12 business cases for digital signatures

8/8/2019 12 Business Cases for Digital Signatures

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Think Twicebefore you signanyThing again

12 Bsiess Cases o Diial Siaes


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Of all the bsiess operatios we flll every day, sigatre

reqests seem so ordiary we rarely give them a secod thoght.

Yet its precisely becase they are commoa reglar part of jst

abot every bsiess activity or processthat they impose so

may costs, obstrctios ad delays.

Research shows that 80% of all bsiess processes rely o forms.

Ad most of these eed to be siged, iitiatig a expesive

cost cascade. While ot every compay is exposed to all of

the followig expeses, orgaiatios that trim or elimiate ay

of these expeses will realie measrable beets to their top

ad bottom-lie operatios. Expeses that ca be avoided with

digital sigatres typically iclde:

Pt paes a $0.03 a shee

rt coss, ia a, ail, coies ad oeih shippi,

ha ae o $0.05 o $42.55 pe delieable

s d vcoss a abo $1.33 pe doce

L d pdt coss o ohl $20.00 o each loss

ad $40.00 o each epodcio

idt t i delas, los deals, wokow obscios,

declies i csoe o pae saisacio, ad s plai

wased ie.

The pictre is clear: while sigig oe docmet hardly seems

brdesome, copyig, collectig, storig, distribtig, process-

ig ad scaig thosads of docmets reqirig sigatres

is a expese o eterprise ca afford to igore.

Hadwritte sigatres arestraglig yor eterprise.Fortately, theres a easy

way to break free.

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3/20

Tt td tp dtl t

Digital sigatres captre sigatres withot the expeses of

paper, yet with a degree of secrity, reliability ad simplicity

matched by other sigig techologies.

Digital sigatres provide critical competitive advatages byredcig operatig costs ad icreasig trst ad cotrol

over iteral operatios ad exteral bsiess processes for

greater cstomer satisfactio, stroger parter collaboratio,

ad icreased sales efciecy. With the right digital sigatre

techology, bsiesses ca:

alt that are crretly jammed by sigatredelays

gt di the validity of the siger ad of the

siged docmet

cl m dl tby allowig cstomers to approvedeals olie or yor sales staff to captre sigatres wheethsiasm is at its peak

e lltacross departmets, vedor etworksad mltiple ofces by distribtig ad flllig sigatrereqests, fast

ct tm d pt ptlthat facilitate sales ad

project coordiatio electroically

cmpl t lt qmtfor docmetedapprovals that ca be obtaied, stored ad retrievedqickly ad easily.

M ppl tt d vto accelerate workprocesses ad make archivig easier

rlz t ll vlof yor docmet maagemet tech-ologies, by elimiatig depedece o wet sigatres

rd dpdo IT by sig a stadard techology thatdoes ot reqire special dowloads or proprietary software

T 3 i T Dtl st

Wha akes a diialsiae he old sadadi he wold o elecoicsiaes?

Look o he Is:

iDenTiTyEach se es a iqe,diial epi hasees as his ideicaio.

inTenTA diial siae wih he

ih pocedes i place e-qies a ses aeio, ak-i i dicl o ses o akesbseqe clais o beiawae ha he had sieda ie doce o a speciceaso o ppose.

inTegriTyOce sied, he docecao be chaed o aleedwiho deecio. A aip-laio iediael ialidaes

he siae ad ies aisal chae ha aleseades, sakeholdes ad/oeaies.

b v t md t bottoml

A simple sigatre becomes a complex cost whe it

iterferes with the otherwise efciet ow of trasactios

amog compay employees ad betwee the compay ad

its parters, vedors ad most importatly, its cstomers.

My colleages ad I at ARX have writte Think Twice Before

You Sign Anything Again: 12 Business Cases for Digital

Signatures to ct throgh the cofsio ad demostrate the

practical bsiess vale of implemetig digital sigatres.

Withi the followig pages, yoll d case-by-case examples

of bsiess beets, simple methods for calclatig

the ROI of digital sigatres, ad a checklist to help yo

dee the right soltio for yor eterprise.

