Brief Introduction to Digital Transaction Management

Electronic Signature was first invented back in the mid 90’s. After President Bill Clinton signed the Digital Signature Act into law in 2000, it’s popularity has been growing both, in the Point of Sale (POS) systems and for signing documents.  Since then there have been multiple generational advancements made to the eSignature technology. Today, eSignature or ‘electronic signature’ is part of our normal business vocabulary.

 

However, as the #Digital movement gave birth to ‘Digital Transformation,’ organizations quickly realized that in order to truly become paperless, eSignature alone is not enough, when it comes to managing business transactions that involve documents and signatures.

 

A December 2015 report by Aragon Research, Aragon Research Tech Spectrum for Digital Transaction Management, estimates that fewer than 12% of all document processes were fully digital in 2015—but predicts that 65% of enterprises will retire legacy paper-based processes in favor of those based on DTM by 2017[1].

 

This realization comes with the understanding that every business transaction has a ‘document signing ceremony’ associated to it.  This includes all types of loans, real estate transactions, legal notices, insurance transactions, agreements, and contracts to name  a few. In order to go completely digital there needs to be a way to support all different types of document signing ceremonies.

 

This gave birth to the notion of Digital Transaction Management or DTM. DTM is governed by the xDTM Standard, which is a foundational set of criteria for managing digital transactions. At the core, a DTM system includes electronic signature component, an automation engine, workflow management, and some basic security features.

 

An Advanced DTM however extends the core DTM functionality to a much robust and secure enterprise level.  An advanced DTM solution includes a document management system, rules and policy engine, adherence and compliance to various laws and regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, and Document Retention Policies, and filling out forms. Lastly, there are provisions for security, privacy, authenticity, legality, and trust for managing document-based transactions.

 

Here is a list of key components that make up an Advanced DTM solution.

1. Electronic Signature
2. Post-execution fraud Protection (paper and digital documents)
3. Full audit trail
4. Document Management System
5. Content Automation, Workflow Management, and Rules Engine
6. Intelligent Forms
7. Security, Trust, and Compliance
8. Advanced Security and Biometrics

 

To bring about complete and true digital transformation of their business, organizations must consider full implementation of an Advanced Digital Transaction Management Solution.