The use of a qualified digital certificate is becoming more and more widespread, not only because of the comfort and trust it generates, but also because of the security it provides through the electronic evidences collected during a signature process, providing greater legal validity to our electronic transactions. It is a tool that allows us to shield the security of our organization at the click of a button.
In the current context, digitalization and cybersecurity are two fundamental aspects in the daily management of any company that provide tranquility and confidence. Those companies that choose to use tools such as the digital certificate bet on quality and maximum security in the processes, whether to carry out procedures with customers, suppliers, Public Administration, etc.
That is why the great challenge today is not to work digitally, but to work safely and completely protected against possible attacks, identity theft or forgery and manipulation of documents, relying on a Qualified Trusted Service Provider.
For example, the number of cyber-attacks on companies increased dramatically as a result of the pandemic. In Spain, the National Cybersecurity Institute reported 130,000 serious incidents last year, an increase of 24% over the previous year. Companies such as Vueling, Adif or the Galician pharmaceutical company Zendal have suffered high-profile cases of cyber-attacks in which both internal data and customer information were exposed, with the consequent economic costs arising from these problems.
As a result, users are increasingly demanding more information about the usage audit process. But what exactly is it and what can it be used for?
IvSign is a platform for issuing and centralizing certificates. This tool shields certificates and electronic signatures thanks to centralization in the cloud. Thanks to this process, it is guaranteed that certificates are not copied or reproduced. In addition, it enables the option of usage control, where it is possible to define use policies for each digital certificate and user (by date, day and time, URLs or computers). Thanks to this, the tool also offers an audit process.
The audit process offers an exhaustive traceability on the use of each digital certificate. It collects the electronic evidences related to the administrative operations performed by each user within the platform, as well as the authentication performed with the digital certificates or the signature operations.
In this way, the electronic evidences that the IvSign platform registers are:
This audit trace also allows employees to operate with assurances that the certificate is equipped for that employee or group of employees for specific issues. This means, as well, a safeguard against any misconduct performed by an employee. IvSign makes the information on these electronic evidences available for you to consult and download at any time.
Nowadays, with the consolidation of digitalisation, companies have a great ally to improve the customer experience and achieve customer loyalty: the use of electronic signature. Customers have now changed their purchasing habits and preferences, becoming more sophisticated in their demands. We are currently targeting a digital customer who rewards speed, agility and security in their purchasing processes.
It doesn’t matter whether it is a B2C or B2B business, the sector or size of the company. Today, all companies are competing in the same race to offer a unique digital experience to their customers as a point of differentiation.
When we refer to a user’s digital experience, we are referring to the sensations and emotions that the customer has when interacting with a company. If we add the digital component, we are faced with a factor that is now beyond our control, since the purchase is made without physical presence, without a direct face-to-face contact that previously allowed us to improve the sensation, impression and experience with the company.
For this reason, companies must now devote more effort to strengthen the consumer’s digital experience. To do this, it is important to pay attention to the different stages of the interaction process and to see the value we can bring to each of them, taking into account that the contact is online.
There are numerous possibilities for improving the purchasing phase, such as the method of payment. This is where the electronic signature plays a fundamental role, as it allows us to eliminate bureaucratic procedures, shorten the purchasing process and offer our customers maximum simplicity and convenience in the contracting process.
A very important aspect is the post-sales moment. Many companies consider that the experience ends with the purchase of the product or service, but be careful… Let’s not forget that building customer loyalty is much more profitable compared to the investment we have to make to attract new customers.
Let’s be aware that the customer does not want to talk about printers, postal deliveries, moving to offices… They are increasingly used to having everything where, how and when they want it, and that is what they demand when they consume products and/or services.
Como hemos comentado, el cliente realiza sus compras online para agilizar el proceso de compra, esperando una rápida respuesta por parte de las empresas. Así pues, no importa la hora, no importa el lugar o el dispositivo móvil. Estar preparados para ofrecerle la multicanalidad que demanda nuestro cliente será clave para conseguir un cliente satisfecho y, probablemente, un cliente fiel que nos recomiende a terceros.
Además, mejorar los puntos de contacto con nuestros clientes nos permitirá mejorar las tasas de conversión, incrementar las ventas, optimizar los procesos de compra y una mayor satisfacción de que derive en la recomendación y fidelización.
