WWW.TECHNOLOGYEVALUATION.COM

Technology Evaluation Centers

Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Making the Right Choice for Cost-Saving Efficiency and Superior Service

By Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC)Sponsored by e-SignLive™ by Silanis

2Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Making the Right Choice for Cost-Saving Efficiency and Superior Service

Executive Summary

For many years there has been talk of the paperless office. The paperless office and

workplace no longer has stacks of paper documents coming through the mailing room for

dispatch to the appropriate department for further collation, review, and signing. However,

with all this talk of the paperless office, one of the last sets of business transactions to be

truly automated is the plethora of documents that require a signature to complete the

business transaction. Electronic signature (e-signature) solutions have been around for

some time but are only now being seen as a critical component of digitization efforts in

organizations. This paper will first walk through the reasons why e-signature software is a

key to business process digitization.

The paper will then outline six key e-signature software selection criteria and their

importance in evaluating your software decision. These include solution flexibility, white

label branding, ease of use, integration, and automation. The evaluation criteria outlined

in this report are based on qualitative interviews with IT, operations, and line-of-business

(LOB) decision makers with the responsibility for e-signature software selection.

The paper also presents real-world business examples that show the benefits of

implementing e-signature software as part of a company’s digital transformation. Finally,

we will look at e-signature software evaluation best practices to help you quickly and

efficiently select the best e-signature software solution for your organization.

3Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

E-Signatures—Key to Business Process Digitization

Disruptive forces drive digitizationOver the last few years, there have been many technological advances that are disrupting

business operations and challenging archaic business processes. The increasing use of

electronic signatures (e-signatures) across many different industries is one key example.

E-signature software provides the means to leave old practices behind. Consumers are no

longer satisfied with waiting for any product or service to be delivered. Today’s consumers,

especially millennials, are used to having access to a product or service at the touch of

button on their mobile device, any time and anywhere they choose.

Many industries need to provide access to a product or service requiring a legally binding

“signature”. For many organizations, the process still looks something like this:

1. The company sends a form for completion,

2. the recipient signs,

3. the recipient faxes or mails back the form,

4. the company receives and reviews the form,

5. the company countersigns, and,

6. the consumer can finally start using the product or service. (Note: This process example

doesn’t account for potential processing errors that can occur along the way.)

The above can be a costly and error-prone process and many organizations are replacing it

with a completely digital solution which, at its heart, has robust e-signature software. The

e-signature solution makes it possible to completely eliminate wet signatures—pen and

ink on paper—from these time-consuming business processes.

Bill Brice, 2014 Chairman of ESRA (Electronic Signature and Records Association) wrote in

ESRA’s Predictions 2014 that, “Just as e-mail once transformed business and communication,

e-signatures and e-records are completely altering the world in which we live, and

for several reasons. Businesses are finding that eliminating paper in favor of electronic,

automated documents saves both time and money—documents no longer go missing;

paper, ink and courier expenses become a thing of the past.”

The new normal in today’s digital world means giving consumers the ability to apply for

life insurance, close a mortgage loan, open a new bank account and sign a sales contract

or agreement on their own terms. A consumer—be it a customer or business—wants to

apply for a bank account online using their iPad from the kitchen table in the morning, and

4Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

be able to use the account that day. Someone purchasing a house needs to go through

numerous “signature” phases to complete the closure and the two parties involved in the

purchase are in different parts of the country with different agents representing them who

also need to sign during the process. Using e-signature software and leveraging other

digital tools, organizations are able to completely digitize these processes to meet the

demands of today’s consumer.

Next, we look at how you can build a business case for going digital with e-signatures and

make the right decision when choosing an e-signature software provider.

E-signatures—a significant piece of the digitization puzzleOther areas of the consumer experience have already been forever changed by the

explosion of digital technologies like the internet, mobile devices, and cloud computing.

