The Online Digital Signature Way

4 April, 2013

According to “The State of Talent Management 2013” survey of more than 5,700 HR professionals in North America (Feb, 2013), “Human resources managers are increasingly turning to full or partial cloud computing options.”   

This is the latest in many related publications discussing the strong and growing relationships between the HR industry and advanced cloud technologies. Josh Bersin, contributor to Forbes magazine, released his predictions for 2013 in a report that was followed by an article “HR, Leadership, Technology, and Talent Management Predictions for 2013” (January, 2013). According to Bersin, more traditional HR models are being redefined with the integration of new technological practices that enable high performing managers or fast movers (as he calls them), to “focus heavily on decentralised, hands-on, technical leadership.”     

In a competitive industry, and as more companies seek cost savings with solutions and tools that increase efficiency and productivity, the cloud offers an abundance of benefits to organisations’ HR departments, particularly in the ever-essential process of timely communication with existing and future personnel.

From the quick updating of records, to handling evaluation processes, signing of annual leave requests, or company’s policies, the ability to electronically fill-in and eSign forms with PKI digital signature technology, ensures that information is securely and accurately handled.

Furthermore, Secured Signing’s exclusive cloud broadcasting feature allows HR managers to instantly deliver signing invitations to a list of invitees - regardless of time zone or location - with just a click of a mouse, guaranteeing a rapid and streamlined business workflow that can later be tracked by authorised staff. 

Vivek Kundra’s (former CIO in the Obama administration) metaphor concludes this brilliantly: “Just like water from the tap in your kitchen, cloud computing services can be turned on or off quickly as needed. Like at the water company, there is a team of dedicated professionals making sure the service provided is safe, secure, and available on a 24/7 basis. When the tap isn’t on, not only you are saving water, but you aren’t paying for resources you don’t currently need.”   

Till next time,

Cheers, John    

20 December, 2012

The festive season is almost here, and in its spirit, I decided to dedicate the last blog of 2012 not to recent research of advanced electronic signature developments, but rather to the invaluable human element and interactions that are both the outcome and the fundamentals for any company that wishes to achieve success or business growth in the online world.

John Naisbitt once said: “The most exciting breakthrough of the 21^st century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human.”

Naisbitt’s conscientious phrase can be interpreted in the commercial world in several ways: in association to interactions with our online users, work associates, and employees, or simply in accordance to the understanding that identifies and recognises the considerable importance, change, and challenge presented in the wake of the latest advanced technologies.

A while ago in a radio interview, Noah Arceneaux, Media Studies Professor at San Diego State University, explained that the new electronic communications raise similar questions and trials to those that once arose concerning the telegraph and the telephone. He sees this phenomenon as a positive latest iteration of an ongoing continuum.

So, what the past has taught us? Have we already figured out best practices and acceptable rules to apply when we are working in the electronic environment? Well, I think the correct answer lies in this continuum as well, and is an ongoing process.

While scholars, theoreticians, and business experts are continually working hard to provide us with evolving best solutions, our focus - particularly when communicating and building working relationships is to:                 

• Offer trust, confidence, and fair dealings
• Be truthful with our solutions and answers
• Be open to hear / learn new ideas, and flexible to consider and adapt them
• Acknowledge, accept, and respect diversity
• And above all, treat others the way we would like to be treated.

Wishing you and your loved ones a Merry Festive Season and a Happy New Year,

Till next time,

Cheers, John

21 September, 2012

Let’s open with a trivial question and a most anticipated answer – do you prefer to be asked how you like your coffee? Or steak? And what about your business card design? Or your website’s functionalities? These simple questions have quite obvious answers that reflect human psychology with business practicalities: we like to be asked, we want to feel appreciated, and we are thrilled when our point of view counts, and is acted upon. Ask any successful service provider.    

The Customer-centric approach has been explored and discussed in the business and commercial context for a while now. It relates to a process that starts with understanding your customers’ needs, building a related customer-centric strategy, and successfully executing it. The latter can be satisfyingly achieved only when it fits into the company’s culture and values, and communicates effectively on all levels.

Secured Signing, the worldwide service provider of PKI digital signature in the Cloud, consistently fosters personalised relationships with its customers, and proactively addresses their varied needs and requests with flexible service delivery. Practising an open channel of communication enhances a professional and precisely tailored response for the online signing and electronic fill-in of forms and documents. Furthermore, the Secured Signing’s team takes that information, anticipates future requirements, and continually works on the development of new features.

