What is a Digital Signature Solution?

The digital signature software solution is a type of electronic signature that uses an encrypted digital certificate to authenticate the identity of the signer.

• Adobe Systems Incorporated
• Gemalto
• Ascertia
• Docusign
• Globalsign
• Esignlive (onespan)
• Thales E-security Inc.
• Entrust Datacard Corporation
• Hellosign
• Digicert

A digital signature or an e-signature is created by generating a hash (message digest) against data and then encrypting this digest using cryptography (public or private key). The digital signature is then appended to the data to ensure data authenticity and to identify the sender uniquely.

Visionary leaders are the leading market players in terms of new developments such as product launches, innovative technologies, and the adoption of growth strategies. These players have a broad product offering that caters to most of the regions globally. Visionary leaders primarily focus on acquiring the leading market position through their strong financial capabilities and their well-established brand equity. Some of the visionary leaders in the Digital Signature Solutions Market are Gemalto, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Docusign, Ascertia etc.

Dynamic Differentiators are established players with very strong business strategies. However, they have a weaker product portfolio compared to the visionary leaders. They generally focus only on a specific type of technology related to the product. The most recognized dynamic differentiator in the Digital Signature Solutions market is Nitro Software Inc.

Innovators in the competitive leadership mapping are vendors that have demonstrated substantial product innovations as compared to their competitors. The companies have focused on product portfolios. However, they do not have very strong growth strategies for their overall business, when compared with the visionary leaders. The innovators in the Digital Signature Solutions market are Signix, Secured Signing Limited, Identrust Inc. etc.

Emerging companies have niche product and service offerings. Their business strategies are not as strong as that of the established vendors. The emerging vendors include the new entrants in the market, emerging in terms of product portfolio and geographic reach, and require time to gain significant traction in the market. The emerging companies in the Digital Signature Solutions market are Signeasy, Signrequest, Rpost, Pandadoc Inc etc.

What drives the digital signature solutions market?

• Due to an increase in the Green Movement awareness across the globe and the businesses going paperless, there has been a significant rise in the investments in digital signature solutions by governments and enterprises.  
• Manipulating a digital signature is almost impossible. This assures improved security with a controlled and seamless workflow.  
• There has been an increased trend in the business environment toward improvising business processes, thereby reducing OPEX, increasing operational efficiency, and stimulating document integrity.
• Digital signatures enable customers to process and complete transactions in one go in a less error-prone process, regardless of the channel used.
• Using digital signature technologies, documents can be signed over the internet in real time.
• Digital signature solutions have the ability to electronically deliver signed documents delivered to customers (on their request) at a much faster rate compared to paper documents.

Importance of digital signature software

• Security - Digital signatures or E-signatures lessen the jeopardy of replication or modification of the document. Digital signatures softwares confirm that signatures are tested, reliable and genuine. Security features rooted in digital signatures assure that the documents have not been modified without authorization.
• Legal Validity - Best Digital signatures softwares offer legitimacy and assure that the signature has been validated. This can be used as a critical evidence in any court of law like any other signed paper document.
• Remote Access -E-signature solution allows users to sign documents irrespective of their location, thereby reducing the waste of time and materials.
• Secures Document Flow - Paper documents can probably be damaged. Besides, there is always a possibility of missing out on a few signatures. An electronic signature software enhances the document’s security. It also assures maximum control over the document workflow.

A few popular digital signature use cases

Use Case 1

Objective - To enhance customer service by offering automation of the entire process in a secured way

Description - H&R Block is a global consumer tax service provider that serves taxpayers and prepares tax returns by and through retail locations and digital solutions. There are 12,000 company-owned and franchise retail locations in all 50 states and military bases of the US.

Challenge - Each year in the run up to the tax season, H&R Block managers needed to physically sign hundreds of employment contracts. During the tax season every year, H&R Block’s HR manager takes much effort to track which documents had been generated and sent, and follows up with the agents. Furthermore, they need to ensure which documents had been signed and returned. Moreover, the traditional paper process of physically signing and coordinating across teams was a huge challenge.

Solution - Secured Signing is a New Zealand-based company that helped H&R Block solve its business challenges by offering Secured Signing Digital Signature Solution.

Benefits:

• The HR team achieved greater process consistency
• Managers can sign contracts anywhere and at any time as per their convenience
• This solution offers automation of the entire process

Use Case 2

Objective - To deliver an enhanced experience to its customers while booking tickets with the athletics department

Description - Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina, US. It is the country’s most selective public research university. Clemson University serves a uniquely driven and highly accomplished student body.

Challenge - Clemson University’s football team is a popular college team for decades and has football fans all over the world. Fans and attendees need to request tickets through the athletics department. Administrators need to spend hours to verify through ticket forms and, hence, find less time for their regular duties. Furthermore, the process of submitting a ticket request form was time-consuming for the fans and attendees. Submitting ticket request forms required them to fill out the request form, print it, and then scan, mail, or hand deliver the form to administrators.

