Gradually and already palpably, Covid-19 is setting the global economy to the new order. Apart from delving financial institutions into a slump not visible since the Second World War, and it caused a dramatic digital surge which is set to transform organizational practices once and for all.

That’s what McKinsey report points at: same organizational principles that applied before can no longer be sustained, and the flatter, more agile and empowered structure has to be brought into force. All of that lays down the ground for new rules and opens a completely new paradigm in which organizations have to withstand.

On the wave of the panic, many businesses already shifted to the adaptation mode that will hopefully help them to survive the tide of economic crisis breaking the world structure as we know it.

Optimization became the key priority, which already resulted in many people being sacked, and even more expected to be dragged into poverty until the end of 2020. Corresponding, this would trigger an even deeper stagnation – which, however, can be avoided if the right corporate strategies are put into practice before it’s too late.

Many new solutions already proved themselves successful within the organizational setting. Of them, video conference and online working tools are the most in-demand, which now seem as an indispensable component to connect employees from their home offices in different areas of the city (and different countries, possibly, too). However, if the organization wants to go completely lean and efficient, one such step is not enough – and some other practical solutions have to be closely looked at too. Out of them, DottedSign, is an example.

It is already argued that 2 of 5 companies are experiencing a profit loss reaching 20% during the health crisis, driven mainly by inefficient management and inflexibility in cost-cutting.

While automation could save enterprises up to $4 million annually, many organizational leaders still fail to acknowledge the advantages which digitalization and process optimization practices could bring into their businesses. DottedSign, in the meantime, promises to fully automate the document delivery flow, thus saving time and expenses so crucially important for each organization in the times of Covid-19.

A few days ago, I got an opportunity to speak to Kenny Su, CEO of Kdan Mobile and the developer of DottedSign, who provided me with deep insights into how the industry and economic landscape evolution will unfold in the future years ahead.

Andrey Sergeenkov: How do you see the world economy in a few years’ time under the transformational pressure of the pandemic? Is there any hope that the world can change for the better?

Kenny Su: The “new formal” work environment is coming due to the transformational pressure of the pandemic. There will be mass migration of workers from traditional office environments to remote locations. More companies will adopt cloud-based software on their workflow which can reduce their paper works and the cost of infrastructure on the management. We can expect the company will be more concentrated on environmental-friendly solutions to keep their productivity at work.

Andrey Sergeenkov: In your opinion, what businesses should be focusing on to withstand this time of turbulence caused by Covid-19? What should they prioritize in order to construct a solid edge over competitors?

Kenny Su: Demand for software as a service (SaaS) has been on the rise, highlighted recently by needs for remote working in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which has prompted more firms to adopt cloud-based collaborative operations. According to Foundationinc, global SaaS sales were projected to reach more than $132 Billion by the end of 2020, but since the outbreak, SaaS companies have been laying off staff, investors have been writing essays about the importance of cutting back spending and many are guessing that there will be a significant downturn in SaaS revenue.

The team at TrustRadius, a review site for software & service companies, pointed our that the “electronic signature software” is one of the Top 9 fast growing categories during COVID-19. Privacy, data protection, security and compliance are the issues that have been discussed when a company adopts a new software solution.

Take DottedSign as an example, it makes the process airtight thanks to its inclusion of a digital identity certificate on any contract signed through the service. For this certificate to appear on a signed document,

no changes can be made to the language after the various parties sign – thus ensuring that the terms included stay fixed. This adds a layer of security in the signing process under a safe and trusted environment and further protects DottedSign users from things like forgery or malicious use.

Andrey Sergeenkov: What are the ways to foster digital innovations within the company? What factors would speed them up, and how business leaders can weave them into the organizational structure?

Kenny Su: Keeping your team engaged and staying flexible are critical components of a successful mobile workforce. It’s important that you remain open to adjustments because working from home is a learning experience for everyone. This experience allows us to think more strategically about the new norm of working from home. Adopting successful practices early can help increase the likelihood of a success and sustainable business in the long run.

