5 ms·

I couldn't tell from an initial review of the feature set, but does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process? And I don't mean

I couldn't tell from an initial review of the feature set, but does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process? And I don't mean integration with DocuSign or similar, but something built in (and legally compliant). This feature alone has been a pain point for me for years when it comes to document flow and approvals, usually because of exorbitant pricing for per-user signing. Contract draft developed by a paralegal or similar, goes to legal for initial approval, then goes to safety dept and finance dept for their review and approval, then to maintenance for feedback and approval, then back to the legal department for adjustment, then to the other party (without access to your internal system) to edit and/or approve "as to form" (vs approve as complete), back to your legal dept and then again to the various VPs/directors, etc. The other, semi-related feature I crave is the ability to generate entire documents from piecemeal templates. For example, drafting a new service contract where there are boilerplate paragraphs that must be included, with certain aspects replaceable (i.e. "Party 1" in the template can be replaced with "Bill's Plumbing, Inc."). Probably need to throw a force majeure clause in there, and an arbitration clause, and a bunch of other standard things, but maybe this particular document needs to have a clause about compliance with FAA regulations because they use drones to inspect piping. For those purposes, some nice haves are: Automatic renumbering of sections and subsections, and automatic reference updating ("In accordance with section 5(f)(i) documented herein" or whatever) if paragraphs or sections are reordered for any reason. Multiple columns and sections, recognition of the occasional need to print hard copies. Version control and diffing. Not sure if any of that makes sense or is doable already, but just a few thoughts on how I would personally use such a system as I understand it. Might not apply to the use case here, in which case sorry for wasting your time!

taaron 5y ago
It absolutely does make sense, I was actually in corporate law before consulting! "does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process?" We have a component dedicated to building out approval steps and plan to integrate a way for users to "digitally sign off" that they completed it. Happy to chat through this use case, and we can build it out for you? "generate entire documents from piecemeal templates" You can indeed generate documents from templates using our Document Editor component with logic to select certain clauses etc. We've actually got a playbook for generating Non-Disclosure Agreements you can try out to see it in action: https://app.workflow86.com/template/dba33e59-e4a2-422f-9460-2b996156ca9c https://app.workflow86.com/template/dba33e59-e4a2-422f-9460-...
bottled_poe 5y ago
I agree, the first thing I looked for in the docs was authorisation controls/checkpoints. I need a trail of approvals and review checkpoints. This is far more important than integrations, etc. Also, Business processes are not static. I would like to understand how changes in process are managed.
- taaron 5y ago
  "the first thing I looked for in the docs was authorisation controls/checkpoints." We've got a component called the Assign Task that was pretty much built for this - its pretty flexible, but it is mainly used to create authorisation/control/approval/decision points in a workflow. Here's an example for a process to handle timesheets: https://app.workflow86.com/template/812aaa61-8e00-414d-9898-7f703ad43f5c https://app.workflow86.com/template/812aaa61-8e00-414d-9898-... The Assign Task component acts as a step where you can accept or reject the timesheet that has been submitted. The Assign Task component is probably our most popular component and I'd be happy to show how you can use it for controls/checkpoints in your use case. "Business processes are not static. I would like to understand how changes in process are managed." All workflows are version controlled. This means that when a workflow starts, it is attached to a particular version e.g. version 5. This means if you make changes to the workflow i.e. update to version 6, the workflow currently in progress remains at version 5 so nothing breaks. We are looking into the possibility of migrating in progress sessions from one version to another.
lewisjoe 5y ago
All of these requirements does make sense, in the context of contract management. Do check Zoho Contracts - https://www.zoho.com/contracts/ https://www.zoho.com/contracts/ It has all of your stated problems solved and comes with a fair cost.

taaron 5y ago

It absolutely does make sense, I was actually in corporate law before consulting! "does this product incorporate any sort of digital signature / approval process?" We have a component dedicated to building out approval steps and plan to integrate a way for users to "digitally sign off" that they completed it. Happy to chat through this use case, and we can build it out for you? "generate entire documents from piecemeal templates" You can indeed generate documents from templates using our Document Editor component with logic to select certain clauses etc. We've actually got a playbook for generating Non-Disclosure Agreements you can try out to see it in action: https://app.workflow86.com/template/dba33e59-e4a2-422f-9460-2b996156ca9c https://app.workflow86.com/template/dba33e59-e4a2-422f-9460-...

bottled_poe 5y ago

I agree, the first thing I looked for in the docs was authorisation controls/checkpoints. I need a trail of approvals and review checkpoints. This is far more important than integrations, etc. Also, Business processes are not static. I would like to understand how changes in process are managed.

taaron 5y ago
"the first thing I looked for in the docs was authorisation controls/checkpoints." We've got a component called the Assign Task that was pretty much built for this - its pretty flexible, but it is mainly used to create authorisation/control/approval/decision points in a workflow. Here's an example for a process to handle timesheets: https://app.workflow86.com/template/812aaa61-8e00-414d-9898-7f703ad43f5c https://app.workflow86.com/template/812aaa61-8e00-414d-9898-... The Assign Task component acts as a step where you can accept or reject the timesheet that has been submitted. The Assign Task component is probably our most popular component and I'd be happy to show how you can use it for controls/checkpoints in your use case. "Business processes are not static. I would like to understand how changes in process are managed." All workflows are version controlled. This means that when a workflow starts, it is attached to a particular version e.g. version 5. This means if you make changes to the workflow i.e. update to version 6, the workflow currently in progress remains at version 5 so nothing breaks. We are looking into the possibility of migrating in progress sessions from one version to another.

lewisjoe 5y ago

All of these requirements does make sense, in the context of contract management. Do check Zoho Contracts - https://www.zoho.com/contracts/ https://www.zoho.com/contracts/ It has all of your stated problems solved and comes with a fair cost.