E-signature technology is moving up on many organizations’ radar as a key to digitally-

enabling business processes and underlying transaction workflows. Most people take it

for granted or even require that they be able to shop for their favorite consumer product

after seeing an article on the top ten latest and hippest options for the coming season

of that product. Retailers big and small have seen that they must be present on the Web

with appealing and instantaneous product purchasing options to remain viable. The one

part of business-to-consumer and business-to-business transactions that continues to use

a practice that is more than 1,000 years old is that of signing and managing documents to

support legal agreements between parties.

While many industries can benefit from digitizing processes that require a signature,

banking, insurance, government, and other highly regulated industries like life sciences are

on the forefront of leveraging e-signature technology and have seen a significant return

on investment. A company that processes thousands or tens of thousands of account

enrollment requests will see significant cost savings by virtually eliminating all of the steps

required to process a paper document.

Consider the example discussed above where a simple, single document had to go through

five steps before delivering a product or service to the customer. If it costs on average

$4 to produce, mail and review, copy, and store this document, a company that manages

100,000 documents is spending $400,000 dollars to manage the processing associated

with a single document. Now, add up all of the other documents that an organization like

a bank, insurance company, or government agency processes—it’s easy to see the cost-

saving potential.

5Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Yet, the digitization of these types of business processes is not just for industries with large

volumes of documents that need to be signed or organizations that have complicated

signing processes. Other companies can see similar cost savings and other benefits

from using e-signature technology to automate customer experiences. Aberdeen Group

published a report that shows how, “Best-in-class (the top 20 percent) of organizations

surveyed are more than twice as likely as all-others (the bottom 80 percent) to have

electronic signatures as part of their contract management solution.” Digitizing the

signature steps of business processes can be used by any organization to automate

employee on-boarding or automate the signing and processing of purchasing agreements,

and really any other process that is being hindered by having to get a document printed,

signed, and returned. E-signature technology helps organizations of all shapes and sizes to

automate their business processes and develop all-digital workflows to help satisfy rising

customer expectations.

Business value of digitization using e-signature softwareWe have touched on the more obvious cost savings of digitization but there is additional

value a company will gain by moving towards 100 percent digital handling of business-

to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B), and even internal processes. This section

details the return on investment (ROI) aspects that can be used to justify the purchase of

e-signature software, and less readily measured factors that show additional value gained

by moving to all-digital processes.

As companies need to thoroughly justify the costs of purchasing software, e-signature

software vendors can provide ROI calculators that will allow an organization to input

detailed cost breakdowns of everything involved in managing essential paper documents.

ROI calculators allow a company to estimate obvious costs like those for distribution,

supplies, administration, and handling costs. But a good ROI tool also shows how other

costs like archiving, the cost of compliance, and even costs of customer abandonment and

sales force productivity can drop by investing in e-signature solutions.

In an article published in Bank Systems & Technology, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

reported significant savings by implementing e-signature solutions across their operations.

Keith Wilson, senior manager of sales force technology enablement, notes that, “During

peak periods we’d be saving two to three hours per week per advisor. So, if we have about

8,000 advisors, that is about 24,000 hours per week in time saved.” The bank estimates that

the solution will save about $8 million in administrative costs annually.

During peak periods we’d be saving two to three hours per week per advisor. So, if we have about 8,000 advisors, that is about 24,000 hours per week in time saved. ”—RBC

“

6Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

These ROI calculators are quite extensive and very educational, but there are other soft

factors that, though not as easy measure, should also be considered when moving toward

the digitization of business processes. Organizations that make the move to all-digital

processes also see increased operational efficiencies such as a reduction in errors. Common

errors such as improper information populated in the original documents, not having all

the signature boxes completed, and the rework associated with these errors can be almost

completely eliminated. The turnaround time of digital processes can also be vastly superior

to that of traditional documents processes. The electronic tracking and management of

documents strengthens regulatory and legal compliance. All this leads to an enhanced

customer experience and satisfied consumers.