Whether yo read, skim or sca Think Twice Before You Sign

Anything Again: 12 Business Cases for Digital Signatures,

yoll ever thik of a sigatre i the same way agai.

Sicerely,

Boa Latsma

VP Marketig, ARX.

[email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


4/20

Addig digia sigas ShaPi dp has

chagd h wa w d bsiss. I has sad s

ad sigifica ipd cs sic.

HAnS CHrIStAnSEn, CEO Of CPI

FuLFILL PROMISES OFPAPerleSS AutomAtIon InveStmentS

To facilitate collaboratio throghot the eterprise, may orgaiatioshave embraced electroic docmet maagemet (DM) soltios, sch

as Microsoft SharePoit, to give employees easy ways to share crcial

iformatio, fast.

Bt sigatre reqests compromise electroic soltios at the last mile

i the process. Whe docmets eed to be prited, siged, scaed, faxed

ad/or delivered, they reitrodce costs the DM soltio was iteded to

remove. By deployig digital sigatre capabilities with docmet

maagemet systems, orgaiatios ca realie the fll vale of theiratomated-workow ivestmets.

3

Digia sigas aw CPI aiz h fa f is ShaPi si

C&P Ispectio (CPI), a ispectio ad qality assracerm, made a bold leap from paper-based docmet ma-

agemet to electroic workows by ivestig i Microsofts

SharePoit soltio. Its itetio? To make it easier for

CPIs worldwide team of ispectors to sbmit reports

from cstomer locatios across the globe.

Bt to its dismay, CPI fod that a cosiderable amot

of paperwork kept creepig back ito the process, de-

featig the prposead the valeof its SharePoit

soltio. CPI IT Maager Carste Peyk ivestigated the

sitatio ad covered the core problem: the egieersreports reqired atheticatig sigatres, forcig the

reitrodctio of prited docmets ito the workow.

Carste addressed the problem by icorporatig a digital

sigatre soltio that allowed egieers to complete the

electroic loop withot paper pritots. By istallig

the digital sigatre compoet to the workow, ot oly

did CPI save a estimated $3,000 i paper-related costs

per siger, per year, it completed the last lik i the

electroic docmet process ad allowed CPI to reap

the fll rewards of its SharePoit ivestmet.

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5/20

Whether its to esre coformace of exterally imposed reglatios,

evidece of compliace is key i may idstries, particlarly i life

scieces, healthcare, egieerig, govermet ad acial services.

Digital sigatres brig certaity to the process, providig sers with

a fast way to approve forms while satisfyig all athorities that the

sigatres are valid. I a global ecoomy, it is especially importat to

keep p with varios iteratioal stadards, sch as the Eu Directive

o Electroic Sigatres, that allow docmets to cross borders withot

pttig yor eterprise i the reglatory athorities cross-hairs.

EnSuRE ComPlIAnCe

t bai a appa a pjc qid s fa dcs

f HQ i h uK bachs ad h wd. I cd

ak awh bw h f wks g sigas

f a pais. tda, hw, h pcss is cpd

i 10 is. Digia sigas paid f hss js i

s f icasd pdcii.

DALjIt S. CHEEmA, DIrECtOr, CLInPHOnE

4

PareXeL t p mt t tt mt

As a leadig provider of Cliical Techology Services to

the pharmacetical idstry, CliPhoe (a sbsidiary of

PAREXEL, a leadig cliical research orgaiatio) is

der pressre to demostrate compliace with FDA 21

CFR Part 11 reqiremets while expeditig paperwork

across ofces arod the globe.

Movig papers from cotiet to cotiet cost CliPhoe

a lot of moeyad p to for weeks of time. The compay

istalled a digital sigatre soltio that chaged all that,

eve before ivestig i a expesive docmet maage-

met system. Oce they wet electroic ad started sigdigital sigatres, CliPhoe got the compliace it eeded

while gettig the speed it wated: ow, all ofces ca com-

plete the ecessary sigatres withi twety mites.

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6/20

COLLECT APPROVALSACROSSmultIPle loCAtIonS

May importat docmets reqire sigatres from participatig

parties who may be operatig i disparate ofces, ad ofte i

differet cotries. O paper, these remotely located sigers add

rotig ad pritig costs (mltiple copies distribted to additioal

sigers), ot to metio paifl delays.

