AIIM recently released their study “Digital Signatures: Ready for Production” that takes a close look at the use and benefits of Digital Signatures. The survey was carried out among a large number of companies in order to establish the importance of digital signatures for various organization and the results of its implementation compared to traditional handwritten signatures.
THE BURDEN OF PHYSICAL SIGNATURES
The majority of the respondents – 37% – consider that half or more of their workflows are interrupted, slow-down or prematurely completed by the need to collect physical signatures. As a consequence, the slowdown was found to add up anything from a few hours to as much as a week or more to their processing time.
Moreover, the study revealed that organizations who have not adopted digital signatures can expect increases in time and costs related to handling and managing paper-based signatures, will experience greater difficulties with remote signers, and are at a higher risks of losing or misplacing documents.
DIGITAL SIGNATURE ADOPTION, A GROWING MARKET
The digital signature users number is set to be growing largely over the next 2 years, and more than 75% of the respondents is expected to be using a digital signing system by then.
- 25% of the organizations interrogated already use digital signatures
- 34% planned to implement them within the next 2 years
- 19% aimed to implement them in the next 12 months
BENEFITS OF DIGITAL SIGNATURE IMPLEMENTATION
- 60% of the digital signature users reached ROI in 12 months or less, and 37% saw a ROI of 6 months or less.
- 77% of the users witnessed an increase in efficiency: saving time on printing, scanning, faxing, etc
- 59% experienced a shorten turnaround time on signature approvals
- 39% achieved lower costs, by eliminating their paper-related expenses
- 39% established a paperless office and/or a full digital automation after implementation
- Other benefits cited include compliance with regulatory requirements, mobile signing, improved user satisfaction, and environmental impact.
