Electronic Signatures Come of Age: Five Requirements Microsoft Dynamics Customers Should Look For Today

No one will ever have to sign with paper and pen again! 

Well, that is what everyone thought when President Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act of 2000, stating that electronic signatures are as legally binding as their pen and paper counterparts. However, initial adoption of electronic signatures was slow. Now, after more than 11 years, they are finally coming of age thanks to technology and the openness of applications. 

An electronic signature is a mark that is digitally applied to a document indicating consent or approval. It can be in the form of a typed signature, a mouse-written signature or checking an "I agree" box, among various other configurations. Forensic information, such as a signatory's IP address and time stamp, is collected to maintain security and eliminate fraud.  And, as I'll discuss below, a trusted electronic signature solution must satisfy a variety of regulatory, security, and functional requirements if it is going to prove its worth.

In the early 2000s electronic signature applications were cumbersome, hard to deploy and very expensive.   Electronic signature solutions have evolved to be more open and easy to integrate into existing business processes such as Microsoft Dynamics thanks to technological advances such as .NET, XML and web services, and most importantly, they have become much more cost effective.  User acceptance and familiarity has also contributed to rapid deployment in recent years, as more and more companies are using electronic signatures to execute contracts, applications and agreements. Additionally, as businesses are becoming more mobile, the ability to sign from any desktop computer, laptop, tablet or other mobile device has led to increased demand.

Adopting electronic signature solutions can virtually eliminate the roadblocks imposed by existing legacy technologies such as fax machines, scanners ...