Digital sigatres leverage the power of electroic docmet maage-

met soltios by givig sigers, regardless of locatio, a easy way to

add their ofcial approvals to ay docmet, from ay ofce, that, itr, may be roted to ay additioal locatios as eeded.

Sh Caia Dpa f ma Hah aais ha 9,500 sigd

fs a da acss 21 cais

Resposible for twety-oe hospitals ad commity health ceters throghot

the state, the Soth Carolia Departmet of Metal Health (SCDMH) fod itself

delged with complex forms that had to meet HIPAA ad GPEA reglatios.

I additio to reqirig the sigatres of 3,500 medical staff, most of the doc-

mets eeded siged athoriatios from patiets or patiet gardias at varios

locatios. SCDMH arrived at a system of digital sigatres that allowed patiets

to sig at poit of service via kiosk sigatre pads, with sbseqet physicia/

rse digital sigatres servig as otariatio. The digital sigatre soltio

ot oly made it easier to collect approvals from varios locatios i the SCDMH

system, it simplied the etire process of obtaiig seqetial approvals from

the patiet or patiet gardia to the spervisig medical staff.

5

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7/20

SECuRE AuTHORIzATIOnS FROMexeCutIveS on tHe move

May exectives travel extesively, yet eed to sig approvals while

o the road to avoid accmlatig piles of docmets that await their

sigatres po their retr. Otherwise, importat approvals, work

orders ad deal docmets may be shifted ito the slow laeor

eglected altogether. Paperwork delays ca be frther compoded

by the time it takes to idetify the locatios of travelig exectives

ad to rote the docmets appropriately.

Digital sigatres move the workow olie, allowig all parties

to distribte ad sig docmets istatly, via ordiary ad widely

available etwork coectios, or eve smart phoes, regardless

of locatio.

Iaia Sa cdias sigas h

I additio to its law-makig powers, the Italia Seate

provides gidelies for govermet actio ad holds the

govermet to accot. With sch broad resposibilities,

the 315 seators ad their staffers are freqetly travel-

ig. Yet their correspodece mst be siged to meet

Italia reglatios.

The Seates digital sigatre soltio overcomes

the challeges of physical distace, allowig Seators

ad staffers to create ad distribte siged memos

from ay locatio, ad o the move, withot imposig

time delays or delivery costs.

6

4


8/20

MAnAGEmultIPle APProvAlS

I may complex idstriessch as egieerig ad mafactrig

operatios caot proceed withot seqetial approvals from mltiple

athorities. Whe these are paper-based, the costs i time ad speed

are obvios. Bt whe they also reqire sophisticated docmetatio,

sch as CAD drawigs, the drai o resorces becomes oeros.

Digital sigatres ot oly elimiate the slow distribtio of approved

docmets, they make it easy for all participatig parties to cotribte

their athoriatios withot reqirig mltiple pritots ad rotig.

5

nw F sas capaci sais

A leadig mafactrer i the heavy-trasit market,

new Flyer coordiates Egieerig Chage Orders

(ECOs) from more tha 100 egieers. Each order

reqires ve CAD drawigs plotted for TIFF ad

vectorised PDF, approved ad siged by three

differet employees.

Paper orders made matters eve more complicated,

as may of the orders were geerated from a

remote ofce, the physically drive to headqarters

for plottig. new Flyer resolved the problem, ad

icreased the prodctivity of its desigers, by

icorporatig digital sigatres ito the electroic

stream that prodces the drawigs. now new Flyer

maages 250350 ECOs per week withot pritigad scaig costs, ad withot distribtio delays.

7

nw F was kig ip a d--d

digia sig-ff pcss kp p wih is high

pss giig ad afacig i-

. usig digia sigas aws gis

cica add hi sigas ad pfssia

sas CAD, micsf Wd, ec, ad Adb PDF

dcs, sigifica hacig pcsss

dcig pap, sca ad ab css ad

iiaig ab 25% f h i w dd i

h giig as pcss.

DAvE frASEr, CAD SyStEmS mAnAgEr, nEW fLyEr


9/20

COLLECTrePortS From FIelD StAFF

Gatherig sigatres withi the same bildig is a icoveiece.