Pese al avance de la tecnología estábamos acostumbrados hasta hace nada a realizar los procesos comerciales teniendo al cliente sentado enfrente nuestro, donde le sacábamos unos papeles para que los firmase en el momento.
Estábamos habituados a ello y parecía ser lo más cómodo y seguro, pero… Si te paras a pensar, dedicábamos horas, días e incluso semanas en el cierre de contratos, pues podían surgir imprevistos que retrasaban la cita con clientes. Sin embargo, ¿qué ocurre al digitalizar estas gestiones?
La firma electrónica permite enviar documentos a nuestros clientes para que los firmen con mayor brevedad, da igual si es desde el móvil, la Tablet o el ordenador. Y lo más importante, recogiendo plena validez legal de las firmas como si fuera la firma manuscrita. Además, existen distintos tipos de firma que en definitiva te permiten decirle a tu cliente “Firma cuando quieras, donde quieras y como quieras. Te doy toda la flexibilidad y comodidad que necesites”.
Parece que la actual situación sanitaria nos ha obligado a buscar nuevas soluciones digitales que permitan sacar adelante nuestros negocios. Pero quizás, sin darnos cuenta, haya servido para darnos cuenta de cómo la tecnología, y en especial la firma electrónica, nos ayuda a tener clientes satisfechos y fidelizarlos, ayudando a mejorar los resultados del negocio.
¿Te gustaría ofrecer a tus clientes la firma electrónica? Descubre la plataforma IvCert y solicita tu demo gratuita. Cuenta con todos los tipos de firma reconocidos por eIDAS y empieza a agilizar las contrataciones.
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The digital certificate allows companies to carry out online procedures such as the filing of annual accounts (CCAA). Thus, it is possible to file the accounts with the Commercial Registry at any time, at any time and without leaving the office.
In today’s post we review the main issues of filing annual accounts and why it is important to have a digital certificate.
When we talk about annual accounts, we refer to documents that contain the financial information of a company and which are made up of the following:
Companies prepare annual accounts, which allow them to assess the state of the business and its performance over the past year, as well as to compare their results with those of their competitors and their position in the market.
In order to file the annual accounts online, you need to access with a digital certificate. In addition, the filing can be complete or mixed, depending on whether all or part of the documents are sent, and must be signed by the representative by means of an electronic signature.
Thus, full filing involves sending all the documents electronically, which includes the .zip file containing the deposit and the file containing the Certificate of Approval of Accounts (which must include the handwritten signatures and the Fingerprint of the deposit).
Alternatively, mixed filing involves the electronic submission of the .zip file only. The Certificate is subsequently delivered, in person or by registered post, to the Companies Registry, together with the filing form, the digital fingerprint of the filing and the acknowledgement of receipt of the electronic filing issued by the registrars’ website.
You may have doubts about using a digital certificate to file annual accounts. It is common to ask: how can I get a certificate, where do I keep it, has it expired or can I still use it, how can I get my employee to do this with my certificate?
The IvSign platform provides answers to these and many other questions. From this tool you can issue digital certificates online, quickly and without leaving the office. In addition, it notifies you when the certificate is about to expire and you have them all centralised in the cloud. Thanks to this, you can carry out transactions through the electronic offices of the Public Administration and sign documents using the certificate from any place and mobile device, as well as having an audit that shows in real time who, when and what tasks have been carried out with each certificate.
Very often companies, especially larger ones, encounter a very common problem: the lack of control of digital certificates. They usually do not know how many certificates are installed in the organisation, when they expire, which people are using them and for which specific actions or operations.
Moreover, an added problem is often the high turnover of employees, which means that certificates have to be issued for new recruits, resulting in an endless number of certificates that were once issued to employees who no longer belong to the company, others who do not know if they are still valid, etc.
Fortunately, to deal with this situation there are digital platforms that allow you to track the certificates that are installed on the company’s computers to filter, clean and monitor them.
In addition, it is recommended to centralise the certificates in the cloud, ensuring that they are safe from possible manipulation, theft, computer attacks, loss of information, etc., ensuring that they are under the custody and protection of a qualified provider.
Certificate centralisation tools such as IvSign allow you to work remotely protecting your company’s digital identity with total confidence.
