Adobe Redefines the Way the World Signs with New e-Sign Capabilities in Document Cloud.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 13, 2015 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Adobe ADBE, +0.12% today announced significant new e-sign capabilities in Document Cloud that will make electronically signing documents and contracts easier than ever before.Compared to its Creative and Marketing Cloud solutions, Adobe’s recently launched Document Cloud and eSign services (formerly known as EchoSign) don’t quite get the same amount of attention yet, but they are becoming an increasingly important part of the company’s business.
Adobe announced a slew of enhancements to its document and e-sign services today along with the formation of a partnership with Dropbox designed to make it easier to work with files on the fly.Recognizing the critical need for busy people to transact business on-the-go, Adobe has teamed up with Dropbox to expand user options when working with PDF documents across desktop, mobile and the Web.
In an effort to make PDF documents more accessible and beneficial for customers, Adobe and Dropbox are teaming up to offer integration in Acrobat DC, Acrobat Reader, and in Dropbox’s site and apps. New functionality includes a visual drag-and-drop Workflow Designer, digital signatures (a more advanced, secure form of e-signatures) and Enterprise Mobility Management and Signature Capture that makes on-the-go signing a breeze. The market-leading companies are integrating their applications and services on mobile devices, desktop, and the web for faster and more seamless access to all of the mission-critical content stored as PDF files.
Long after civilization has ended, an evolved form of one of the planet’s hardiest insects will attempt to read a PDF containing everything Homo sapiens learned before it went extinct. With this partnership, customers of Adobe Acrobat DC and Adobe Acrobat Reader—used on over one billion mobile devices and desktop computers worldwide—can access and take common actions on over 18 billion PDF files stored in Dropbox directly from within the Adobe apps. Adobe said many of the new or improved features are a “direct result” of user feedback and “there’s a lot more innovation in the pipeline.” Some of the new Acrobat DC features include: Tabbed viewing: Much like a browser, this feature lets users keep several PDFs open in one window and jump from one PDF to another in a single click. Any changes they make to these files — no matter whether that’s on the web, desktop or in the Acrobat mobile apps — are automatically synced back to Dropbox.
The integration addresses a strong need, as PDF is the most common business file type in Dropbox. “As the inventor of PDF, Adobe brings over 20 years of experience with secure digital documents,” said Kevin M. Fill & Sign for iPhone: An iPhone app that replicate’s Adobe’s existing iPad app for automatically converting digital or paper documents into fillable, sign-able electronic forms.
All based around making digitally signing documents easier and more security-compliant, eSign is gaining a number of new enhancements and updates: Workflow Designer for creating processes that can be re-used for signing documents during hire onboarding, contract finalizations, and more; EU-compliant digital signatures through Acrobat and Reader; data centers in Germany and Ireland later this year that will support Document Cloud; and enterprise-class control over documents including “in flight” corrections in case of errors. The app enables users to sign e-documents and forms, send them for a signature, track responses in real time, and get instant signatures with in-person signing.
Lynch, senior vice president and general manager of Adobe Document Cloud at Adobe. “The requirements of our customers have constantly evolved over time; today, mobile has become the rule and people expect to complete work quickly and simply wherever and whenever they need. You can highlight, annotate or add comments to a document, while Acrobat DC users can edit text, organize pages or convert documents to their original format. Plus, use new Advanced Workflows to build custom apps and a web experience that automates steps in a business process, like onboarding new hires or finalizing a sales contract, before, during, and after signing. At the heart of Document Cloud is Adobe’s eSign Service, not necessarily file storage — and it looks like Adobe is open to partnering with other partners, too. Signature Capture lets people use their mobile device camera to take a photo of their handwritten signature once and use it to sign documents again and again.
Digital Signatures—Comply with advanced signing requirements in the EU and regulated industries to drive global business with new digital signatures, now incorporated into Adobe eSign services. Adobe is the only global provider to enable not just European citizens, but people around the world, to validate European signatures through the support of the EU Trusted Lists (EUTL) now available in Adobe Acrobat and in the ubiquitous Adobe Acrobat Reader. A new blog post details additional features such as tabbed viewing, enhanced camera-to-PDF functions for improved boundary detection, perspective correction and text sharpness.
New global data centers—New Document Cloud data centers are planned to be available in Ireland and Germany by the end of this year, part of a global expansion that will continue through 2016. Mark Grilli, VP, Adobe Document Services, told CIO that Adobe has processed 150 million agreements worldwide for the Document Cloud product since its launch in April this year. Enterprise-class control—Equip employees with new options so they can eliminate extra steps and get signing done faster with an all-new send agreement experience that’s as simple as it is powerful.
In addition, Document Cloud’s eSigning solution now features an updated mobile app for enterprises that lets businesses manage access to the app through tools like Android for Work and — soon — Good Technology and Microsoft Intune. Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia
For example, use new functionality to correct documents “in flight” – when the wrong document has been sent by mistake, simply fix and resend instead of cancelling and starting over. The company also today announced a couple of new partners, including Workday, Salesforce and Ariba, which have integrated Adobe’s signature workflow into their apps. Here’s how Thomas Hansen, Dropbox’s global vice president of sales and channels and a former Microsoft executive, explains the partnership’s benefits: This means you can do more with your PDFs, wherever you are. It’s not that inconvenient to locate a Dropbox file on a PC or Mac, and if you’re using a Mac you already have Apple’s PDF-handling app installed. With powerful e-sign partner integrations, enterprises can easily add turnkey e-signing capabilities to systems of record that are crucial to day-to-day business.
Ensure PDF files, and the changes you make to them in Adobe apps, are always synced in Dropbox, whether you’re on a mobile device, the web, or in front of a computer. The latest eSign services update delivers an easy-to-use setup wizard, automates common tasks like adding product lists to agreements, and supports certificate-based digital signatures. Ariba—Streamline the procurement process through greater flexibility, security and control when sending contracts for e-signature in Ariba Contract Management. Document Cloud provides departments and entire organizations with services, including enterprise-class eSign services, which bring speed and efficiency to business document workflows. Leading organizations all over the world–including companies like KLM, Groupon, Jaguar Land Rover, NetAPP and TiVo–rely on Adobe’s eSign services for fast, secure and mobile e-signatures.
Having processed over 150 million e-sign agreements, eSign services offers solutions for industries including healthcare and insurance, financial services, media and entertainment, government, and schools and universities. © 2015 Adobe Systems Incorporated.