Bt collectig them from employees who flll their dties ot i the

eld is a otright headachead a expesive oe as well.

Whether ecessary for billig, cotractig or compliace, eld reports

flll a critical role withi the operatios of may far-g orgaiatios.

Fortately, digital sigatres elimiate the eed for costly express

delivery services by collectig docmetatio electroicallyad

istatlythrogh secre, olie applicatios.

6

meDrAD bigs i 15,00020,000 digiaps f h d

As a leadig, worldwide provider of medical imag-ig devices ad services, MEDRAD was resposible

for complex, FDA-reqired service reports gathered

from meros eld service represetatives. I the

FDA market, compaies typically sped hdreds of

thosads of dollars aally jst o priority mail-

ig of siged docmets from eld staff to the home

ofce or to cliets. Accordig to MEDRAD records,

that meat cotrollig betwee 15,000 to 20,000

Field Service Reports that had to be siged ad

roted to cliets ad FDA aditors.

By sig a digital sigatre soltio to complete the

last mile i the electroic docmet maagemet

process, MEDRAD elimiated a eormos paper

brde while acceleratig the speed at which impor-

tat records are siged, roted ad archived.

thgh s f a digia siga si, meDrAD

sigifica cs css i shippig, pap-ad pdcs

ad wkad, pdcig a siad aa saigs f

$150,000. Addiia, fid sic psais

a w ab cca wk, papwk.

AngELA gASPEr, It PrOjECt mAnAgEr, mEDrAD

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10/20

CREATE ACuStomer PortAl

As we all kow, every cstomer iteractio we move olie improves

cstomer satisfactio, accelerates sales ad redces expesive direct

cstomer service costs.

Bt movemet to fll-service cstomer portals ca come to a dead

halt whe sigatres are reqired. Sddely, the service chaibecomes iterrpted with a process that mst shift to paper.

Every actio reqired from a cstomer ca lead to delaysor

worse. If cstomers are reqired to sig ad fax a form, they may

defer actio, get secod thoghts, or chage their midsdeals

cold be lost altogether.

Digital sigatres ca break p the logjam, allowig portals to collect,

with a simple click, the iqe ideticatio (der garateed data

itegrity), that the corts, reglators ad other athorities demad

while facilitatig cstomer actio whe they are most ethsiastic

abot closig the deal.

7Gbavlik is ff h acs wih a icicai pcss

GlobalVetLik (GVL), a service eterprise for aimal

health providers i north America, operates i a

strict reglatory eviromet that careflly moitors

aimal movemet. Whe horses chage owership,

stables or are trasported across state lies, a

Doctor of Veteriary Medicie (DVM) mst complete

ad sig Ofcial Certicates of Veteriary Ispectio

(OCVI) ad Eqie Ifectios Aemia (EIA) certi-

cates before the aimals ca be legally moved.

For GVL, the aswer was a olie cstomer portal

backed with a digital sigatre soltio that removed

paper from the process. With a few simple clicks,

the siged certicates ca be shared istatly

amog the DVM, horse owers ad aimal health

athorities. By lachig a efciet olie portal

ad ehacig it with compliat digital sigatres,

GVL captred a market leadership positio.

I was skig dp a w bsiss d

ha dd accss h Cifica f

Hah bd h iaia dic h

aia w. B sig digia sigas

s w sa i cpiac whi hpig

ip fficic i a aspcs f aia

hah ad cds, w bca a

pd ad, abig s f

hdds hsads f ss.

KEvIn mAHEr, PrESIDEnt, gLOBALvEtLInK

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11/20

EXPEDITEServICe rePort turn-ArounDS

I may service idstries, the primary deliverable is a siged report

that veries, evalates, assesses or qalies a isse of both bsiess

ad legal sigicace for the cliet. The faster these reports ca be

sbmitted, the greater the perceived vale to the cliet ad the better

the positioig of the vedor.

Digital sigatres remove the delivery delays associated with paper

(pritig, had-sigig, faxig, mailig, hard-copy archivig), allowig

compaies to share siged reports immediately.