Solution - Adobe is a US-based multinational software company that offers Adobe Sign, a cloud-based secure digital document solution designed for businesses and enterprises to securely sign the documents. Adobe Sign speeds up business transactions by automating document workflows. Clemson University has implemented this solution within Adobe Document Cloud. This helps in streamlining the workflow.

Benefits:

• Adobe Sign workflow improves the experience for both administrators and fans
• Administrators saved a lot of time and the performance of the team improved

Use Case 3

Objective - To smoothen the sales process and increase the revenue

Description - 360networks, a US-based telecommunication carrier, offers a full suite of services, including VoIP, transport, and IP, and provides local access on its wholly owned fiber optic backbone. Moreover, 360networks VoIP services cover 70 million people in 1,500 rate centers.

Challenge - 360networks’ sales process includes Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), which are signed by their prospects. Before the sales process can progress, an NDA needs to be completed and submitted. Since the NDA was error-prone, the sales transactions were getting delayed. Hence, the sales process gets hampered, which impacts the company’s revenue stream.

Solution - 360networks deployed DocuSign electronic signature process, which enables them to quickly tag NDAs for signatures. This helps in quick authentication of the client through email notification and enables the signing process to take place in minutes from any internet-connected device.

Benefits:

• High quality and quick customer service
• No impact on sales and NDAs are complete and accurate
• DocuSign smoothens the sales process to boost the revenue

What are the major applications of Digital Signature or E-signature solutions?

Human Resources

• The HR department and recruitment companies depend on a lot of paperwork to fulfill their customers’ requirements and needs.
• Digital signatures help the HR industry automate paper-intensive processes by enabling participants to sign documents, such as job applications, federal and state tax forms, employee time sheets, employee onboarding documents, and insurance claims digitally over the web, making the process simpler and smoother.

Education and Research

• Education and research institutes face a lot of paperwork on a frequent basis, which includes collecting and managing information of each student, teaching and non-teaching, timesheets, teacher and student reports, certificates, transcripts, admission letters, and medical records of students.
• The digital signature software helps schools, colleges, and universities greatly lower down the traditional paperwork, time, and cost associated with paper documentation; increase document security; reduce paperwork; expand student services; improve financial performance; enhance operational visibility; and reduce costs.

Banking, Financial Services and Insurance

• The BFSI sector deals with a large quantity of paperwork. The main challenge the BFSI sector faces is to meet the regulatory compliance laid down by governments, financial institutes, and industries.
• At the same time, digital signatures offer an agile, secure, fully automated, and effective business process to customers.
• Digital signatures help these firms in simplifying complex business processes by offering enhanced security and improved turnaround time for onboarding a customer.
• The digital signature technology can be easily integrated with the existing banking system. Accountants and tax specialists are using digital signatures to get the necessary signatures as per the legal requirements.
• Electronic signatures or digital signatures also accelerate invoicing and cash flow, improve compliance, and offer real-time visibility into complex document workflows.

Top features to be considered while choosing the best digital signature software

• Reminders – In cases, where an organization has to sign a huge quantity of documents, the digital signature solution reminds and notifies the signer documents that need to be signed.
• Mass Signature – An electronic signature software facilitates the delivery of documents that need thousands of signatures in a single instance. It also ensures that there is no delay in waiting for different signers.
• Sign-in Process – For an E-signature software to be reliable, it is critical that the software ensures document security. The Sign-in process feature ensures that the authentication process is secure.
• Mobile Use – A digital signature software solution enables users to sign and send documents from their mobile devices instantly.
• Signature Workflow – This helps the senders and administrators to track documents easily through a few signature steps.
• Reporting – Digital Signature Software helps in creating standard as well as customized reports to manage the signing process.
• Signature History and Audits – A digital signature solution helps in tracking the entire signing history to ensure that there is total compliance with required regulations.

How to choose the best digital signature software?

• Efficiency – An ideal digital signature solution should be able to sign all types of documents required by the user. It should be able to integrate signatures into current applications.

• Legal - It is crucial for a digital signature solution to be compliant with the guidelines relevant to the organization. This capability enables the signer to validate all documents that are required to sign.
• User Experience - An ideal e-signature solution should be able to allow users to sign on any chosen device and the way of signing should fit within the customer journey.
• Customizable - The right digital signature software should be entirely customizable. It should have the capability to be completely embeddable into the organization software infrastructure.
• Several Deployment Options: An ideal digital signature software solution should allow organizations to deploy e-signatures in a public or private cloud, or on-premises.
• Multiple Authentication Methods: The best digital signature software solution should have the capability to support various validation methods to authorize the signer’s identity.
• Audit Trails – An ideal e-signature software should be able to capture and provide basic information about any activity that took place during the signing process. It should deliver a static audit trail that tracks who signed, what documents.

Recent News

• ViewSonic Corp announced that it partnered with Namirial S.p.A to offer e-Signature solutions for onboarding and agreement automation for clients in the U.S. and Canada. 
• DocuSign, entered into a $188 million all-cash contract to purchase AI and contract analytics expert Seal Software. 
• Dropbox acquired the electronic signature start-up company HelloSign for $230 million in cash.
• Thales Group declared the finalized acquisition of Gemalto, a Netherlands-based digital security firm, for €4.8bn.