At the end of 2015, Adobe announced some significant new e-sign capabilities in Document Cloud that will make electronically signing documents and contracts easier than ever before.
New functionality includes a visual drag-and-drop Workflow Designer, digital signatures (a more advanced, secure form of e-signatures) and Enterprise Mobility Management and Signature Capture that makes on-the-go signing a breeze.
“Companies are in the midst of massive digital transformation, with a relentless push to streamline all business processes,” said Bryan Lamkin, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital Media, Adobe.
“New e-sign capabilities in Adobe Document Cloud, including digital signatures and breakthrough mobile functionality–will bring a new level of efficiency to core business processes by eliminating the time lag and cumbersome paperwork associated with securing ink signatures."
These efforts to upgrade and transform their e-sign services has not gone unnoticed. Satisfied clients include the likes of local operators, such as SMRT Corporation.
“Our experience with Adobe eSign services has been excellent,” said Alfred Aloysius, Director, Strategic Sourcing, SMRT Corporation Ltd, a leading multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore.
“The implementation was quick and fuss-free, and the approval process now is a lot less laborious. We’re pleased with the increased mobility that Adobe eSign has brought us, as contract approvals can now be done on the go. Efficiency and productivity have increased for more than 300 employees who use the eSign services across 12 departments, including Finance, HR and Commercial; we have recognized a reduction of document handling fees by more than S$100,000 since November 2014.”
Adoption of electronic signatures is soaring due to the competitive edge they afford organisations of all sizes. However, many organisations are required to use digital signatures, a more advanced, secure form of e-signature, which is also set for EU-wide adoption beginning July 2016.
Powerful new capabilities introduced include Breakthrough workflow automation, with drag-and-drop Workflow Designer, visually create easy-to-follow workflow templates for senders to follow a consistent signing process every time, Digital Signatures, which comply with advanced signing requirements in the EU and regulated industries, New global data centers, and Enterprise-class control, that can eliminate extra steps and get signing done faster with an all-new send agreement experience.
Enabling the Mobile Workforce
Adobe eSign Manager DC is an upgraded mobile app companion for Document Cloud eSign services and Adobe Acrobat DC. It lets users easily e-sign documents and forms, send them for signature, track responses in real-time, and get instant signatures with in person signing.
The eSign Manager DC app now features powerful new functionality, including Enterprise Mobility Management, allowing for secure use of Document Cloud mobile apps and devices using Android, Signature Capture, which lets employees take a photo of their signature on their phone to use on documents, and Signature Sync, which gives employees access to their signature through automatic synchronization.
OpenGov sat down with Mark Grilli, Vice President of Acrobat Solutions, Adobe Systems, to get his take on how these upgrades will help public sector organisations embrace digitisation, and effectively, improve their services.
Within the region, they are seeing more public sector interest in these solutions as organisations are moving to digital platforms.
“We are seeing much more public sector interest, and in some sectors which are somewhat surprising. While you would imagine it would be used for every kind of process that would require documentation, it could be used for those,” said Mr. Grilli, “But for something like applying for a fishing license, the simple cumbersome things that aren’t always the most critical things are often where we see the first levels of adoption.”
Mobility was a key focus in developing these solutions, as more and more services are offered on the go and people are more often on mobile devices than ever before. The e-sign capabilities allow streamlining of applications and processes to get things done quicker, some of which would traditionally take days to complete.
“We are seeing applications where people can sign up for new internet service with a technician who has an iPad. Although it may be offline, it can sync up once it is online and push the application through,” Mr. Grilli stated, “What we hear more and more often is that Government agencies are shocked at how long these processes take, and how these solutions would benefit them, cutting processes from days to hours.”
Adobe found a way to make these processes easier to track and manage with e-signatures. No more worries about where the document is and who is left to approve and sign off, all of this is monitored by the workflow.
“What we found is that organisations are just wanting to extend where the breakages are. What we see in the sales example, is that they sent out a quote (the most important part of the engagement) and go blind,” Mr. Grilli explained.
“With e-signatures, you can see if they opened it, if they did not open it, how many times they opened it, and I can know who to follow up with. That incredible amount of visibility allows you to get more work done and know where to apply your resources.”
Moving forward, these solutions will provide organisations with the tools and resources to make their services run more efficiently. Long gone are the days where we are tracking people down to find vital documents and contracts and we can keep the workflow moving along.