Here are the 7 major advantages it offers:
In recent years, diverse brakes related to usability have slowed down the widespread use of digital certificates. Having to go in person to the certificate issuing office, installing them on employees’ computers and the faults that are generated, updating them when there are changes in the number of employees, the loss of the equipment on which they are installed and the lack of control over their use have been the main barriers to using the digital certificate in companies.
Once again, technology gives us the opportunity to improve and innovate in the company with the centralisation of certificates in the cloud. Digital platforms such as IvSign allow digital certificates to be issued in the cloud and, therefore, from anywhere, without having to go in person, with the time and cost savings that this means.
In addition, centralisation in the cloud provides an extra level of security that few companies offer. The fact that they are stored in the cloud means that, once a certificate has been issued, it is securely stored, providing complete peace of mind against possible loss, decentralisation, theft, computer attacks or data manipulation, as the certificates are not installed on our computers, but we can access them as and when we wish.
One of the advantages of digital certificates is that they cannot be transferred, i.e. the client can authorise their employees to use them, but they can never physically take them away or extract them because Ivnosys takes care of their deposit and custody. In this way, all operations are recorded. Jaime Castelló, CEO of Ivnosys
The same applies when an employee needs it to carry out a procedure with the Public Administration or sign a document. By simply authenticating in IvSign, the employee can use the certificate from the work computer or any other mobile device, offering maximum convenience and flexibility.
We must emphasise protecting our digital identity because it is what guarantees the other person, who is facing us, who we are. Jaime Castelló, CEO of Ivnosys
The validity of a qualified digital certificate depends on the Certification Authority that has issued it and which acts as a trusted third party. In this way, we can only trust a digital certificate if the issuing entity confirms its legitimacy and validity in the same way as we would with an ID card or passport: we trust these documents because they have been issued by a trusted entity (the government of a country) and we have proof that they are valid.
The operations carried out with the certificates centralised in IvSign are guarded by Ivnosys as a Certification Authority and Qualified Trust Service Provider, and the evidence collected is recorded in the system through a usage audit that includes the following data:
Remote communications are growing exponentially. Nowadays, we cannot rely only on what we are “seeing” through the screen of a mobile phone or computer, because unlike physical presence, with technology, what we are “visualising through a screen” can be altered. This makes it necessary to opt for the most secure electronic signature with the greatest legal guarantee: the qualified signature.
The qualified signature is the guarantee of electronic transactions. At Ivnosys we also incorporate the document validation service required for the digital security of our procedures. Emilio Álvarez, COO of Ivnosys, highlights the importance of protecting and guaranteeing transactions with the use of the digital certificate.
The main function of any electronic signature platform must be to protect the digital certificate, as well as to carry out a control of the uses that are being made of the certificate. In this way, all operations are recorded so that the certificate holder knows at all times who has used it and for what purpose, with the support of the Qualified Trust Service Provider.
In recent months, the education sector has experienced an acceleration in its digital transformation. Some 80% of schools, educational centres and universities have already begun to implement technology and digital tools as a means of attracting new students and renewing internal organisational processes.
Some of the tools they have started to incorporate are digital certificates and electronic signature. So, how can digital certificate and digital signature help schools?
Most professionals are initially afraid of technology as it forces them out of their comfort zone. However, they benefit enormously from its implementation, making their work faster and more secure. In the case of the digital certificate, professionals in the education sector can sign documents electronically, access the electronic offices of public administrations and assign the use of the certificate to employees.
In the case of universities, the digitalisation of their processes and communications is a priority task. As Paco García, Head of the Digital Transformation Service at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, explained in our webinar about innovation in educational institutions, the Rector is an essential player in the signing of documents and the only person to whom some Public Administrations allow the collection of notifications.
However, it is impossible for the Rector to attend to all these tasks on a day-to-day basis and he needs certain employees to carry out these tasks on his behalf. And how do you do this? Effectively, with the digital certificate. Of course, always controlling the use made by the employees and establishing the rules of use. For example, by deciding the hours when they can use the certificate, which specific URL they can access or that they can only do so from their work computer.
There are digital platforms that allow you to issue new certificates, securely store them in the cloud and monitor employee usage in real time. We can detect the activity of each employee because digital certificates contain information about the holder, such as the organisation and department to which they belong and the position they hold.
