Current Research – Adobe Echosign

Currently I am conducting some feasibility research on Adobe Echosign. Below are some highlights of that research.

What does it offer?

It allows us to email customers with a link to a signable document (PDF, Word, Excel, Powerpoint or HTML formats). The signatures on these documents are legally enforceable. The United States (and many other countries) considers electronic signatures to have the same legal status as written signatures. Additionally Adobe warrants that EchoSign is fully compliant with the US Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act of 2000.

 

How does it work?

There are many ways to use and leverage Adobe Echosign.  By using the Echosign interface a document can be sent to the customer to sign. These documents scan be as simple or as complicated as we need. Documents can have form fields that can be filled in (name, address etc.) and of course a signature field. The signature field can be signed by typing your name or filling out the field via mouse, touchscreen or stylus.

If we would like to integrate Echosign we would need to use the API SOAP web service. A detailed explanation can be seen here – https://www.echosign.adobe.com/content/dam/echosign/docs/pdfs/EchoSign%20API%20Guide_v2.pdf

At a high level we would use scenario 1 “Sending & tracking from an external application”. This scenario involves the application sending a document for signature either automatically or due to user initiated actions. The status of the document and the detailed audit trail need to be exposed into the sending application and when the document is signed, a PDF copy of the signed agreement is retrieved and stored in the application.

  1. Send the document for signature – Use the API to send the document, recipient details and a callback URL. Echosign returns an unique document key
  2. Check the status of the document – There are two mechanisms for checking the status of a document, Echosign can use a callback URL that our application specifies to inform us that the document is signed or our application can poll Echosign to check the status of a document
  3. Retrieve the signed PDF

 

What are the license terms/cost?

Pricing is detailed here https://www.echosign.adobe.com/en/pricing-new.html

There are 3 tiers – Pro (from $14.95/mo), Team (from $19.95/mo) and Enterprise. If we were to use the web interface rather than the API the Team edition would be best. In order to use the API we have to take the Enterprise option, the price for this isn’t displayed on the website and requires us to contact their sales team for more information.

 

What is the customer support like?

Enterprise Edition has 24×7 chat, phone, and email support. The other editions offer 24×7 Chat support only. Currently EchoSign does not offer general API code support.

 

What are its limitations?

The main limitation is that the signed document is in PDF format only.

 

Does it work with reporting services?

No, the main Microsoft technologies that it can be integrated into are Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Sharepoint.

 

What advantage does it give over developing our own internal document signing app?

The biggest advantage I can see is that Echosign is fully compliant with all current e-Signature legislation. If we develop our own solution we may (this would need to be investigated further) need to ensure that we are compliant with the  Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act of 2000. Developing our own solution could require a lot of design and development time.

My current read: JavaScript & jQuery: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

lrgCurrently I’m reading JavaScript & jQuery: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition.

I wanted to brush up on my Javascript and jQuery skills by reading something that might expand my horizons. Has this book helped me achieve my goals? Yes and no. It has helped to improve my knowledge but it isn’t really aimed at experienced Software Engineer. The book moves too slowly, every tutorial is painstakingly drawn out, with a line by line explanation. It also repeats itself, repeating basic tips and advice in later chapters that was explaining near the start. If it at least just referenced the page number where it was originally rather than doing a copy and paste it would be better.

Maybe I am being a little harsh though. On the positive side, it does a great job illustrating the power of Javascript and jQuery and has helped me learn new things and easier methods to solve my problems.

Overall. I think this book is aimed more at beginners or people interested in Web Development as a hobby rather than professional. Feel free to check it out, but if you are an experienced Developer prepare to deal with the issues I outlined above.

Liquibase – Database Change Management

Since starting in my new role and learning some exciting new stuff I have came across a great little tool, Liquibase.

I have used DBMaintain before but I think that Liquibase has replaced it in my mind as the easiest to use and most effective database management tool out there. It’s simple to use and it works which is all you really need. Why complicate things?

Sometimes it can be tempting to throw caution to the wind and avoid using tools such as these, seeing them as an unnecessary step in the development process. You may get away with encountering issues in very small teams but once the team expands confusion will reign!

Check out Liquibase here, it covers almost every mainstream database technology out there: http://www.liquibase.org/

What management and productivity tools are useful?

We were having a discussion there regarding what productivity tools do we use in our professional and personal lives in order to make things a little easier.

Here’s a few that we came up with…

Dropbox

Dropbox or any other cloud storage is a god send these days. I have Dropbox installed on my work laptop, home desktop and laptop and my Android phone. Being able to access files anywhere is ideal when on company travel or when you need to do a little work from home. Check it out at https://www.dropbox.com/

 

Evernote

Evernote is a suite of software and services designed for notetaking and archiving. A “note” can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten “ink” note. Notes can also have file attachments. Notes can be sorted into folders, then tagged, annotated, edited, given comments, searched and exported as part of a notebook. http://evernote.com/

KeePass

KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. http://keepass.info/

Demand for Software Engineers still high and increasing

Another little piece of anecdotal regarding the state of the I.T industry in Ireland. I was talking to a now final year student in Computer Science recently who told me he has been given a solid job offer for a graduate job next year. Not the promise of a job but an actual job contract!

A great thing to see and long may it continue, let’s just hope it’s not a bubble waiting to burst and we’ll have a sustainable future.