Thorough software evaluation is crucial before selectionWhen choosing an e-signature solution—as with other similarly important enterprise

technologies—it’s essential to undertake a rigorous software selection process. An

organization needs to make sure that a solution fulfills business needs, can meet industry

and government regulatory requirements, and functions as part of the enterprise’s technical

architecture. E-signature solution selection might not be as large as, say, an enterprise

resource planning (ERP) software selection. However, the decision should not be taken

lightly. The decision should be made by a cross-functional team comprised of business and

technical experts, and be championed by a senior executive within the organization.

Like many software decisions, a company will have to live with its e-signature software

decision for years to come—especially when e-signatures become an integral part of the

organization’s business processes. The success of a single line of business in implementing

an e-signature quickly spreads, and many other parts of the organization will be ready to

jump on the bandwagon. Thus, what might first be seen as a small, isolated e-signature

initiative for a particular line of business can rapidly turn into a corporate digitization

initiative. Be careful not to jump into the first, low-cost service that shows up on your

favorite search engine.

The e-signature market has seen significant growth over the last few years. Since the most

recent Forrester Wave report on e-signatures released in 2013, the industry has seen a

number of large acquisitions, and a significant number of new vendors have appeared on

the market. It’s important to take the time to perform a detailed software evaluation before

signing up with an e-signature provider.

We next look at six key e-signature decision criteria to be carefully considered before

making such an important decision.

7Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Six Key E-Signature Software Decision Criteria

Here we explore six key decision-making criteria—based on interviews with organizations

that have either considered or are using e-signature technology—that should be evaluated

before purchasing e-signature software.

1. FlexibilitySolution flexibility is important for a number of reasons. Often a company will begin using

e-signature software to support a particular line of business (LOB) or one department. But

e-signature solutions will soon be seen as an essential component of a 100 percent digital

organization. The solution chosen needs to be flexible in a number of ways to allow it to

grow with an organization’s growing needs. There are multiple ways in which an e-signature

software solution needs to be flexible so that it can support this growth and change.

• Multipledeploymentoptions: The solution should allow a company the choice of

deploying it in a public or private cloud, or on-premises behind the organization’s

firewall. Ideally, the solution can be migrated between these different deployment

models with minimal to no changes to the processes and integrations developed.

• Multiplewaystoconsume:E-signature software is consumed broadly in two distinct

ways. The first is ad hoc or sender-driven. The second is when the tool is integrated

with corporate applications such as a web portal, a third-party application such as

a customer relationship management system, or other internally-developed systems.

In the latter case, there is no manual work done by employees to prepare the signing

process; documents are system-generated and completely automated.

• Multiple authentication methods: Because different digital processes require

differing levels of authentication, the solution shouldn’t be limited in the ways in

which the signers are authenticated. It should support email, SMS, static and dynamic

knowledge-based authentication (e.g., security questions), biometrics, smart cards,

and digital certificates for authentication, and permit a combination of multiple

authentication methods.

• Multipledevices:Though it may go without saying that customers and users will be

working on multiple devices—laptops/PCs, tablets, or smart phones—this capability

shouldn’t be overlooked. The e-signature solution needs to do more than support

multiple devices, but the vendor needs to have the resources and the experience to

be able to optimize the experience across all devices.

• Multiplelanguagesandworldwidecloudlocations:Even small businesses should

look for a solution and a vendor that can support changes being brought by the

globalization of business. Multiple major languages should be supported natively by

8Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

the solution, along with the ability to add other languages easily when needed. When

looking at a cloud solution, the vendor should have worldwide cloud locations for data

residency and high service performance (minimal data latency).

• Multiplechannels:E-signature software is not just used on multiple devices but will

also be consumed and used via multiple channels. A solution should enable customers

to use the product via the Web, during a retail sales process, remotely when transacting

through a call center, or out in the field. The solution needs to be flexible enough to

adapt to the different consumer channel experience.

White label branding—or white labeling —gives an organization the ability to maintain its own brand across the e-signature process.

2. White label brandingWhite label branding—or white labeling—gives an organization the ability to maintain its

own brand across the e-signature process. This is important when it comes to reinforcing

customer trust in the digital transaction and to achieving high adoption rates. With

cybercrime and electronic fraud increasing on an almost daily basis, consumers are wary

about being presented with an unfamiliar company’s brand during an electronic process,

especially during a process that requires them to enter personal data online. Without white

labeling, a consumer might lose trust and abandon the electronic signature process.

