Adobe says new cloud service will end ‘document disconnect’

Adobe took the wraps off its new Adobe Document Cloud todayy in an effort to create a seamless and unified document experience across desktop, mobile and the Web while also looking to pave the way for more mainstream use of e-signatures.

“Just like the Creative Cloud and Marketing Cloud where we transformed those businesses, we’re looking to take our heritage in the document space and transform it,” says Mark Grilli, vice president of Product Marketing at Adobe.

That transformation starts with an all-new Acrobat, which Grilli says Adobe reimagined from the ground up to be fully touch-enabled and with easy-to-discover tools, including e-signing, at the heart. To play well in the enterprise, Adobe has added integrated document management capabilities that allow you to manage, track and control documents. You can see who has opened documents and when, and features allow you to protect sensitive information, both inside and outside the firewall.

Document Cloud has introductory solutions for Workforce Productivity, Sales Acceleration, HR Efficiency and Procurement Contracting. Enterprises can centrally manage Document Cloud and Creative Cloud user accounts and licenses with single sign-on (SSO) in the Adobe Enterprise Dashboard.

Beating document disconnect

Grilli notes that Adobe is aiming to help organizations overcome the “document disconnect,” a term coined by research firm IDC to describe the disconnected document processes pervasive in the vast majority of businesses today. According to a recent IDC study, more than 80 percent of document work in the enterprise make one or more transitions into and out of paper — especially when signatures are involved. This leads to workers spending more than one-third of their time on administrative process.

“Our study shows that organizations of all kinds are suffering from what we call the ‘document disconnect’,” says Melissa Webster, program vice president, Content and Digital Media Technologies, IDC. “[It] afflicts organizations of all sizes in all industries around the world. It results in significant delays and errors across critical business functions such as sales contracting and quoting, procurement, talent acquisition and onboarding. And it is a serious impediment to business that — according to our respondents — negatively affects revenue, compliance, cost, productivity and customer experience.”

Adobe Document Cloud will include the following:

• Acrobat DC. Acrobat DC features a touch-enabled interface and a new Tool Center with rapid access to the tools you use most. Perhaps the most eye-popping feature is the way it leverages Adobe Photoshop magic to convert a photograph of a paper document into a digital, editable file that can be sent for signature.
• eSign Services. Formerly known as Adobe EchoSign, eSign Services will be included with every subscription of Acrobat DC (which is part of both Document Cloud and Creative Cloud). This allows you to electronically send and sign any document from any device. There’s even a Fill and Sign feature with smart autofill across devices — all secured via SSO.
• Mobile Link and New Mobile Apps. Mobile Link allows you to pick up a form or document where you left off as you move between desktop and devices. Two new mobile apps, Acrobat Mobile and Fill and Sign, allow you to create, edit, comment and sign documents directly from your mobile phone or tablet. You can also use your device’s camera as a portable scanner to convert any paper document to an editable digital file.
• Document Management and Control. Services like Send and Track provide intelligent tracking that grants the organization visibility into where critical documents are along the process.

Adobe says Adobe Document Cloud and Acrobat DC will be available within 30 days. You can subscribe to Acrobat today for $14.99 a month and automatically receive Acrobat DC and Document Cloud when they become available. Acrobat DC will also be sold as a subscription and a perpetual license upon availability.

Follow Thor on Google+