8

maa Aaics disis p di f

3 das isaas

Project maagers i ftee labs throghot Caada

create ad sbmit reports for Maxxam Aalytics cli-

ets i evirometal scieces, petrolem testig,

food safety ad foresics. Each year, they test more

tha 1,500,000 samples for everythig from food

cotamiatio to determiig paterity.

natrally, Maxxams cliets are eager for the lab

reslts. Bt the ecessary sigatres mst stad

o their ow withot reqirig additioal software

for validatio, ad mst meet legal reqiremets to

stad as evidece i cort. By movig to digital sig-

atres, Maxxam ot oly met all of these reqire-

mets, bt ct report sbmissio times from 3 days

to istataeos delivery, givig them a cosider-

able advatage over their competitors.

Digia sigas wk sass wih h

PDF-basd ps cad i wkfw.

maas pjc aags sig ad sa

ad 15,000 ps h.

SOrIn BOBArIu, APPLICAtIOn-DEvELOPmEnt mAnAgEr, mAxxAm

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12/20

MAnAGEPAPerleSS ContrACtS

For eterprises with meros cliets (sch as B2B service providers,

tilities, israce rms, etc.), cotract maagemet ca become a

complex, expesive ad time-cosmig affair. To drive efciecy,

may of these eterprises are trig toward electroic cotract

maagemet systems that ca redce paperwork ad delays.

Bt sigatre reqests ca disrpt the cotractig process ad re-isert

paper ito the otherwise digital chai. Digital sigatres ca help

eterprises maitai the electroic itegrity of the cotractig process,

elimiatig obstacles to achievig the efciecies they seek.

9

Digia sigas ha abd s aiz a

papss pcss. Wih h digia siga si,w wd si b hidig gaizaia pcsss b

idcig s f f pap i wkfw f

cac appas.

jOHn LAuEr, It mAnAgEr, EntErPrISE SErvICES,

OgLEtHOrPE POWEr COrPOrAtIOn

oghp Pw sas $300,000 i iss a f digia siga ipai

Based i Georgia, Oglethorpe Power Corporatio

(OPC) is oe of the largest power spply coopera-

tives i the uited States. To accelerate project

workows ad redce costs, they ivested i a

cotract maagemet applicatio that wold tr

approvals ito a electroic process.

Sigatre obligatios, however, iterrpted the

workow at the last mile. By itegratig a digital

sigatre soltio with its cotract maagemet

applicatio, OPC keeps the electroic workow

itact. I jst its rst year of implemetatio, the

compay saved over $300,000 ad made a complete

retr o its ivestmet i jst three to for moths.

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13/20

InVOICEeleCtronICAlly

Today, a ever greater portio of bsiess is codcted, ad

eve fllled, electroically. With the Iteret as the leadig

bsiess driver, eterprises mst be prepared to sbmit, trasmit

ad receive ivoices electroically, via Web forms or emails.

Digital sigatres allow yo to work with electroic ivoices withot

compromises i secrity or isses with acceptability by the cstomer.

Fortately, todays digital sigatres (like previos geeratios of

electroic sigatres) are stadards-based, meaig that they do ot

reqire proprietary software or dowloads o the recipiets part.

10uPS Isa diffias isf wih ciciicig f cssAlthogh its recogied as a leadig carrier re-

owed for qality service, uPS refses to rest o

its reptatio ad cotially seeks ways to improve

the cstomers experiece.

uPS Israel tred to digital sigatres to give

cstomers the optio of receivig ivoices electroi-

cally, rather tha by paper. Based o a stadard

techology available with the free Adobe Acrobat

Reader, the digital sigatre didt reqire ay

special vericatio software. Withi the rst moth,

a mch larger mber of cstomers tha expected

chose the electroic optio. The ew service helpedexpedite paymet collectio for the compays

accots receivable departmet while givig

cstomers a coveiet way to redce their

depedecy o paper.

uPS Isa pids isf sig iai

It sis diffia isf f is

cpis, ip is cs sics,

as w as dc b i pss.

migaig -iicig wih a digia

siga si is ah ap f

hw uPS bais cpii adaag.

