Electronics Design
solutions including Autodesk’s AutoCAD and Bentley’s Microstation. Taking that one step further and integrating with eDiscovery and records management systems, makes signatures easier to locate which is be important for audit trails and compliance requirements.
Implementation Several vendors offer a variety of signature automation solutions using various deployment options including on-premise, cloud, cloud service and hybrid-cloud (where the digital signature is generated in the cloud, but the document to be signed remains behind the corporate firewall).
do external parties need to download any software as well; is support for multiple signatures important; what regulatory, compliance and industry standards are supported; and ease-of-use (particularly if non-tech-savvy staff are involved). From a business-case perspective, another question is how rapid is return- on-investment – AIIM’s research indicates it is reached in less than a year for more than 80 per cent of companies, but of course this will vary according to each vendor.
Security is likely to be high on the question list. Digital signatures are inherently secure as they are the result of a standards-based cryptographic operation that takes place on a highly secure hardware appliance, located either on premises or in the cloud. The operation creates a coded message that binds the document and the signer and is unique to both of them. Importantly, documents that are being digitally signed do not need to leave the secure corporate environment.
Which option you choose depends very much on the individual company and its approach to IT, but implementing any type of digital signature solution can be fairly rapid, with users up-and-running in hours.
Aspects to consider include: how ‘tamper-proof’ does the system need to be; which applications are supported; whether signatures are easily viewable;
DRS Technologies Hilliard Minitab Omega
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Digital signature solutions do vary, so it pays to carry out some basic homework. Industry associations and analyst firms such as AIIM and Forrester Research are a good starting point. Whatever system is chosen, digital signatures clearly have a lot to offer electronics design organisations: reduced costs, saved time, support for end-to-end workflows and paperless processes, securely and efficiently. ●
Ronan Lavelle is UK Country Manager, ARX, Wokingham, UK.
www.arx.com
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