With a wide range of different digital signatures and seals, as well as many useful functions, SIGN8 can be applied in many ways along the value chain in your company.
Whether in sales, HR, purchasing or controlling – in every department of a company there are many manual processes that are time-consuming and error-prone. Particularly in large corporations, this can lead to the proverbial administrative mills grinding much more slowly than necessary and even critical decisions taking a long time to be implemented. To prevent this, SIGN8’s digital signatures and seals can make many processes more efficient and can be used in many areas along the value chain in a company.
But what exactly is a value chain?
If you go back in time and look at Porter’s definition, a value chain corresponds to a management concept that graphically represents the interrelated enterprise activities of the operational goods production process. Today, however, a typical value chain in a company consists of many more departments than in the outdated model. With SIGN8, essential signature and administration processes can be significantly simplified and improved, as well as adapted to the respective needs of the individual areas of the value chain. Where SIGN8 can be used everywhere is shown in the overview in the picture alongside.
SIGN8’s fast and legally secure e-signatures and seals can be used in almost all industries. One can choose between the simple, the advanced and the qualified electronic signature, which differ in their authentication method and legal security. Which signature is suitable for which document depends on whether there is a legal or contractual formal requirement.
Simple Electronic Signatures (EES) are suitable for documents and presentations where there is no legal formal requirement. Two-factor authentication is not required for EES. EES are therefore particularly relevant for various internal documents, such as data protection or confidentiality declarations, but can also be used for order confirmations, parcel deliveries, and invoice approvals.
Just like the EES, the advanced electronic signature (FES) can only be used for documents without a legal form requirement, such as sales contracts, B2B contracts, copyright declarations, part-time employment contracts. However, this is more secure due to the two-factor authentication of the signing persons via SMS and thus has a higher legal evidential value. This is what distinguishes FES from EES.
Of the three signature types mentioned, only the qualified electronic signature (QES) is considered a legally valid substitute for a handwritten signature. This is also suitable for contracts with a legal form requirement. Once the written form is required by law for a contract, only the QES can be used to sign it in a truly legally binding manner. Examples of contracts with a legal form requirement are fixed-term employment contracts, receipts, loan agreements, bank account openings or SEPA direct debit mandates. So, QES is required for all these types of contracts and documents. Even if two companies have agreed on the written form for a contract, only the QES is permissible for its signature or amendment.
In order to be allowed to offer QES as a company in Europe, certification as a Trust Service Provider (TSP) is required under the EU eIDAS Regulation. This type of certification is carried out in Germany by the Federal Network Agency. SIGN8 is currently in the final stage of this process and will soon be able to offer Qualified Electronic Signatures with legal validity. This will make SIGN8 one of only two cross-industry e-signature providers certified in Germany.
With the various signature types, SIGN8 meets the different needs of a wide range of departments along the value chain in the company. Additional useful features, such as the form or template function, the ability to set deadlines or send reminders and many more, can make your everyday work easier and more efficient. In addition, SIGN8 offers an API that allows the product to be implemented in most existing systems. As a result, SIGN8 is a flexible technical solution and is constantly being developed and improved to make customers’ everyday work much easier and to generate maximum customer satisfaction….
If you have any questions about SIGN8 or suggestions for new features, please feel free to contact us at info@sign8.eu.