• It is important that an e-signature solution has the ability to white-label the e-signature

process and fully customize the e-signing experience. This enables a company to put

its brand front and center—before, during, and after customers sign.

9Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

• This is particularly important for business to consumer (B2C) applications, where

organizations don’t want customers to be aware that a third-party technology is being

used to drive the e-signing experience. The customer wants to feel secure that the

document being signed—and the information contained therein—is being transmitted

in confidence and securely between only the parties involved in the transaction.

3. Ease of useE-signature solutions need to be very simple to use for all types of users, from baby boomers

to millennials, and from frontline workers to C-level executives. The solution needs to

be accessible and easy to use for everyone that sends and signs a document, and for IT

professionals to develop and administer. The goal of going paperless is to have a solution

that is easier to use than paper document processing. If the solution isn’t easy to use, it will

be relegated to the graveyard of IT initiatives that have fallen flat.

Easyforsenders:Sending the document for signing is the first step in the process, so this

step must be very easy. It needs to be as easy as printing and e-mailing, or the senders will

revert to their old ways. The solution should also be integrated with the existing business

process so that it is intuitive. The total solution needs to pre-fill documents with all the

available information. If the electronic signature solution requires much special training

then a company risks losing one of the most important users—the sender. Look for features

like:

• Drag and drop menus and pull-down menus that make it easy to prepare and send

documents out for signing.

• The ability to create templates that you can reuse for repeatable signing processes to

save time preparing documents.

• The ability to fully automate document preparation.

• Automated alerts that notify staff when documents are not signed on time.

• Transaction management capability.

Easy for signers: The signing process must also be accomplished without any training

—like its paper equivalent. The consumer needs to be able to receive the document and

be guided through the entire signing process, without assistance. The signer should also

be able to perform their tasks on any device—desktop or mobile. Look for an e-signature

solution that:

• Doesn’t require signers to setup an account with the e-signature service.

• Doesn’t require any downloads, plug-ins, or training.

• Pre-populates signing data—name, title, date, etc.—to save time.

• Alerts signers if they’ve forgotten to sign or initial in all the required places.

10Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Easy for IT developers and administrators: The majority of IT organizations are

understaffed while continually being asked to do more with less. The last thing a company

wants to do is throw another solution onto the already huge stack of products and services

that the IT group needs to support. The development group needs a solution that can

be easily integrated with existing enterprise solutions. And the infrastructure team—

including the networking and server teams—doesn’t need yet another burden to add to

their already complex environments.

4. Audit trailsDocumented audit trails are a critical factor to consider when searching for e-signature

software. An e-signature solution is only as good as its ability to record the entire signing

process. All e-signature solutions have the capability to track what was signed—the

content, date and time stamp, and the signature(s). What differentiates e-signature

solutions is the ability to track and replay the activity surrounding the signing, like the

pages displayed to the signer, location of the signing, along with timestamps of those

events during the document signing process. This is sometimes referred to as an “active

audit trail” that illustrates how the e-sign process took place.

What happens when a customer takes your company to court claiming that they never saw

the additional terms appendix of a ten-page contract that they signed? Having a solution

that is only able to capture the static, single signing event will not protect your company

in an audit or customer dispute. To be able to prove that the customer saw all of the pages

in the contract, the e-signature solution needs to be able to record the entire process and

be able to export this evidence should the need arise. These audit capabilities are also

extremely important for regulated industries that need to provide documented proof to

regulatory bodies.

Make sure to understand how and where the audit trail is stored. If the audit trail is stored

in the vendor’s cloud then how will this audit trail be viewed two or five years from the

date of signing? Even if a vendor provides some guarantee that they will store the audit

trail for a period of time that meets your company’s records retention policy, you cannot be

sure that this vendor will be able to back up this guarantee. Ideally, the audit trail is stored

within the document and therefore travels with the document through its lifecycle. Vendor

independent storage of the final signed document and audit trail is also an important

consideration.

