Digital Signature

[Former Member]

Hi,

We are in the middle of implementing SRM 7 EHP 1 using backend ECC 6 EHP 5. One of the requirements from our user is to use digital signature. After reading some materials, I got impression that the functionality of digital signature is for someone paste its credential to the document, and the receiver of the document able to verify the authenticity by clicking verify. A third party will confirm whether someone who sign the document is really the person who claim it to be.

However there are some thing that still confusing for me:

1. I read that we can configure whether digital signature will be able to be configure for each transaction type. However I'm still confuse abou the relationship between approval workflow and digital signature. Say that for one PO there are 3 approvers. Does it mean:

a. Digital signature replacing workflow, and sigining it meaning approve the doc (in this case 3 person will digitally sign the document)? OR

b. Only the last person will digitally sign the document? OR

c. Digital signature is independent of the approval workflow --> in this case, how to configure that only one particular id has the right to digitally sign the document

2. From reading the document, I see that signing the document, usually follow up by verifying the signature by the receiver. In case that the PO will be sent as email to vendor, how the vendor can verify the PO? Does the digital signature is built in in the email? Or in the attached PO (meaning in the adobe application)?

3. If we are using SUS, then the document will be sent to SUS and the vendor can display the document in the SUS itself. In this case, will we have verify button in SUS?

Really appreciate if someone can shed some lights about digital signature to me.

Jonas

[Former Member]

Digital Signature will trigger first and the owner of the document should attach the signature and then the Work flow will be triggered.

[Former Member]

Hi Rajesh,

Thanks for the reply. Is this the standard behaviour? Our business requirement is that the digital signature should replace the wet signature in Procurement.

In as-is process the process is like this:

a. PO is created, and it will trigger approval workflow. Level of approval is determined by PO amount, let's say that there will be 3 level of approvers.

b. After all 3 approvers approve the PO, then the PO can be printed. For legal purpose, before the PO hardcopy is sent to vendor, the last approver will sign this hardcopy PO (in Level of Authority, the last approver is the legal signatory for the document).

Now we want to change the process to be completely paperless, thus getting rid of wet signature, and replacing it with digital signature. So we expect the process to be like this:

a. PO is created, and it will trigger approval workflow. Level of approval is determined by PO amount, let's say that there will be 3 level of approvers.

b. After all 3 approvers approve the PO, the last approver can attach his/her digital signature before the PO is transmitted to SUS.

c. Vendor will check the PO in SUS, and can verify that the digital signatory of the PO is really the last approver .

Can this be done?

Jonas