The incorporation of electronic signatures in companies has been advancing for many years now and we even see that it is accelerating. But we also often see that within one and the same company, different solutions are being implemented in a dispersed unconnected way. This dispersion of electronic signature solutions causes friction and prevents digitization within the organization from moving rapidly.
To choose an electronic signature provider, in addition to analyzing the usual factors such as the ease of use of the solution or “usability”, the legal validity of the provider’s solution or the cost, there is a very important variable that is little discussed and that has become key if a business organization wants to grow rapidly in the internal use of electronic signatures: scalability factors.
Think cross-departmental
Scalability means that the solution can be progressively incorporated into all departments and processes of an organization, no matter how complex it may be. For example, a company could start by digitizing the signing process of employment contracts and other HR documents. And progressively do the same with the legal and commercial department (digital signature of contracts with customers, suppliers and partners, onboarding or KYC processes), through the operations and accounting department (digital signature of invoices, delivery notes or internal audit processes).
For this, we strongly recommend that the electronic signature solution must have a wide range of functionalities that satisfy the needs of all departments. Here is a list of some of the most widely used features among Connective clients:
- Sequential and/or parallel signatures;
- Sending documents with optional signatures or attached documents;
- Multiple signing methods;
- Forms or editable documents;
- Mass signing & bulk signing; Create document flows with multiple signers, document approvers, automatic receivers, to be able to reassign the signature to another person; or
- Expiration dates for example for job or commercial offerings, or even set legal notices complementary to the signature.
Multiple users & user groups
If you want the electronic signature solution to be scalable it should allow to create unlimited users, in order to facilitate its use throughout the entire organization. That is exactly why the ability to customize user access levels is essential, as well as to create unlimited user groups so that shared documents can easily be managed during signing process.
Internationally deployable
In addition, scalability also means that the solution can be used in all national or international subsidiaries of a business group. Therefor, it is important:
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- That the unlimited use of different brandings or customizations of logos and corporate colors is allowed, or that all the languages used by the organization and its clients are available so that each person who must electronically sign a document receives the notifications in their mother tongue.
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- That the company that provides the electronic signature and its technology is authorized or validated to act as a trusted third party in Europe (eIDAS Regulation) and in other countries where the organization has interests. Connective, for example, in addition to complying with European regulations (eIDAS), offers a solution certified under the Zertes regulation of Switzerland or the Ueta and eSign Act of the United States of America.
- That local or national advanced and qualified electronic signature and identification methods are available for use. In this sense, Connective offers an open platform that allows the incorporation of any digital identification method and any electronic signature method. Some examples: Belgium (eID, itsme®, lawyerID), Luxembourg (LuxID), Sweden and Norway (BankID), Netherlands (iDIN), Spain (Electronic DNI, Camerfirma), France (France Connect and the numerous digital identities available there), among others. This would allow, for example, Spanish companies with who operate internationally to carry out onboarding processes for citizens of those countries using a qualified identification system that is generally used in their country, generating greater legal certainty
In addition, there are other “global” identification methods that are on the rise and that are also important to have as alternatives. Connective, for example, has Video-Identification methods that allow the issuance of Qualified and Advanced Certificates completely remotely and valid throughout Europe.
Integration possibilities
Finally, scalability is also being able to integrate in any CRM, ERP or, in general, in any management software. Through these integrations, a user can create and prepare a document for signature, send it, follow up and receive it already signed without leaving their usual management system, reducing the risk of errors and greatly improving the efficiency of their time. The Connective solution gives you access to connectors with Salesforce, Microsoft Power Automate (for Dynamics 365, Sharepoint, etc.); It is also important to have unified registration methods or SSO (Single Sign On) or to facilitate connection to Active Directories of users.
It is a big plus the electronic signature solution is available in the cloud. This facilitates automatic maintenance and giving access rapidly to continuous improvements. Although Connective´s eSignatures solution is also available on-premise, 95% of our clients use it in the cloud version with the possibility of installing it on servers (Microsoft Azure) practically all over the world so to comply with the applicable national and international GDPR regulation.
If your company has made the effort to digitize a business process, it is important that when choosing the electronic signature provider, you look beyond that specific process and make a decision taking in mind the use within the entire organization.