5. IntegrationAlmost all businesses will need to integrate the e-signature technology with their business

systems. There might be a few cases of documents that will only need to have a quick

signature applied to a static document, but these will be few and far between. A bank

11Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

that wants to push account applications out via its mobile banking solution will need to

integrate the e-signature software into its application. An insurance company that needs

to send claim forms to customers will need to pre-populate the form with the appropriate

information and send the form to the customer for signature and return. A company

sending insurance enrollment documents will need to link to the internal human resources

system to automate the enrollment process. The e-signature solution and vendor need

to provide for rapid integration with major software solutions—such as Salesforce—and

other business systems within an organization.

Here it’s important for the IT team to be engaged in the selection process and perform its

due diligence on the e-signature solution. The IT team should make sure that the solution

offers open application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits

(SDKs) that enable the development staff to rapidly deploy integrated solutions. The

SDKs need to support a wide range of integration options including SDKs for popular

programming languages such as .NET, Java, and iOS environments. Vendors should also

be able to provide pre-built connectors for popular software packages, sample code, and

support for the development team. The development team also needs a place to work—

look into how a vendor charges for development environments.

6. AutomationOptimal signing experience is achieved with both up and downstream processing

to create a streamlined process from start to finish. The automation of the upstream

processing makes the sender more productive by pre-populating documents with all

required information. These upstream automation steps are also important because they

eliminate manual, error prone steps in the business process. The downstream processing

steps are often more complicated than simply getting a signature on the document. The

e-signature solution needs to be robust enough to allow for optional processing steps

such as flexible data capture, document insertion, and multiple signature options. Figure 1

shows a complete digital transaction workflow.

Figure1:Digital transaction workflow

12Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

The important thing to keep in mind is that the e-signature solution should not just

automate the signing experience but also the complete electronic business process,

from document creation to the automatic indexing of the signed documents into the

organization’s system of record.

Make sure to look into how an e-signature solution supports the enterprise’s IT operations

team. The solution needs to be monitored and controlled operationally, and provide

system-wide notifications and alerts.

A final potential oversight in searching for an e-signature solution is that companies do

not often consider the need to support complex workflows until later in the transition

to digital business processes. The e-signature solution should support options such as

specifying multiple signees/co-signees, having different workflows for components of a

document, and other more complex automated document workflows.

Other e-signature software criteria to considerThere are other factors that shouldn’t be overlooked when searching for an e-signature

solution and a vendor to be your partner on this digital journey.

One selection factor not addressed above is that of security. This is of critical importance

and needs to be embedded across every aspect of the e-signature solution. The documents

and signatures tracked need to be completely secure. The e-signature solution needs to

tamper-seal the signed document, as well as ensure that the data is encrypted in transit

and at rest. Strong authentication is a key component to ensuring the security of the

transaction. Moreover, when using a solution that is in the cloud, the data should reside

on an application that is continuously monitored and undergoes rigorous security audits

issued by third party auditors. These types of audits keep the e-signature vendor honest

and ensures that your data and your customers’ data is safe and secure at all times.

Finally, make sure to find a vendor that has experience and referenceable customers in

your industry. A vendor should have a solid history supporting the unique needs of your

industry, and demonstrate deep knowledge of challenges facing your industry. Don’t be

afraid to ask the vendor to share metrics on customer retention and customer satisfaction

rates. And don’t be afraid to seek flexible pricing models that can scale up or down with

your organization over time.

13Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

E-Signature Success Stories

U.S. BankU.S. Bank has offered e-signatures to consumers and business customers

in all 3,087 branches since 2011, when it automated consumer and

SMB loans and leasing. In February 2013, it expended e-signature

capability to in-branch deposit account openings. Within weeks, the bank had scaled

its volume of e-signed documents eight-fold. In 2015, U.S. Bank took the next step in its

enterprise document strategy and extended e-signatures to online disclosure delivery.