Andrey Sergeenkov: The times of transformation are the most challenging – they most definitely come at somebody else’s disadvantage, if only temporary. Are there any ways you can think of to make this transition easier for the global population, without incurring too much human cost?

Kenny Su: Software as a service (SaaS) is a cloud computing offering that provides users with access to a vendor’s cloud-based software. SaaS provides an intriguing alternative to standard software installation in the business environment (traditional model), where you have to build the server, install the application, and configure it. Instead, the applications reside on a remote cloud network accessed through the web or an API, and it works like a rental.

You and your organization have the authorization to use it for a period of time and pay for the software that you are using. The benefits of SaaS include reducing the time spent on installation and deployment, lowering the human cost on maintenance and software update.

Human beings are the only resources who can be used to cope up with this transition and not at cost of humans. The cloud based systems may not be familiar to many so, Organizations have to help employees unknown to this field by creating resources and in house teams to educate them. One thing has to be kept in mind, crisis comes to stir things and put them in proper place and points the loopholes in systems,at such times Lay offs or any other kind of Human cost is not a solution.

Andrey Sergeenkov: From your perspective, how will the new economic environment respond to the drastic change in the nature of jobs? Can new enterprises consequently trigger a new type of governance and change the world’s landscape?

Kenny Su: The work from home trend has been catching up on this year. Yet even before COVID-19 became a factor, an increasing number of people have been saying goodbye to their onerous commute to work. Managing employees can be a difficult thing to do with a mobile workforce. Luckily, we live in a time where cloud-based software may help managers keep tabs on their employees’ progress and onboard new team members remotely.

Now employees are meshing home and work life making it sometimes difficult to set aside large blocks of time for sit-down meetings. Communicating with a remote team can be made quick and easy by setting up task specific chat groups with platforms that send messages straight to a team member’s mobile device.

Andrey Sergeenkov: What would be the main employment sector in the future, in your opinion? And what are the skills employees already need to start working on?

Kenny Su: The software infrastructure can be expected to be one of the important sectors in the company. Due to the trend of remote working, employees need to keep productive when working remotely by using mobile phones or online software. 

Andrey Sergeenkov: How long will it take to implement digital innovations in all organizational layers and in all industry domains? And what does it take to make them long-standing and successful?

Kenny Su: The time shouldn’t be long for implementing digital innovations because the digital transformation is growing fast. To stay competitive in the market, the companies should think of adopting digital solutions to make the workflow simplified and productive with lower cost.

Andrey Sergeenkov: How can DottedSign help in leading organizations to the safe shore during Covid-19?

Kenny Su: It’s no secret that eSign is becoming more prevalent in the modern business world – especially as professionals continue to look for ways to navigate the remote environments they’ve found themselves in during the COVID pandemic. While the modern business person has gotten comfortable signing electronically, some teams are discovering the added benefit of adapting an e signature solution at the enterprise level.

Team-wide use of an eSign service translates into easier management of progress, enhanced productivity, and a more coherent brand image. DottedSign’s admin console lets the admin better manage the high-level view of each team member’s current contracts and the signing status of the deal in one place. The added convenience for managers being visually tracking everyone’s progress at once saves time and energy that can be put towards prospecting new leads.

Andrey Sergeenkov: Will many organizations be interested in using digital tools like DottedSign after the pandemic crisis comes to an end?

Kenny Su: DottedSign's user base has increased 300% in the first half-year in 2020 compared to the same period as demand for remote signing increases during COVID-19. In order to maintain social distance while remaining productive, these companies need to be able to trust that contracts they're getting signed are safe, secure and enforceable. DottedSign provides this peace of mind.

Andrey Sergeenkov: What are the estimated operational saving companies retain after switching over to automated tools like DottedSign? Are you expecting more organizations to follow the practice?

Kenny Su: Today’s contracts are a little more complex than they used to be. There’s often a freelancer involved on one end (i.e. a programmer) who sends the contract, a small business that hires the freelancer (that might be you), and a client that you’re working with. You wasted hours going back-and-forth explaining to recipients where to sign on the contract. DottedSign lets you assign multiple signing fields to different stakeholders and send the contract to all of them at once. You are able to finish a document signing easily within 1 day.