Integration or Partnership: What’s the Difference?

Modern business relies on software and technology services for its ongoing success. With the advent of cloud computing and its implicit cost savings, businesses of literally any size can leverage technology to solve more problems than ever before.

For larger businesses, however, it’s tricky. In addition to navigating the millions of products and platforms available, the task of deciding how to seamlessly fold essential software services into existing workflows can waste time and money, not to mention add unnecessary stress to stakeholders tasked with solving the problem.

SIGNiX partners with software providers to integrate our cloud-based Digital Signature Platform into their own applications. We go beyond technological concerns and aggressively drive revenue for our partners.

So what exactly is the difference between a software integration and a true partnership?

Read on to find out.

Integrations

Let’s start with a real-world business example everyone can understand: a customer opening a new checking account at a bank.

Here’s the way it’s worked for decades: a bank representative enters all the new account holder’s information into a computer. Then, after everything’s in order, the rep clicks a button that says “Print” and a printer on the network spits out all the forms for the customer to sign with ink.

Behind the scenes, that “Print” button is actually just a way to have the computer call the printer and say, “Hey, I need you to print these forms.” The printer usually says, “Okay!” and does the job. It’s easy enough, but also time consuming and expensive.

Let’s say this bank wants to speed things up and save paper by allowing new customers to e-sign when they open a new checking account. This bank chooses an e-signature provider and integrates the technology into their new account opening process. Now, instead of clicking a print button, the bank’s rep clicks an “E-Sign” button.

The rep’s computer makes a call to the e-signature server in the cloud and says, “Hey, we need to e-sign these documents.” The e-signature server provides a screen to accept the customer’s signature, and then the customer signs electronically.

That’s the most basic description of how a simple integration works: one computer makes a call to another computer to request a service. There are several vendors who offer technological integrations for e-signatures, but SIGNiX is the only cloud-based digital signature in the United States.

Now let’s discuss the differences between this simple integration and a SIGNiX Partnership.

The perks of being a SIGNiX Partner

A SIGNiX Partnership is more than just making sure technology works efficiently. Rather, it’s a hand-in-glove, long-term commitment to shared success between SIGNiX and the business that offers our digital signature to its customers.

Here’s how a SIGNiX Partnership works:

SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY

The SIGNiX Digital Signature Platform offers the speed and efficiency of a simple e-signature as well as the military-grade cryptography and superior legal evidence of a true digital signature.

Unlike simple e-signatures, digital signatures utilize a complex cryptographic method called public key infrastructure or PKI. Traditionally, businesses that wanted to incorporate true, PKI-based digital signatures into their systems are required to purchase or lease a highly specialized computer called a hardware security module. After acquiring the HSM, the business had to create programming interfaces from scratch. Needless to say, it was extremely difficult and extremely expensive.

SIGNiX made true digital signatures simple, easy, and cost-effective to integrate. Our patented Digital Signature Platform makes PKI available in the cloud via our powerful FLEX API. That means businesses—like our bank from the example above—can integrate all the advantages of a true digital signature as easily as they could a typical e-signature.

It’s simple: there is no better solution for electronically executing contracts than the SIGNiX Digital Signature Platform. Period. Full stop. This is especially true in highly regulated environments where compliance, data privacy, and auditability are crucial.

WHITE-LABEL INTEGRATIONS

Our partners can completely integrate our digital signature without a hint of SIGNiX branding. FLEX API accommodates color changes, logo swaps, or even completely abstracted, data-only processing. White-label integrations are more resistant to phishing schemes and particularly beneficial to partners whose users rely on a seamless, familiar user experience that doesn’t require retraining, reorientation, the hassle of managing multiple accounts.

REVENUE SHARE

Most SaaS companies talk about commitments to customers and the importance of strong relationships.

At SIGNiX, we do more than talk.

We recognize that our Partners need to generate meaningful profit. Our revenue sharing framework rewards our Partners in the way it matters most: by boosting the bottom line. Our base rate is higher than our competitors, and we can customize with tiers or bonus structures that make sense for the scope and scale of our Partner’s particular business.

SUPPORT AND TRAINING

To understand how SIGNiX drives value beyond technology, let’s revisit the bank example from earlier.

In addition to integrating the SIGNiX Digital Signature Platform with the bank’s new account workflow, our Business Development Team would set to work helping the bank drive adoption across all its branches. Through onsite and web-based training sessions, we would help the bank reps understand the advantages of digital signatures so they could handle any questions from customers. Our Marketing Team would co-produce marketing collateral to help the bank promote the safe, simple, superior account opening process customers will experience. The bank would help SIGNiX by working to integrate our Digital Signature Platform in any workflow that would benefit from reduced paper cost, superior legal evidence, and so on.

Finally, if there’s ever a question about the integration, digital signatures, or how to use the platform, support calls are answered and attended by real experts working in our home office, not a third-party call center that doesn’t understand or care.

And the winner is: Partnerships

Far more than a simple software vendor, SIGNiX builds durable, long-term relationships with Partners through a spectrum of perks, incentives, and ongoing support.