With the development of intercorporate document flow, new business standards have been implemented very actively. The digitalization of business processes has long become a global trend that continues to gain momentum. More and more companies are introducing modern technologies, such as electronic signature every day. Because if they want to develop a business successfully, it is necessary to adapt to new conditions quickly and meet all customer requirements.
In simple words, digital transformation is the introduction of modern technologies into the business processes of any company that helps it to move to a more advanced level. It implies not only the installation of modern equipment or software, but also fundamental changes in approaches to document management, corporate culture, internal and external communications. As a result of such processes, you increase employee productivity and customer satisfaction, and the company gains a reputation of a progressive and modern organization.
E-Signature: An Important Aspect of E-Document Management
The digitalization of workflow processes is relevant not only at the level of personal and business needs: entire industries choose this path of development as the only opportunity to meet the rapidly changing conditions of the surrounding world. The digital transformation of industry, retail, the public sector, and other areas is already changing the life of every person and every company.
The introduction of electronic document management is an effective solution for everyone who wants to keep up with the new requirements of the time. For the documents to gain legal significance, it is necessary to have mandatory requisites (private and public keys) and an electronic signature issued by a qualified provider of electronic trust services like SignNow. You can save time, money, and resources on paper, supplies, and logistics.
Electronic signatures can be used in both small and large companies, regardless of the number of employees and the type of ownership. You can e-sign and exchange any kind of documents:
- agreements;
- reporting sheets;
- orders;
- tables;
- price lists;
- important letters;
- statements.
E-Signature and the Spheres of its Use
An electronic signature is a relatively new technology that has greatly simplified the work of many public and private companies. It is a handwritten autograph of a person created by appropriate software. Such a signature can be created using various devices – computers, tablets, or smartphones. The main purpose of an electronic signature is to confirm the authorship of documents and to guarantee their invariability after signing.
It is a powerful tool for controlling the authenticity of the information in electronic form, ensuring the integrity of electronic data, confirming their authorship and relevance. It provides the ability to use original documents with full legal significance in your work.
Simply put, a digital signature allows you to make documents in electronic form legally significant and protect them from counterfeiting. You can get a digital signature and the corresponding certificate in one of the government-authorized Certifying Authority.
Key features of the electronic signature solution:
- Fast preparation, approval, sending, and receiving documents;
- The ability to create teams, work on documents remotely, together with colleagues, discuss and sign them online;
- The files are saved in a safe place – in cloud storage or on digital media. Access to them is open for you 24/7;
- You can view documents online and sign them using an electronic signature at any convenient time on different devices, including a smartphone or tablet based on iOS and Android.
Benefits and Possibilities of e-Signature
Leading companies like SignNow offer powerful eSignature solutions that boost your workflows and take contract management to a new level. Such a service helps to solve the main business tasks:
- Quick search and access to online documents. You or your employees will spend less time on such routine tasks;
- Decrease in financial costs for document exchange. A study by Gartner (USA) found that using paper in offices costs companies 13–31 times more than the cost of the document material itself. With the transition to online documentation and use of electronic signatures, there is no need to make printouts, buy stamps, envelopes, folders, and regularly pay for delivery services;
- You can store files in a convenient place – in the cloud or on digital media;
- The exchange of documents lasts a few seconds: you no longer need to waste time on the road and meetings to sign contracts;
- Reduction of time spent on processing documents. Automated workflow helps streamline daily tasks, which, in turn, increases the productivity of employees and the company as a whole;
- A unified e-document management platform helps you to sign, send and work with documents any time. It allows you to speed up the approval of documents and decision-making;
- Rational use of space in the office. Digitalization of paper archives makes it possible to free up the company’s office occupied by paper storage;
- Security and safety of documents. Access control, encryption, and backups minimize the risk of data leakage and loss of important files.
The implementation of advanced e-signature solutions is an excellent eco-initiative that helps the company to improve its image. Paperwork is causing significant environmental damage: according to Statista, about 420 tons of paper is consumed annually.
So, the introduction of an electronic signature makes it possible to increase the efficiency of employees, reduce the time of working with documentation, reduce the cost of printing papers, logistics, and archive maintenance, minimize the amount of paper consumed and take care of the environment. It is not only convenient but also very beneficial.
