Adobe’s planning to add electronic signatures to its Portable Document Format (PDF) digital document standard, through the acquisition of Palo Alto-based EchoSign late last week.
EchoSign’s solution – which already has more than three million users worldwide – will be incorporated into Adobe’s online document exchange services platform. It’ll be integrated with other Adobe document services, including SendNow for managed file transfer, FormsCentral for form creation and CreatePDF for online PDF creation.
“Adobe’s document solutions help organizations turn inefficient, paper-based workflows into streamlined electronic ones,” says Kevin Lynch, vice president and general manager of Acrobat Solutions for Adobe.
“By adding electronic signature capabilities to Adobe’s document exchange services platform, we will be addressing the need to provide better customer experiences by significantly reducing the time, cost and complexity associated with having a document signed.”
With just one click, says Adobe, the entire signature process can be automated, from the request for signature to the distribution and execution of the form or agreement.
The service will be available on a subscription basis. It includes a set of APIs that can be incorporated into company-specific procedures for sending, tracking and signing digital documents. It also integrates with partner solutions, such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite.
“Bringing together EchoSign’s ease of use for contracting on the Web with Adobe’s brand, reach and trust in the document space, I fully expect that electronic signatures will soon become the common way for people to sign documents,” says Jason Lemkin, EchoSign CEO.
“With nothing to download, learn or install, there is simply no faster or more secure way for organizations to sign, track or file contracts — and close more business quickly.”
