Digital transformation and business agreements in the cloud

Recently, we took to the stage at the Digital Transformation Conference in London, to talk about the importance of agreements in accelerating digital transformation.

In the audience, we met businesses of all sizes – from startups to global enterprises. But they all had two key things in common:

  • A desire to digitally transform, and to do so quickly
  • A business that is underpinned by agreements

From employment contracts to sales deals, agreements are the foundation of doing business. In this blog, we’ll explore some of the key themes from the conference and show why agreements are so critical for digital transformation.

How digital transformation impacts business

Digital technology has impacted not only the way we communicate with our friends or watch TV but also the way we work. Businesses have entered the digital movement as a response to consumer demand and technology improvements.

According to research by IDC, 85 percent of enterprise decision-makers say they have two years to make significant digital changes or they will fall behind their competitors and suffer financially.

This is why more and more companies are starting to digitise their business by automating vital processes. Some of them have adopted AI and machine learning, whereas others have streamlined their task management services. But one of the key processes that can be overlooked is the system of agreement.

The agreement problem

Agreements are critical for doing business, but traditional paper-based processes are slow, error-prone, wasteful and expensive. Modern-day customers and employees are demanding more. They want a great, easy experience, and that means removing the hassle of printing, scanning and mailing. To do this, businesses must digitise the entire agreement process.

Break free from legacy systems that hold your business down

eSignature is the first step in digitally transforming your business, but there are several other stages that can be automated to help streamline the entire agreement process. These include the preparation of those agreements and their upkeep after signing.

Our research found that 59 percent of sales managers say agreement preparation takes too long. This comes as no surprise, given it traditionally includes retyping information, copying boilerplates from different documents and formatting outdated templates. These manual processes are not only time consuming but result in higher costs and inconsistency.

To ensure that your business doesn’t fall into this manual trap, DocuSign has recently introduced the DocuSign Agreement Cloud, a new category and suite of cloud-based solutions. This platform helps companies digitally transform and automate how they prepare, sign, act on and manage contracts and other types of agreements that are fundamental to the business.

Digital transformation plays a vital role in a business’ economic growth and success. While many companies now streamline workstreams between employees and customers, the agreement process can be left behind.

DocuSign helps you improve your transformation strategy by automating the entire agreement process and enabling higher productivity, better customer experience, and a greener footprint.

To learn more, visit the DocuSign Agreement Cloud pages on our website.

Author
Mangesh Bhandarkar
GVP, Product Management
Published