Some problems arise when working with digital certificates. Following the example of UAM in the education sector, we saw how:
With centralisation in the cloud, certificates are securely stored, protected and can be worked at all times. No matter where the employee is working from, no matter if positions change or computers are lost, the certificates are safe and with them the security of the school.
Once the processes have been digitised, it is time to go one step further: incorporating technology into student relationships.
From the moment a person is interested in studying at an educational centre until the end of their studies, students go through different phases that require the signing of documents. For example, when registering, obtaining a student card, validating credits, applying for a scholarship or signing an internship.
Colleges are used to doing all this paperwork in person, receiving students on the premises. But what can we do now? Students do not go to the centres in person and, if they do, the procedures to carry out any kind of procedure extend for an eternity.
In this sense, the electronic signature is being the salvation of the centres in the education sector. Students can sign documents remotely and from any mobile device. For this purpose, there are signature tools that offer different types of signature so that we can choose the one that suits us at any time and collect electronic evidence to have full legal validity.
The healthcare sector has been one of the sectors most affected by the digitalization process due to the pandemic. This sector was the first to react and adapt to digitalization after the emergence of Covid-19 at the beginning of 2020. Hospitals, clinics, health centres, care centres, laboratories and a long etcetera, belonging to both the public and private sectors, have changed their management towards online communication with patients and internal digital management with their employees.
Currently, according to the report prepared by HIMSS Annual European Digital Health Survey 2021, the priorities of the healthcare sector revolve around digital services. 87% of healthcare centers already include digital services and work with Big Data, betting on security in technology for data protection and privacy. In addition, 77% already allow teleworking remotely to all healthcare staff, increasing the proliferation of virtual consultation and online care. Furthermore, according to this study, it is estimated that 73% need to exchange information on a daily basis with the health authorities, for which it is necessary to use digital platforms.
Healthcare is in a very advanced process as far as digitalization is concerned. A new stage in which the patient profile has developed at the same time, demanding speed, safety and comfort in the service received. That is why the use of the electronic signature and digital certificate has become the life vest of many companies and institutions in the sector. A must in patient care processes for procedures such as delivery of medical reports, signature of consent, admission forms or even dispensing electronic prescriptions. In the same way, it has also become a strategic asset in the internal organization of companies for more agile personnel selection processes, signing of labor contracts, organization and assignment of guards, supply orders, management with insurance companies, etc.
At the IVO Foundation we are very satisfied with the Ivnosys electronic signature platform. Both the products they provide and the service are exceeding the expectations generated in the employee selection process.
Ignacio Galve Castillo
Director of Information Systems at the IVO Foundation.
In this context, it is vital to know all the types of electronic signature available on the market in order to choose the most appropriate one depending on the management to be carried out. One of the main features of Ivnosys, which gives it an added value compared to other players, is that it covers the entire digital spectrum, offering the full range of electronic signatures, from the simplest to the most advanced. In the healthcare field, we could highlight the use of the simple signature for routine procedures that do not require a great legal robustness and where the signer must express their agreement or consent with the click of a button. For its part, certified email, unlike traditional email, provides electronic evidence that the recipient has received and opened the email with the documentation, becoming an essential resource when delivering analysis and test results, medical reports, etc. Also, the signature with digital certificate should be highlighted as the most secure method that offers the same legal validity as the handwritten signature for processes that require a higher degree of legal guarantee and legal protection.
According to the latest studies on the sector, in the next three years healthcare data analytics will have taken hold in order to make information available when and where it is needed, as well as cloud-based services and solutions through tools for centralizing and protecting medical and healthcare information. Other trends pointed out by experts include the use of artificial intelligence, which is expected to take on a greater role, deriving its practice towards immediate patient support and consultation systems. Finally, personalized medicine will be another of the strong points that, combined with technology, will offer great progress and innovation in processes.
For all these reasons, the immediate future of the healthcare sector involves a 100% digitalization process, for which it is essential to have technological allies such as Ivnosys who accompany and guide companies in their transformation to be able to extract the maximum potential that technology currently offers us.
Online activity is becoming more and more frequent in companies, and it is essential to know how to manage digital certificates to sign documents or carry out electronic procedures with public organizations.