EyAL mAyO, uPS ISrAEL

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14/20

CAPTuRE SIGnATuRESAt tHe PoInt oF SAle

Carpe diem or seie the day: it applies as mch to bsiess as it

does to classical philosophy. Whe the cstomer is ready to sig o

the bottom lie, yo dot wat to edre ay bsiess delays imposed

by paper cotracts.

Whe mch of yor sales force is i the eld, however, paper cotracts

mst be circlated by fax or mail. Digital sigatres provide the alter-

ative: as legally-bidig as wet sigatres, they have the importat

advatage of immediacy. Oce a docmet is siged, it ca be istatly

sbmitted to iitiate actio.

11

Digia sigas ha dcd h i i aks

f h gaizai cp a sa b 50%. B

cbiig digia sigas wih bi chgis

ad igaig h i bsiss pcss w

w ab ip daa accac, spd pcssig

i, ad dc paia css.EtzIOn yAtSIv, CIO, AIg ISrAEL

AIG-Isa ccs sigas a iscss hs

Israce is a very persoal matter. I fact, AIG-Israel,a leadig israce ad acial services compay,

completes may of its cosmer sales off-site, i the

cstomers ow homes. I this cotext, excess paper-

work is ot oly a icoveiece, bt a impedimet

at the least opporte mometwhe cstomers are

ready to sig.

AIG-Israel chose a digital sigatre soltio that

easily itegrated with its cetral compter facilities

for rapid imagig ad storage. Accessible via laptops

ad celllar coectios, the soltio has allowed

AIG-Israel represetatives to captre secre ad

graphical sigatres that are completely compliat

with Israce Commissioer ad reglatory agecy

reqiremets.

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15/20

COLLABORATE WITH PARTnERSonlIne

Jst as mltiple ofce locatios reqire a efciet way of distribtig

ad approvig docmets, parters from differet orgaiatios eed

a timely ad cost-effective way of collaboratig with each other.

Ay collaboratio, however, reqires cotracts, chage orders, project

reqests ad other approvals that mst be siged i order to iitiate

work. Some smart eterprises are creatig olie portals, accessible

via the Web, to help parters maage the paperwork electroically.

By addig a digital sigatre soltio to the portal, reqired approvals

ca be secrely recorded for all ofcial docmetatio.

12

Dk ra bids a i pa f iscsci pas

With more tha 144 millio sqare feet of ofce,idstrial ad healthcare properties der

maagemet, Dke Realty is oe of the largest

real estate compaies i the uited States.

I its roles as Desig Bilder, Geeral Cotractor

or Cotract maager, Dke Realty oversees

thosads of cotract parters o behalf of its

cliets.

Wisely, Dke Realty bilt a i pa,

Costrctio Coect, where the compay ca

easily maage commicatios, cotractig,

reportig ad more with its parters. Addig

the digital sigatre soltio compoet to

the portal elimiated paper from the process,

allowig Dke Realty to take advatage of a

efciet, etirely electroic, collaborative tool.

Kds Dk! th ad i his

sas Ac Ai is ch appciad!

mArEttE EKArt, ACE AIr (A DuKE rEALty PArtnEr)

14
https://connection.dukerealty.com/Construction/Demo/eSignGettingStartedSUBS.htmhttps://connection.dukerealty.com/Construction/Demo/eSignGettingStartedSUBS.htm


16/20

tAKe A HArD looK At tHe numBerS

Pt t

Its ot jst paper,bt toer ad ik aswell. O average, thesm of their expesesis $0.03 per page.

ValeMaxs aalpritig costs:

200,000 pages x $0.03

= $6,000

rt t

Oe way or aother,docmets mst movefrom the siger toelsewhere, whetherto other sigers, otherdepartmets, or exter-al parters, vedorsor cliets.