Its current comprehensive customised solutions include:        

• Fill-in and eSign your company’s forms online
• Branding – E-mail invitation, signing, and filling pages
• API – integrate your application and service 

And, as Thomas Herrington once said: “In today’s economic climate, those companies that thrive will be those that are customer centric and those that remember that customers are the ultimate judges and the world’s leading authorities on whether we impressed them or not with our efforts.”  

For more info please contact us!

Till next time,

Cheers, John

24 August, 2012

I would like to share with you my recent article:  

“Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” Niccolo Machiavelli  

We are living in a fast-tech era, consuming fast-tech products. The life we live, and the business we run (or work for), our social interactions, work environment, and daily behavior are all changing and reshaping constantly by new technological developments. Before we continue with our justified hail for progress, let’s go back for a brisk moment in time. The birth of first computer took place with the invention of ENIAC - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator. The world’s first electronic digital computer (patent was filed in 26 June, 1947) was invented as a result of the great demand of war to “reduce the time required for arriving at solutions to problems which might have required months or days by older procedures.”

Fast forward sixty five years, the revolution of the ENIAC endures. The majority of us carry our individual portable devices for communicating privately or for work purposes, struggling to keep in pace with the latest gadget, or surrendering / fighting the desire to have the latest model. What surprising is the fact that regardless of what devices we use to implement it, the principals who differentiated more than half a century ago the ‘new’ outcome from the ‘old’, is astonishingly similar: the workload of recruitment companies and their consultants reduces from days to minutes!  

A typical recruitment process requires a candidate to fill-in and sign adequately dozens of essential paperwork in order to meet employment, legislative and occupational health conditions. The process is lengthy, tiresome and frustrating for all parties involved: the candidate, who desires to find a job promptly but accidently omit a signature somewhere, the employer who needs to see new employees onsite as fast as possible, and for the recruitment consultant, who communicates with both and often waste time chasing the forms and missing items while trying to provide professional customer service that complies with industry’s regulations.

The introduction of eForms that incorporate digital signature technology has distinguishably transformed this situation altogether.  Recruitment consultants are now able to sign and invite candidates and employers to fill-in and sign brand electronic forms from anywhere any time, to manage and oversee the signing process, and view in real-time progress reports. The user-based PKI digital signature innovative technology complies with worldwide regulations for the online signing of electronic documents (ETA’s, ESIGN, EU VAT Directive, UECA, UETA, ECA’s and many more), and offers highest level of security. The signed form is sealed, and any changes made to the document invalidate the signatures.

Abardeen Group, a leading provider of business research, published its Human Capital Management Trends 2012 Report. The study reveals that HR companies and line of business respondents who show results in top industry performance, Best-in-Class, have implemented successfully recruitment technologies as one of their core business strategies. Secured Signing’s service that offers to fill-in and signing of electronic documents follows the trend. It boosts efficiency, ensures costs cut, meets market labour demands, and as mentioned above, plays an essential role in the recruitment industry’s timely change of conduct. 

Till next time,

Cheers, John

30 May, 2012

A recent article by Michael Foreman (24 May 2012) highlighted issues discussed at the latest IBM annual Impact conference in Las Vegas. He quoted keynote speaker Marie Wieck, IBM’s General Manager of Application and Integration Middleware, who in her presentation, stressed that new technologies including cloud, social, and mobile, create “a new set of external stakeholders” that are essential and beneficial to any business, and should be responded to with a joined dialogue. Wieck presented IBM’s survey of more than 700 CIOs, which revealed that 75 percent of them are currently engaged in the development of mobile strategies. She concluded saying: “it’s time to rethink IT and reinvent business.”

Secured Signing’s digital signature service does just that! It has reinvented the online signing process and introduced Form n’Go, a mobile compliant application of advanced electronic signatures. Secured Signing’s Form n’Go enables users to invite signatories to promptly fill-in any type of document and sign online from their mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, and Android) whether they are at work, at home, or on-the-go. In addition, it offers an innovative locator functionality that identifies the precise location of signatories, and adds an extra layer of security and assurance. The secured user-based PKI digital signature technology seals the document instantly after an invitee eSigns, and automatically e-mails it in a PDF format to all parties involved.                                      

Ted Schadler, John McCarthy, and All from Forrester Research wrote in a recent report that “By 2016, smartphones and tablets will put power in the pockets of a billion global consumers. Mobile is not simply another device for IT to support with a shrunken website or a screen-scraped SAP application. Rather, mobile is the manifestation of a much broader shift to new systems of engagement. These systems of engagement help firms empower their customers, partners, and employees with context-aware apps and smart products.”

Secured Signing’s Form n’Go is a manifestation of just such successful engagement.

Till next time,

Cheers, John