To have a complete management of certificates and their uses, there are tools like IvSign that allow companies to have a control of their digital identity in a simple and comfortable way, without the need of having computer skills. We tell you in this post the 3 keys that make companies work with IvSign:
One of the advantages of IvSign is that you can emit digital certificates directly from the platform, whenever and wherever you want. To do this, the platform requests a series of data necessary to generate the certificate and the following steps must be followed:
Once the certificate has been generated, the certificate details will be displayed, including the expiration date (a certificate has a duration of two years). When the certificate expires, the platform will notify the holder of the next expiration date and the steps to follow for renewal, since once it has expired it cannot be recovered and a new one will have to be issued again.
The platform accepts certificates that are issued for the first time from IvSign or those that already exist in the organization and are imported for centralization.
You can quickly see the status of the certificates, differentiating between:
Regarding the management of certificates, the following actions can be carried out from the IvSign tool:
We announce the formalisation of the integration of Ivnosys and Signaturit, leading Spanish technology companies in the fields of trust services and digital transaction management in Southern Europe, by PSG, a growth investment firm in small and medium-sized software and technology services companies, which will be the majority shareholder of the resulting group.
Founded in 2013, Signaturit provides a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution for sending and signing documents legally and easily. It also provides trust services to cover processes adjacent to digital signatures, such as eDelivery, which certifies the digital delivery of documents, or eID, which allows anyone to be securely authenticated.
Ivnosys, also founded in 2013, is the technology company trusted by Ibex 35 companies to protect their data and helps companies, administrations and individuals to optimise and secure their digital processes through the IvSign solution: a platform based on centralisation in the cloud that allows the management and signing of digital certificates and generates efficiencies, improves security and promotes paperless environments.
“We are delighted to partner with Ivnosys, a company with an excellent reputation for developing secure transaction and digital identity management software tools.” Juan Zamora, CEO and co-founder of Signaturit
Juan Zamora, CEO and co-founder of Signaturit with Javier Martinez, said: “We are delighted to partner with Ivnosys, a company with an excellent reputation for developing secure transaction and digital identity management software tools, and to be able to offer a comprehensive and enhanced set of solutions to our customers. We look forward to working with the founders and team at Ivnosys and continuing our successful relationship with PSG.
“This partnership will also help us to achieve our mission of digitising document management and transactions across Europe. Sergio Ruiz, founder of Ivnosys
Sergio Ruiz and Jaime Castello, co-CEOs and founders of Ivnosys, said: “Joining forces with Signaturit and PSG is the next phase of our growth and a very exciting direction. We look forward to working together and driving the synergies that will grow both our businesses. This collaboration will also help us to fulfil our mission to digitise document management and transactions across Europe”.
“We believe both companies are poised to benefit from the growing adoption of software, and their combination creates a truly unique value proposition in Europe”.
Dany Rammal, Managing Director and Head of Europe at PSG, and Romain Railhac, Director at PSG, added: “We are delighted to support both Ivnosys and Signaturit and to work alongside two excellent teams led by Sergio, Jaime, Juan and Javier. We believe that both companies are poised to benefit from the growing adoption of document and transaction management software, and their combination creates a truly unique value proposition in Europe”.
The combination of Signaturit’s cloud-based e-signature platform with Ivnosys’ suite of sophisticated and secure certificate, contract and digital signature management solutions will create a full-service SaaS signature for digital transaction management. Customers will benefit from an expanded offering of combined products for e-signatures, digital certificates, contract management and secure digital interactions with government and a team of more than 200 employees serving businesses of all sizes – from SMEs to large enterprises across Europe and Latin America.
PSG, a growth investment firm in small and medium-sized software and technology services companies, will provide combined support to the group as a majority shareholder following its initial investment in Signaturit in December 2020. PSG, Signaturit and Ivnosys will work closely together to accelerate the company’s organic growth through strategic mergers and acquisitions, leveraging its leading position in Spain and its strong presence in Southern Europe.
The founders of Ivnosys and Signaturit will retain an equity stake and will lead the group, and under the deal, French private equity firm Capza will exit its stake in Ivnosys.
“It has been a pleasure to support Ivnosys’ growth since 2019, and we are pleased that they have found such outstanding partners as Signaturit and PSG to keep them moving forward. We look forward to following their future successes, both inside and outside of Spain”. José Tomás Moliner, Partner at CAPZA
