Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Of all the business operations we fulfill every day, signature Printing pages at $0.03 a sheet
requests seem so ordinary we rarely give them a second thought.
Yet it’s precisely because they are common—a regular part of just Routing costs, via fax, mail, couriers and overnight shipping,
about every business activity or process—that they impose so that range from $0.05 to $42.55 per deliverable
many costs, obstructions and delays. Scanning and archiving costs at about $1.33 per document
Research shows that 80% of all business processes rely on forms. Loss and reproduction costs of roughly $20.00 for each loss
And most of these need to be signed, initiating an expensive and $40.00 for each reproduction
“cost cascade.” While not every company is exposed to all of
Indirect costs in delays, lost deals, workflow obstructions,
the following expenses, organizations that trim or eliminate any
declines in customer or partner satisfaction, and just plain
of these expenses will realize measurable benefits to their top
wasted time.
and bottom-line operations. Expenses that can be avoided with
digital signatures typically include:
The picture is clear: while signing one document hardly seems
burdensome, copying, collecting, storing, distributing, process-
ing and scanning thousands of documents requiring signatures
1 is an expense no enterprise can afford to ignore.
That’s why thousands of enterprises use digital signatures Because every signature is made on the bottom line
Digital signatures capture signatures without the expenses of A simple signature becomes a complex cost when it The 3 “I”s of a
paper, yet with a degree of security, reliability and simplicity interferes with the otherwise efficient flow of transactions True Digital Signature
unmatched by other signing technologies. among company employees and between the company and
What makes a digital
Digital signatures provide critical competitive advantages by its partners, vendors and most importantly, its customers. signature the “gold standard”
reducing operating costs and increasing trust and control in the world of electronic
My colleagues and I at ARX have written Think Twice Before signatures?
over internal operations and external business processes for
greater customer satisfaction, stronger partner collaboration, You Sign Anything Again: 12 Business Cases for Digital Look to the “I”s:
and increased sales efficiency. With the right digital signature Signatures to cut through the confusion and demonstrate the
technology, businesses can: practical business value of implementing digital signatures. Identity
Each user gets a unique,
digital “fingerprint” that
Accelerate workflows that are currently jammed by signature Within the following pages, you’ll find case-by-case examples serves as his identification.
delays of business benefits, simple methods for calculating
the ROI of digital signatures, and a checklist to help you Intent
Guarantee confidence in the validity of the signer and of the define the right solution for your enterprise. A digital signature with the
signed document right procedures in place re-
quires a user’s attention, mak-
Close more deals faster by allowing customers to approve Whether you read, skim or scan Think Twice Before You Sign ing it difficult for users to make
Anything Again: 12 Business Cases for Digital Signatures, subsequent claims of being
deals online or your sales staff to capture signatures when
“unaware” that they had signed
enthusiasm is at its peak you’ll never think of a signature in the same way again.
a given document for a specific
reason or purpose.
Enhance collaboration across departments, vendor networks Sincerely,
and multiple offices by distributing and fulfilling signature Integrity
requests, fast Once signed, the document
Boaz Lantsman
cannot be changed or altered
VP Marketing, ARX. without detection. Any manipu-
Create customer and partner portals that facilitate sales and
boazl@arx.com lation immediately invalidates
project coordination electronically
the signature and triggers a
visual change that alerts
Comply with regulatory requirements for documented readers, stakeholders and/or
approvals that can be obtained, stored and retrieved examiners.
quickly and easily.
Fulfill promises of
Digital signatures allow CPI to realize the full
paperless automation investments value of its SharePoint solution
To facilitate collaboration throughout the enterprise, many organizations C&P Inspection (CPI), an inspection and quality assurance
have embraced electronic document management (DM) solutions, such firm, made a bold leap from paper-based document man-
as Microsoft® SharePoint®, to give employees easy ways to share crucial agement to electronic workflows by investing in Microsoft’s
information, fast. SharePoint solution. Its intention? To make it easier for
CPI’s worldwide team of inspectors to submit reports
from customer locations across the globe.
But signature requests compromise electronic solutions at the “last mile”
But to its dismay, CPI found that a considerable amount
in the process. When documents need to be printed, signed, scanned, faxed
of paperwork kept creeping back into the process, de-
and/or delivered, they reintroduce costs the DM solution was intended to
feating the purpose—and the value—of its SharePoint
remove. By deploying digital signature capabilities with document solution. CPI IT Manager Carsten Peyk investigated the
management systems, organizations can realize the full value of their situation and uncovered the core problem: the engineers’
automated-workflow investments. reports required authenticating signatures, forcing the
reintroduction of printed documents into the workflow.