Lets say oly half of

ValeMaxs sigeddocmets (50,000)eed exteral rotigby mail, corier,shippig or faxig.Eve if oly 10% of its

docmets are deliveredby overight shippig,the total costs are hge:

ValeMaxs total

aal rotig costs= $438,300

s t

To save o storagead hadlig costs,may archives todayare electroic, rathertha physical. SpposeValeMax scas jsthalf of their docmetssig employees whomake $10/hor:

ValeMaxs aalscaig costs:

50,000 docmets x $0.50

= $25,000

Pp v t

If half of the docmetsare scaed for elec-troic archivig, whatabot the other half?Its eve more expesive:

ValeMaxs aalpaper archivig costs:

50,000 docmets x $0.83

= $41,500

Dmt l d

pdt t

It sholdt happebt it does: docmetsget lost, ecessitatigsearches ad, if thesefail, reprodctio of themissig item.

ValeMaxs aal lossad reprodctio costs:

$120,000 + $60,000

= $180,000

Ttl t

VlMx

Keep this i mid:we took a coservativeapproach sig redcedgres ad a modestly-sied eterprise. Yet thembers are staggerig:

All told, ValeMaxsaal cost of paper-

based sigatres= $650,000

That meas:

Average cost per paper-based sigatre:

$650,000/100,000

= $6.50 p t

Aal cost per siger:

$6.50 X 500

= $3,250

200 eploees who elal si doces

500 doces sied pe eploee, pe ea(o 2 doces each woki da)A doce sie o 2 paes aos o 200,000paes pe ea

15

Thik sigatres are a soft isse? Yo may be i for a

srprise whe yo take a close look at the hard mbers.

Eve whe qalitative isses (sch as workow delays,

legal hassles ad reptatio risks) are set aside, the

directly measrable factors expose the startlig costs

associated with paper-based sigatres.

For the prpose of the followig calclatios, well work with

a hypothetical compay, ValeMax, that has a modest prole:


17/20

bt t, t m. M m.

Weve tallied the expeses that are relatively easy to qatify.

Bt may of the most expesive costs associated with paper-based

sigatres elde direct measremet.They may ot be readily

qatiable, bt they are certaily very real:

evmtl t. A estimated of a barrel of oil, half a tree,

ad 150 pods of carbo emissios, per siger, per year

opptt t. Lost bsiess de to delays i sigig agreemets

bd t. Damage to reptatio cased by lost docmetatio or

docmets that caot be atheticated

roi t. Failre to realie the fll potetial of yor cotet maage-

met system

16

Both the qatiable ad qalitative expeses of

paper-based sigig impose hgead ecessary

brdes o yor orgaiatio.

For more isight o costs, dowload the free white paper:

Cacaig h roI f digia siga ipai
http://www.arx.com/resources/ROI-white-paper-access-form-eBook-readershttp://www.arx.com/resources/ROI-white-paper-access-form-eBook-readers


18/20

tHe toP ten DIGItAlSIGnAture CHeCKlIStWhich diial siae solio eall delies?

I the precedig pages, yove see evidece for thereal bsiess beets of digital sigatres: elimiatig

the costs associated with paper, movig docmets

istatly across ofces (or eve cotiets), acceleratig

workows ad flllig the potetial of yor docmet

maagemet system.

Yet ot every electroic or digital sigatre soltio

ca trly deliver o its promises. Before yo ivest

i a digital sigatre system, apply the followig

Top Te checklist. If the soltio yore cosiderig

ca satisfy all te reqiremets, the its

likely to provide the beets yo wat

ad satisfy the most demadig

expectatios of allyors.

17

D t l dmt t q pt?

May programs, sch as Microsoft Word, allow sers to add a electroic

sigatre to a docmet. Bt as log as these docmets ca be altered withot

chagig the sigatre, the docmet ist trly sealed. A secre digital sigatre

soltio seals docmets with a tamperproof digital gerprit iqe to both

the siger ad the docmet; ay chages whatsoever immediatelyad visibly

ivalidate the sigatre.

c t ppt mltpl pplt t zt?

Soltios for Microsoft Word ad Adobe Acrobat are commo. Bt to facilitate

movemet throgh yor workows, yor digital sigatre system mst work

with meros applicatios, icldig poplar ofce apps sch as Microsoft

Word, Excel, PDF ad AtoCAD. I additio, the techology shold spport

sigatres i docmet maagemet ad workow systems sch as

Microsoft SharePoit.

wll t lt pl t?

I electroic docmets, the real secrity is provided by the derlyig techology.

