingly low,” adds Elisabeth Hueck, citing one reason for the planned system change. But above all, Burda wanted to take a broader view of the issue. “We didn’t just want to manage the storage of signed contracts, but also everything that happens beforehand,” she recalls.
Among other things, the following questions were considered: “What do the internal contract approval processes look like, how are these processes documented, and can we integrate the signature directly via DocuSign?” These are crucial questions, particularly in a decentralised group. The search therefore focused on a contract lifecycle management (CLM) tool that maps the entire contract lifecycle.
One key requirement arose from day-to-day working practices: the group already had numerous systems in use, which were managed by various corporate functions. The feedback from users was clear, Elisabeth Hueck recalls: “Just not another separate tool. The solution had to integrate seamlessly into the environment in which business users work on a daily basis.”
As Burda was already working extensively with SharePoint and the Microsoft Power Platform, the decision was made to use a SharePoint-based solution. “It allows us to build interfaces and make full use of the existing Microsoft 365 infrastructure.” Ultimately, two factors were decisive: replacing the legacy system and achieving greater functionality integrated into the familiar Microsoft ecosystem.
Following a tender process and the company’s own online research, a shortlist of several SharePoint integration providers for document management was drawn up. Burda approached the selection process with an open mind, aiming to find the best technical solution. “‘With Shareflex Contract from Portal Systems,'” explains Elisabeth Hueck, “‘the well-known references, amongst other things, quickly caught our eye.'” During the evaluation process, it became clear that the decision would fall to Shareflex Contract. In hindsight, it was a choice with which the team is very satisfied.
“At Portal Systems, we were quickly struck by the excellent references from well-known companies – and our existing contacts in other legal departments were also very satisfied with the collaboration.”
One advantage for Burda was that the team knew exactly what it wanted. The actual implementation was preceded by around a year of requirements analysis. “Discussions with Portal Systems therefore focused less on which functions were available and more on how the specific requirements could best be implemented,” says Hueck, elaborating. “After all, what you see in a demo is rarely – particularly in a large corporation – what actually goes live in the end.”
Accordingly, the system was fully tailored to Hubert Burda Media. This included a customised authorisation model, brand new functionalities, and an enhanced core. “We’ve turned Shareflex Contract into our own system,” says Hueck, sounding satisfied.
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Following the kick-off, configuration began using an agile approach. “The system was quickly installed on our own SharePoint,” summarises Elisabeth Hueck, “but it only became ready for production use once it had been configured to our exact requirements.” To this end, work packages and milestones were defined, and the respective user stories were discussed in weekly meetings.
The collaboration took place entirely remotely, which was a deliberate choice as the teams were spread across several locations. Hueck rates the setup as extremely positive. She sums it up: “Working with the development team at Portal Systems feels just like working with in-house colleagues.” She notes that their response times are very fast and their invoicing is extremely thorough. “That’s not something to be taken for granted, and it has contributed enormously to the project’s success.”
“Anyone who tells you there are no challenges in a software implementation project is lying,” says Hueck with a wink. One major hurdle was the migration of legacy data: rather than starting from scratch, the data fields of the legacy system had to be understood, transferred and mapped. Mapping the metadata alone took several months. In the end, however, the migration to the production system went smoothly.”
The second challenge was the scope of functionality: “Initially, the requirements were greater than what could realistically be implemented at the start.” For the go-live, the scope was therefore focused on the “non-negotiables” – in other words, the essential functions. Everything else is now being added step by step.
The system has been live since the end of April 2026. Around 30,000 contract files were migrated, comprising some 60,000 to 80,000 documents, the inventory accumulated over around ten years. With the new functions, Hubert Burda Medien expects to process several thousand contracts per year via the system in the future.
Although the system is still in the roll-out phase, the benefits are already clearly evident. Elisabeth Hueck describes the integrated signature solution as a real game-changer: “Signing and filing can be combined in a single step; master data no longer needs to be entered twice; and the contract is updated immediately,” she says, listing some of the advantages of Shareflex Contract, “and it’s always clear where the signed document is located.”
Thanks to the integration with the Power Platform, the administrative processes surrounding the system have also improved significantly, such as creating new business partners and users. “Everything related to the administrative side of the system is simpler, more secure and error-free than before,” says Hueck.
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During training sessions, users who had previously worked on the legacy system quickly became familiar with the new tool. “In the end, a training session lasted around half an hour,” says Hueck, “and many who were unable to attend found the system self-explanatory anyway.” Filing and searching for contracts is straightforward even without extensive training. “There is also a help section with click-through demos,” she explains.
For Burda, the project is just the beginning. The collaboration with Portal Systems will continue and the range of functions will be further expanded, much of it carried out in-house at Hubert Burda Media via the Power Platform. “Plans include, amongst other things, additional interfaces to third-party systems and the automated creation of contracts originating from other systems,” reveals Elisabeth Hueck. “In the medium term, the aim is to map the entire document lifecycle, from the template through to the signature and on to archiving. This will further improve data quality and make knowledge more widely available, independent of specific individuals.”
Patrick Carl
Chief Sales Officer
Email: info[at]portalsystems.de