“Adding digital signatures to our SharePoint deployment has Carsten addressed the problem by incorporating a digital
signature solution that allowed engineers to complete the
changed the way we’ve done business. It has saved us money “electronic loop” without paper printouts. By installing
and significantly improved our customer service.” the digital signature component to the workflow, not only
did CPI save an estimated $3,000 in paper-related costs
Hans Christansen, CEO of CPI per signer, per year, it completed the last link in the
electronic document process and allowed CPI to reap
the full rewards of its SharePoint investment.
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Ensure compliance
PAREXEL cuts signing process from
two weeks to twenty minutes
Whether it’s to ensure conformance of externally imposed regulations,
evidence of compliance is key in many industries, particularly in life As a leading provider of Clinical Technology Services to
sciences, healthcare, engineering, government and financial services. the pharmaceutical industry, ClinPhone (a subsidiary of
PAREXEL, a leading clinical research organization) is
under pressure to demonstrate compliance with FDA 21
Digital signatures bring certainty to the process, providing users with CFR Part 11 requirements while expediting paperwork
a fast way to approve forms while satisfying all authorities that the across offices around the globe.
signatures are valid. In a global economy, it is especially important to
Moving papers from continent to continent cost ClinPhone
keep up with various international standards, such as the EU Directive
a lot of money—and up to four weeks of time. The company
on Electronic Signatures, that allow documents to cross borders without installed a digital signature solution that changed all that,
putting your enterprise in the regulatory authorities’ cross-hairs. even before investing in an expensive document manage-
ment system. Once they went electronic and started using
“To obtain an approval on a project required us to fax documents digital signatures, ClinPhone got the compliance it needed
while getting the speed it wanted: now, all offices can com-
from our HQ in the UK to branches around the world. It could plete the necessary signatures within twenty minutes.
take anywhere between three to four weeks to get signatures
from all parties. Today, however, the process is completed
in 10 minutes. Digital signatures paid for themselves just in
terms of increased productivity.”
Daljit S. Cheema, Director, ClinPhone
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Collect approvals
across multiple locations
Many important documents require signatures from participating
parties who may be operating in disparate offices, and often in
different countries. On paper, these remotely located signers add
routing and printing costs (multiple copies distributed to additional
signers), not to mention painful delays.
South Carolina Department of Mental Health attains more than 9,500 signed
forms a day across 21 locations
In addition to requiring the signatures of 3,500 medical staff, most of the docu-
ments needed signed authorizations from patients or patient guardians at various
locations. SCDMH arrived at a system of digital signatures that allowed patients
to sign at “point of service” via kiosk signature pads, with subsequent physician/
nurse digital signatures serving as notarization. The digital signature solution
not only made it easier to collect approvals from various locations in the SCDMH
system, it simplified the entire process of obtaining sequential approvals from
the patient or patient guardian to the supervising medical staff.
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New Flyer soars over capacity strains
Digital signatures not only eliminate the slow distribution of approved “ New Flyer was looking to implement an end-to-end
documents, they make it easy for all participating parties to contribute digital sign-off process to keep up with its high
their authorizations without requiring multiple printouts and routing. pressure engineering and manufacturing environ-
ment. Using digital signatures allows our engineers
to electronically add their signatures and professional
seals to CAD, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Adobe® PDF
documents, significantly enhancing our processes
—reducing paper, scanner and labor costs and
eliminating about 25% of the time we needed in
the engineering release process.
Dave Fraser, CAD Systems Manager, NEW FLYER
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GlobalVetLink is off to the races with an online
7 certification process
GlobalVetLink (GVL), a service enterprise for animal
health providers in North America, operates in a
strict regulatory environment that carefully monitors
animal movement. When horses change ownership,
stables or are transported across state lines, a
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) must complete
and sign Official Certificates of Veterinary Inspection
Create a customer portal (OCVI) and Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) certifi-
cates before the animals can be legally moved.
As we all know, every customer interaction we move online improves
customer satisfaction, accelerates sales and reduces expensive direct
For GVL, the answer was an online customer portal
customer service costs.
backed with a digital signature solution that removed
paper from the process. With a few simple clicks,
But movement to full-service customer portals can come to a dead the signed certificates can be shared instantly
halt when signatures are required. Suddenly, the service chain among the DVM, horse owners and animal health
becomes interrupted with a process that must shift to paper. authorities. By launching an efficient online portal
Every action required from a customer can lead to delays—or and enhancing it with compliant digital signatures,
worse. If customers are required to sign and fax a form, they may GVL captured a market leadership position.
defer action, get second thoughts, or change their minds—deals
could be lost altogether.