Bt what we actally see is a visally coveiet way of recogiig ideticatio.

Look for digital sigatre soltios that allow yo to apply ad see a graphical

represetatio of the traditioal wet sigatre.

c t d m t t?

May of the most importat docmets, like cotracts, reqire more tha oe

sigatre. Yet some electroic systems have o meas for accommodatigmore tha oe valid sigatre per docmet. The right soltio allows more

tha oe perso to sig i more tha oe place while maitaiig the validity

of the docmet.

c t tt iT mmt?

Who hast bee bred by digital soltios that have become massive

admiistrative headaches? May of the electroic sigatre systems ot there

deped o proprietary software that reqires itesive IT maagemet for

istallatio, maagemet, cotrol ad trobleshootig. Yo wat oe that rs

simply from day oea soltio thats easy to se withot legthy learig cycles.

2

1

3

4

5


19/20

D t mpl t ll ll qmt?

If the sigatre doest stad p i cort, it cat meet yor bsiess

stadards. Yor soltio mst meet the followig basic reqiremets:

Atheticity: the sigatre is iqely liked to the siger

Itegrity: ay tamperig to the docmet ca be detected

Eforceability: sigatres mst be veriable by all parties

no-reftability: the sigatre caot be deied or disavowed

c t vd tm, , ?

Yove assiged yor sigatre with yor system. Bt will the receivig party

be able to verify it withot istallig the same digital sigatre software?

A effective soltio allows recipiets to see ad verify altered sigatres

with the ordiary docmet software, sch as Microsoft Word or Abobe

Acrobat, they already have.

D t ll ml -p?

no ser shold have to se a wiard or call a help desk to sig yor doc-

mets. Istead, the assigig of digital certicates shold be easy, fast ad as

trasparet as possible. Oce the digital sigatre system is deployed, either

the sers, or IT people, shold be aware of the derlyig techology.

i t mpl t ?

A wet sigatre reqires pe ad papersimple. Bt a digital sigatre

system that isists o mlti-step, wiard-like processes is aythig bt simple.

The acid test? The right soltio shold take o more tha 10 secods or 1-2mose clicks to esre that a docmet is siged, sealed ad legally compliat.

D t v l ttl t p?

Look der the hood for hidde costs: complex software istallatios,

additioal stafg reqiremets, help desk demads, registratio ad/or

reewal fees for digital certicates, ad more. The digital sigatre soltio

yo wat shold solve problems, ot impose ew costs.

18

6

7

8

9

10


20/20

What does a system that satises all of the above reqiremets look

like? I a way, yo already kowall of the case stdies i this ebook

featre cliets who se CoSig as their digital sigatre soltio.Bt yo ca lear more i this vd. Ad if yo like what yo

see, we ivite yo to try CoSig for a moth, free of charge.

To lear more abot how a digital sigatre soltio ca redce

costs, accelerate workows i yor eterprise ad improve

relatioships with cstomers ad parters, cotact the experts

at ARX at [email protected] or by phoe at (415) 839-8161.

at arXT Dtl st cmp

ARXs CoSig digital sigatre soltio atomates approvalsaffordably i a compliat maer, allowig orgaiatios to go

paperless, expedite bsiess processes ad redce costs. CoSig

is the oly digital sigatre soltio that is seamlessly itegrated

with Microsoft SharePoit ad other poplar DM/ECM soltios.

For reliable cotrol of sigatre privileges ad ease of admiistratio,

sigatres are maaged cetrally throgh the orgaiatios ser

directory. Jst as importatly, CoSig sigatres are globally accepted

by exteral parters withot the eed for proprietary validatio

software. Lear more abot the CoSig digital sigatre soltio at:

www.a.c

Yo may post this ebook o yor blog or email it to whomever yo

believe wold beet from readig it. Thak yo!

19

See WHAt A GreAt DIGItAl SIGnAture

SolutIon reAlly looKS lIKe
http://www.arx.com/resources/Digital-signatures-in-2-minutes-eBook-readershttp://www.arx.com/?ebook=1http://www.arx.com/?ebook=1http://www.arx.com/resources/Digital-signatures-in-2-minutes-eBook-readers

12 business cases for digital signatures

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