With e-signatures, the bank has cut document handling by 80 percent, reduced document

errors by 90 percent, redeployed 95,000 hours of bankers’ time, and improved customer

experience. According to Ron Eddy, an associate vice president for technology and

operations at U.S. Bank, “Mistakes have dropped so much that entire departments that used

to be dedicated to fixing errors and calling those customers back in to repair mistakes have

been disbanded and the reps are being redeployed to other work.” E-signature adoption is

at 85 percent for loans and 90 percent for new account openings, with the bank processing

approximately 150,000 e-signed documents per week.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded R&D facility

staffed and managed by the California Institute of Technology for

NASA. JPL had a vision to create a paperless e-contracting system. To

achieve this, the JPL team designed a system to digitize the entire workflow—they now

create contracts electronically, route them with Microsoft SharePoint, capture signatures

electronically from staff and vendors, and automate storage and close-out. Based on the

first 5,000 contracts e-signed, their acquisitions department has seen major productivity

benefits. Gathering signature approvals internally used to take two to six weeks. That is

now done in days. In just one of its departmental organizations, JPL has been able to save

$30,000 annually due to fewer printer and copier leases, and less ink, toner, and binder

supplies. Their e-signature implementation also leverages a pre-integrated connector for

SharePoint. JPL plans to roll-out e-signatures across the laboratory as a shared service that

can be easily accessed by any department—extending the ROI of going digital to all.

Life Insurance Carrier In 2009, this top 50 insurance carrier made electronic applications

and e-signatures available to its 2,200 field agents. A comprehensive

education and change management plan resulted in strong e-signature

adoption. Today, 95 percent of their 2,200 financial representatives use

the e-app, and they are e-signing 75 percent of applications. The carrier has since extended

14Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Issue an RFI / RFP

Custom demo / POC

Project plan

Decision

e-signatures to term, universal and whole life insurance applications, disability insurance,

Medicare supplement plans, annuities, and other products. Prior to e-signatures, manual

processing led to write-backs and delays because applications were returned to the carrier

missing signatures and data. The electronic process has since significantly reduced write-

backs. Documents are completed properly the first time around, resulting in higher quality

applications and less risk. Other benefits include a 15 to 20 percent improvement in cycle

times, depending on case complexity. And the extensive audit trails captured by e-SignLive

strengthen the carrier’s compliance and legal position.

National Retail Drugstore Chain E-signatures are being used by pharmacists in all 1,200 locations

to sign purchase orders of narcotics and controlled substances. By

e-signing purchase orders using the click-to-sign method, pharmacists

have accelerated drug delivery while also strengthening regulatory compliance. According

to an IT supply chain manager, “By the end of the first day of Go-Live, 83 percent of our

user base was able to easily navigate to the application and start signing purchase orders.”

Prior to using e-signatures, pharmacists were already placing orders electronically with

the distribution center, but once the e-order was placed, they would have to print out

a paper copy of the P.O., sign it in ink, and mail it back to the distribution center. If the

distribution center did not receive the signed P.O. within five days, it was not permitted to

ship any further orders to the store until the paperwork was in good order. The immediacy

of e-signatures alleviates this issue and streamlines the ordering process for pharmacists.

The drugstore chain’s rate of delinquency dropped to 1 percent in its first month of using

e-SignLive.

E-Signature Software Evaluation Best Practices from TEC

In this section, we provide guidance on how to select the right e-signature software for

your organization. E-Signature software selection is similar to other software selection

efforts but has some key differences. Many large, corporate software selection efforts will

often start with identifying a project sponsor and assembling a cross-functional team to be

part of the selection effort. This team will then be tasked with making the recommendation

to senior management on the best solution that will meet the organization’s needs. In

e-signature selection projects, the e-signature software has already been identified as a key

component of an overall digital transformation initiative and the team is in place. However,

if this isn’t the case for your organization, make sure that this step isn’t overlooked.