Digital signatures can break up the logjam, allowing portals to collect, “ I was seeking to deploy a new business model
with a simple click, the unique identification (under guaranteed data that extended access to the Certificate of
integrity), that the courts, regulators and other authorities demand Health beyond the veterinarian directly to the
while facilitating customer action when they are most enthusiastic animal owner. By using digital signatures to
about closing the deal.
ensure we stay in compliance while helping
improve efficiency in all aspects of animal
health and movement records, we became a
reputed leader, enabling us to move from
hundreds to thousands of users.”
Kevin Maher, President, Globalvetlink
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Expedite service report turn-arounds “Digital signatures work seamlessly with the
PDF-based reports created in our workflow.
In many service industries, the primary deliverable is a signed report Maxxam’s project managers sign and seal
that verifies, evaluates, assesses or qualifies an issue of both business
around 15,000 reports every month.”
and legal significance for the client. The faster these reports can be
Sorin Bobariu, Application-Development Manager, Maxxam
submitted, the greater the perceived value to the client and the better
the positioning of the vendor.
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9 Oglethorpe Power saves over $300,000 in its
first year of digital signature implementation
Based in Georgia, Oglethorpe Power Corporation
(OPC) is one of the largest power supply coopera-
tives in the United States. To accelerate project
workflows and reduce costs, they invested in a
contract management application that would turn
approvals into an electronic process.
Manage paperless contracts
Signature obligations, however, interrupted the
For enterprises with numerous clients (such as B2B service providers, workflow at the “last mile.” By integrating a digital
utilities, insurance firms, etc.), contract management can become a signature solution with its contract management
complex, expensive and time-consuming affair. To drive efficiency, application, OPC keeps the electronic workflow
intact. In just its first year of implementation, the
many of these enterprises are turning toward electronic contract
company saved over $300,000 and made a complete
management systems that can reduce paperwork and delays.
return on its investment in just three to four months.
But signature requests can disrupt the contracting process and re-insert
paper into the otherwise digital chain. Digital signatures can help
enterprises maintain the electronic integrity of the contracting process,
eliminating obstacles to achieving the efficiencies they seek.
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UPS Israel differentiates itself with electronic
invoicing for customers
Although it’s recognized as a leading carrier re-
Invoice electronically nowned for quality service, UPS refuses to rest on
its reputation and continually seeks ways to improve
Today, an ever greater portion of business is conducted, and the customer’s experience.
even fulfilled, electronically. With the Internet as the leading
UPS Israel turned to digital signatures to give
business driver, enterprises must be prepared to submit, transmit
customers the option of receiving invoices electroni-
and receive invoices electronically, via Web forms or emails.
cally, rather than by paper. Based on a standard
technology available with the free Adobe Acrobat
Digital signatures allow you to work with electronic invoices without
Reader, the digital signature didn’t require any
compromises in security or issues with acceptability by the customer. special verification software. Within the first month,
Fortunately, today’s digital signatures (unlike previous generations of a much larger number of customers than expected
electronic signatures) are standards-based, meaning that they do not chose the electronic option. The new service helped
require proprietary software nor downloads on the recipient’s part. expedite payment collection for the company’s
accounts receivable department while giving
customers a convenient way to reduce their
dependency on paper.
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Take a hard look at the numbers
Think signatures are a soft issue? You may be in for a For the purpose of the following calculations, we’ll work with
surprise when you take a close look at the hard numbers. a hypothetical company, ValueMax, that has a modest profile:
Even when qualitative issues (such as workflow delays,
200 employees who regularly sign documents
legal hassles and reputation risks) are set aside, the
directly measurable factors expose the startling costs 500 documents signed per employee, per year
associated with paper-based signatures. (or 2 documents each working day)
A document size of 2 pages amounts to 200,000
pages per year
Printing costs Routing costs Scanning costs Paper archiving costs Document loss and Total costs for
reproduction costs ValueMax
It’s not just paper, One way or another, To save on storage If half of the documents
but toner and ink as documents must move and handling costs, are scanned for elec- It shouldn’t happen Keep this in mind:
well. On average, the from the signer to many archives today tronic archiving, what but it does: documents we took a conservative
sum of their expenses elsewhere, whether are electronic, rather about the other half? get lost, necessitating approach using reduced
is $0.03 per page. to other signers, other than physical. Suppose It’s even more expensive: searches and, if these figures and a modestly-
departments, or exter- ValueMax scans just fail, reproduction of the sized enterprise. Yet the
ValueMax’s annual nal partners, vendors half of their documents ValueMax’s annual missing item. numbers are staggering:
printing costs: or clients. using employees who paper archiving costs:
make $10/hour: ValueMax’s annual loss All told, ValueMax’s
200,000 pages x $0.03 Let’s say only half of 50,000 documents x $0.83 and reproduction costs: annual cost of paper-
= $6,000 ValueMax’s signed ValueMax’s annual = $41,500 based signatures
documents (50,000) scanning costs: $120,000 + $60,000 = $650,000
need external routing = $180,000
by mail, courier, 50,000 documents x $0.50 That means:
shipping or faxing. = $25,000
Average cost per paper-
Even if only 10% of its
based signature:
documents are delivered $650,000/100,000
by overnight shipping, = $6.50 per signature
the total costs are huge:
Annual cost per signer:
ValueMax’s total
$6.50 X 500
annual routing costs
= $3,250
= $438,300
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But wait, there’s more. Much more.
