Five Critical Questions to Ask Before Moving Data to the Cloud
Following just about every other productivity application into the cloud, Adobe Systems today unfurled the Adobe Document Cloud, which includes support for electronic signatures.
Mark Grilli, vice president of product marketing for Adobe Systems, says that as workflow processes increasingly become digitized, it’s become apparent that organizations of all sizes now need a central repository to store PDF documents that can then be accessed by employees via any number of devices.
Included with Adobe Document Cloud are the Mobile Link and Mobile Apps Access, which makes it easy to move between documents and files using different devices. Acrobat Mobile, meanwhile, allow users to create, edit, comment and sign documents directly on their smartphones and tablets. They can also use the cameras on their devices as a portable scanner to convert paper documents into editable files that can be sent for signature. The Fill And Sign application allows users to auto-fill electronic forms.
Adobe has also included document management and control services that enable users to track documents and manage who can access and edit them.
Finally, Adobe Document Cloud can also be integrated with Adobe Creative Cloud for accessing other Adobe applications and the Adobe Marketing Cloud repository.
Beyond giving organizations access to a more convenient way to share documents, Adobe is making a case for using Adobe Document Cloud to actually reduce paperwork. In fact, a study of 5,000 office professionals that the company published today found that not only did 61 percent say they would switch jobs if it meant less paperwork, 83 percent felt that antiquated processes are hampering productivity, and another 25 percent said those processes were holding back their career advancement.
The degree to which those statements are true, of course, varies widely by profession. But it’s pretty clear that much of that frustration is already being aimed at internal IT organizations that are often blamed for any and all organizational inefficiency.