By the end of the first day of Go-Live, 83 percent of our user base was able to easily navigate to the application and start signing purchase orders. ”

“

15Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Issue an RFI / RFP

Custom demo / POC

Project plan

Decision

The business case for digital transformation initiatives has been made. The organization

has identified that it wishes to eliminate the costs and burden of handling large volumes

of paper documents that required manual signatures. With a team in place, a company can

proceed with the selection efforts. Earlier, we outlined how great value can be realized by

putting in place a solid e-signature solution. When going through the selection process, it’s

good to keep an eye on the prize and not lose site of the value that will be realized after the

solution is in place. If a company hasn’t done an ROI estimate, this is good to have in place

should there be any questions thrown at the selection team during the selection effort.

Identify primary use cases

Mapbefore& after workflows

Define your requirements

Software vendor research

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8

Here are eight key steps to follow in an e-signature software selection:

1. Identify primary use cases: Coordinate internal workshops to identify business

processes that will benefit through digitization and then prioritize the top one to

two use cases. To identify the top use cases, take into account where e-signatures will

have the biggest organizational impact, and consider whether to focus on internal

(employee-to-employee), business to business, or customer-facing transactions.

Consider what other companies in your industry are doing.

2. Mapbeforeandafterbusinessprocessworkflows:Document the current paper-

based processes from start to finish. Map out future processes and consider process

improvements that can be obtained by using e-signatures. Note the document

volumes including number of pages within the documents. Make sure to consider

that paper-based processing may still be required in some future processes.

3. Defineyourrequirements:With the new processes in hand, create a detailed list of

all the e-signature software requirements. Make sure to engage the cross-functional

selection team and bring in experts from legal, IT, and business groups to provide

feedback. Collect requirements such as legal and compliance, data residency,

16Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

branding and customer experience, security, and deployment options (on-premise or

in the cloud).

4. Software vendor research:Now an organization is ready to start the search for a

vendor that can meet all of its requirements. A number of different sources are

available to help narrow down the list. The Forrester Wave on the e-signature market

is one of the most complete analyst publications to date. G2 Crowd also covers the

e-signature software space. The top names include e-Signlive by Silanis, DocuSign,

Adobe, and RightSignature. At this point, narrow the vendors down to a shortlist of

around three vendors for the final phase of the selection.

5. Issue an RFI/RFP: Optionally, an organization can now send a formal request for

information (RFI) or request for proposal to the e-signature software vendors. In

addition to seeing what the vendors have to offer and pricing models, this step will

help identify how a vendor responds to your company’s requests.

6. Requestacustomdemoorproof-of-concept:Requesting a formal demonstration

from the vendors is a key step that shouldn’t be skipped. We recommend that a formal

demonstration script be developed for the vendors to follow that is tailored to an

organization’s unique needs. Don’t let the vendors get by with a canned sales demo

and make sure to cover the six key decision criteria presented above. Consider having

the selection team score the vendor’s demonstration.

7. Createaprojectplan:At this point, the decision is close to being made and the team

can start to put together a project plan for the e-signature solution implementation.

Make sure to include all key stakeholders in the plan and take into account training

and organizational change management that will be part of the rollout.

8. Makeadecision: Now, the organization is able to make an informed decision and,

ultimately, realize the benefits of digitizing the old paper processes. But, before

making the final decision, make sure to perform final due diligence on the chosen

vendor. Ask for references in your industry and with companies of similar size.

There are some other tricks to getting the e-signature software solution up and running

quickly to realize the expected value—in other words, how to shorten the time to value.

One key lesson learned is that a company does not need to try to tackle every e-signature

problem across the organization at one time. Unlike other types of software where large

scale implementation efforts might be necessary—for example, changing over the

corporate financials—e-signature solutions should be rolled out across business use cases.

A company can choose to start with smaller volume, lower profile business transactions.

Then, expand to other use cases as the company, its IT organization, and its customers

become more familiar and proficient in the use of the technology. E-signature software

is unique in this respect because a company can grow into the solution instead of being

17Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

thrust head and shoulders into taking on a corporate-wide rollout of this technology. In

other words, don’t try to boil the ocean—tackle the process through select, important

drops at a time.