We’ve tallied the expenses that are relatively easy to quantify. Both the quantifiable and qualitative expenses of
But many of the most expensive costs associated with paper-based paper-based signing impose huge—and unnecessary—
signatures elude direct measurement.They may not be readily burdens on your organization.
quantifiable, but they are certainly very real:
For more insight on costs, download the free white paper:
Environmental costs. An estimated ¾ of a barrel of oil, half a tree,
and 150 pounds of carbon emissions, per signer, per year Calculating the ROI of digital signature implementation
ROI costs. Failure to realize the full potential of your content manage-
ment system
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The Top Ten Digital
Signature Checklist
1 Does it seal documents with a unique “fingerprint”?
Many programs, such as Microsoft Word, allow users to add an electronic
Which digital signature solution really delivers? signature to a document. But as long as these documents can be altered without
changing the signature, the document isn’t truly sealed. A secure digital signature
solution seals documents with a tamperproof digital “fingerprint” unique to both
In the preceding pages, you’ve seen evidence for the
the signer and the document; any changes whatsoever immediately—and visibly—
real business benefits of digital signatures: eliminating invalidate the signature.
the costs associated with paper, moving documents
instantly across offices (or even continents), accelerating 2 Can it support multiple applications across the organization?
workflows and fulfilling the potential of your document Solutions for Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat® are common. But to facilitate
management system. movement through your workflows, your digital signature system must work
with numerous applications, including popular office apps such as Microsoft
Word, Excel®, PDF and AutoCAD®. In addition, the technology should support
Yet not every electronic or digital signature solution
signatures in document management and workflow systems such as
can truly deliver on its promises. Before you invest Microsoft SharePoint.
in a digital signature system, apply the following
Top Ten checklist. If the solution you’re considering 3 Will it let you see a graphical signature?
can satisfy all ten requirements, then it’s In electronic documents, the real security is provided by the underlying technology.
likely to provide the benefits you want— But what we actually see is a visually convenient way of recognizing identification.
Look for digital signature solutions that allow you to apply and see a graphical
and satisfy the most demanding
representation of the traditional “wet” signature.
expectations of all—yours.
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6 Does it comply with all legal requirements?
If the signature doesn’t stand up in court, it can’t meet your business
standards. Your solution must meet the following basic requirements:
• Authenticity: the signature is uniquely linked to the signer
• Integrity: any tampering to the document can be detected
• Enforceability: signatures must be verifiable by all parties
• Non-refutability: the signature cannot be denied or disavowed
9 Is it simple to use?
A “wet” signature requires pen and paper—simple. But a digital signature
system that insists on multi-step, wizard-like processes is anything but simple.
The acid test? The right solution should take no more than 10 seconds or 1-2
mouse clicks to ensure that a document is signed, sealed and legally compliant.
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See what a great digital signature
solution really looks like
What does a system that satisfies all of the above requirements look About ARX—The Digital Signature Company
like? In a way, you already know—all of the case studies in this ebook
feature clients who use CoSign® as their digital signature solution. ARX’s CoSign digital signature solution automates approvals
But you can learn more in this brief video. And if you like what you affordably in a compliant manner, allowing organizations to go
see, we invite you to try CoSign for a month, free of charge. paperless, expedite business processes and reduce costs. CoSign
is the only digital signature solution that is seamlessly integrated
To learn more about how a digital signature solution can reduce with Microsoft SharePoint and other popular DM/ECM solutions.
costs, accelerate workflows in your enterprise and improve For reliable control of signature privileges and ease of administration,
relationships with customers and partners, contact the experts signatures are managed centrally through the organization’s user
at ARX at ebook@arx.com or by phone at (415) 839-8161. directory. Just as importantly, CoSign signatures are globally accepted
by external partners without the need for proprietary validation
software. Learn more about the CoSign digital signature solution at:
www.arx.com
You may post this ebook on your blog or email it to whomever you
believe would benefit from reading it. Thank you!
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