What’s the best eSignature software? Here are 10 tips to help you choose.

Filing cabinets are quickly becoming relics of the past, as businesses across the globe commit to a paperless future. Cloud storage has replaced drawers and boxes, and electronic signatures have replaced fountain pens.

Making the switch to electronic signatures makes sense. The move helps to reduce costs and speed up the process of getting contracts and agreements signed. Ultimately, it delivers more flexibility into how you seal deals.

Question is, how do you choose the right eSignature solution for your business? Here are 10 things to consider.

1. Works with your existing content and workflow management apps Your eSignature solution should not change the way you work. Rather, it should integrate seamlessly with the apps you’ve already invested in. Docusign works with Adobe PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Outlook email, SharePoint, InfoPath, AutoCAD and more; as well as all the leading document management and workflow automation systems. In fact, it has 350+ integrations and APIs.

2. Makes signing easy  Choose an eSignature solution that’s simple for everyone in your organisation to use – and easy for your customers, too. Adding an electronic signature to a document using Docusign takes mere seconds – just one or two mouse clicks – which means less resistance or reluctance from signers.

3. Flexes to meet your business needs

Your eSignature solution should also provide the features that are important to your organisation’s way of working, such as multiple types of signatures, customisable signatures, multiple signatures on a single document, batch signing processes, multi-language support and more.

4. Keeps your sensitive documents inside your IT domain Your business-critical documents should remain inside your IT domain – and not be saved on external, untrusted servers. The Docusign eSignature solution ticks this box, protecting your business from risk of tampering and fraud.  

5. Gives you complete control over implementation An eSignature solution should adapt to the specific processes, technologies, user management and authentication requirements of your organisation – not the other way around. With Docusign eSignature, it’s easy to manage it in the way that best suits your internal regulations, governance policies and standard operating procedures. It’s easy to integrate with your organisation’s human resources department, IT, security and screening policies, too; as well as the user-provisioning and user-management systems you already have in place.  

6. Complies with regulations relevant to your organisation Choose an eSignature solution built upon internationally accepted standards that comply with the country- and industry-specific regulations that your organisation adheres to. The Docusign eSignature solution helps customers meet the requirements of strict regulation and legislation, such as the 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 11, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and EU Regulation No 910/2014 (eIDAS).

7. Enables anyone to validate the signature, even without access to the system Look for solutions that are based on standard public key infrastructure (PKI) technology, which seal the document with a one-time “fingerprint” unique to both the signer and the document. The Docusign PKI assures the sender that the signer is legitimate by indicating if a document has been altered. Without this PKI, Docusign invalidates the digital signature to protect against forgery. This technology also ensures that the signature is transportable so that anyone inside or outside your organisation can use widely available software, such as Adobe Reader or Microsoft Office, to verify these parameters: who signed the document (signer identity), why they signed it (signer intent), and that it hasn’t been changed since it was signed (document integrity).  

8. Provides the ability to digitally sign via the web and mobile devices Users must be able to sign electronically using any device, anytime and anywhere, whether they are at the office on their PC, at home on their tablet, or in the field using a mobile device. With Docusign eSignature, your partners, customers and other collaborators can add eSignatures to their documents without having to install software.  

9. Offers the option to self-host the system The best eSignature solution allows you to choose between an on-premises server and a managed cloud-based system. With Docusign, you’ve got the choice between on-premises (for maximum flexibility and control) and the secure, cloud-based system (to start small and expand the number of signers as needed).  

10. Provides cost-effective IT management Don’t forget to evaluate the total cost of ownership (TCO) when purchasing an eSignature solution. Consider product cost, deployment, digital certificate renewal fees, training and support; offset by the paper-related cost savings, such as printing, mailing, scanning, couriering and archiving. With its simple installation and minimal operational impact, Docusign TCO is low.

Need more convincing that Docusign the #1 eSignature company?

Here are some more reasons why Docusign is the industry leader in eSignature:

• Security and privacy are top priorities. Docusign meets global top-level security standards – and provides full document encryption.
• Always-on availability is crucial. When you’re handling critical worldwide business transactions, downtime is unacceptable. With its world-class system architecture, Docusign offers the highest level of performance with no maintenance downtime.
• No matter where in the world you operate, you can electronically sign—in minutes. Docusign offers document transaction management around the globe, with more than 200 million users in 188 countries using 43 localised languages for electronic signing. Not in front of your desktop? No worries! Use Docusign to electronically sign on your mobile phone, laptop or tablet.
• Accelerate transaction times.  Companies that use eSignatures report an 80% increase in close rates, along with faster document cycle times.

Ready to get started?

Get business done faster with Docusign eSignature. Start your free trial or download the award-winning Docusign app today from Google Play, the App Store or Windows 10.