Also make sure that the IT team is fully engaged during the software selection process.

The IT organization’s architectural team will need to incorporate e-signatures as part of

the organization’s electronic content management (ECM) strategy. The IT group will also

be responsible for setting up the additional infrastructure, such as printer drivers and

storage, and providing the application support—application integrations and SDKs—that

will be needed to realize the benefits of the e-signature software solution. Make sure the

IT organization is well equipped to shoulder the burden of the e-signature solution now

and into the future.

E-Signature Software—A Summary

Many organizations across a wide array of industries are already realizing the benefits of

digitizing document processes that require signatures. E-signature software is a critical

part of the digitization transformation. Market leaders like e-SignLive by Silanis are

currently managing the processing of tens of thousands of documents for some of the

biggest names in banking, insurance, and government. The many examples of transactions

that can benefit from e-signature technology include:

• Self-initiated processes like sales contracts, proposals, and statements of work (SOWs)

in sales.

• Purchase orders and requests, expense reports, and audit sign-off in finance.

• Vendor agreements, customer purchase requests, and partner and reseller agreements

in finance.

The larger volume system-initiated examples for banking include loan applications,

disclosures, mortgage origination and closing, account openings, and more.

Selecting and implementing the right e-signature solution is a critical undertaking for

organizations embarking on this digitization journey. Understanding the key selection

criteria and how to rapidly get to the right decision is essential in making this digitization

a successful reality.

18Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

About the Author

TedRohm is a research analyst at TEC focusing on ERP solutions and

the complimentary technology needed to solve real-world business

challenges. He has over 20 years of experience in large-scale selection,

design, development, and implementation projects, primarily in the

biotech/pharma industry.

Prior to joining TEC, Rohm worked for a number of companies including

Oracle, Syntex, and Genentech (now part of The Roche Group). Rohm

worked with Genentech for 13 years, starting as a senior programmer

analyst responsible for building custom applications using the Oracle

Tool suite in support of sales and marketing and product distribution.

He then became senior manager of commercial systems, where he

directed the development, deployment, and operations of enterprise-

wide applications for the sales and marketing departments. Rohm was

the principal systems architect during his last few years at Genentech,

focusing mainly on the implementation of SAP ERP and its integration

with other systems.

Rohm holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from

Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Allegheny

College.

19Key Evaluation Criteria for E-Signature Software

Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) is the world’s leading provider of software selection

resources, services, and research materials, helping organizations evaluate and select the

best enterprise software for their needs. With its advanced decision-making process and

software selection experts, TEC reduces the time, cost, and risk associated with enterprise

software selection.

Over 3.5 million subscribers leverage TEC’s extensive research and detailed information

on more than 1,000 leading software solutions across all major application areas.

TEC is recognized as an industry-leading software selection advisory firm offering

resources and services both online and onsite. For more information, please visit

www.technologyevaluation.com.

Businesses choose e-SignLive™ by Silanis when electronic signatures matter. e-SignLive

is one of the most widely used e-signature solutions in the world and ranked as a leader

by analyst firms. Organizations of all sizes, including top banks, insurers, credit providers,

pharmaceutical companies and government agencies, trust e-SignLive to support and

digitize their core business processes through innovations in digital transactions, mobile

technology, audit trails and customer transaction analytics. Built on a single SaaS platform

that can be delivered in the cloud or on-premises, e-SignLive offers the best customer

experience while providing strong legal protection and regulatory compliance. Learn

more at www.silanis.com.

To get started, sign-up for a free 30-day trial of e-SignLive or join the Developer Community

for access to developer forums, API/SDK documentation, sample code and much more.

About Technology Evaluation Centers

About the Sponsor

Technology Evaluation Centers Inc.

Toll-free: 1-800-496-1303E-mail: selectionservices@technologyevaluation.comWeb site: www.technologyevaluation.com

TEC, TEC Advisor, and ERGO are trademarks of Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.© Technology Evaluation Centers Inc. All rights reserved.

Technology Evaluation Centers