Adobe Sign SharePoint Integration for Contract Signing

How Does Adobe Sign Work with SharePoint Today?

It is easy for legal professionals to assume that the existing Adobe Sign and SharePoint integration will remain unchanged. Contracts that were already being signed within SharePoint workflows seem to indicate a seamless solution.

But what is not immediately apparent is that Adobe introduced a new approach to Adobe Sign and SharePoint integration back in June 2024. The outdated method involved using a ribbon add-in. This technology was based on legacy authentication and application layers incompatible with Microsoft 365 security requirements.

Today, new integration methods ensure that documents remain within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, while Adobe Sign signs the documents in the background.

It is quite obvious that there are new developments regarding Adobe Sign and SharePoint integration.

How Should Legal Professionals Approach New Integration Methods?

Simply put, there are certain processes to implement in the context of integration between SharePoint and Adobe Sign.

This section explains how Adobe Sign is integrated into Microsoft 365 now and how companies can ensure that a robust signing procedure can be established.

How Can Adobe Sign Be Integrated Natively Within SharePoint?

Now, the focus on integration is on making things easier and seamless. The document does not have to travel from one application to another; the user can request the signature right from the SharePoint document library in which the agreement is situated. In this way, SharePoint stops being only a place where documents are stored but becomes part of the signing process.

What Is Meant by “No-Exit” Signature Experience?

As part of a modern approach to integration, the legal team does not need to exit SharePoint when sending contracts for signatures. All that a document needs is to be selected in the library where it is located, and then the process of signing will start.

Continuity and convenience are two aspects to consider when using Adobe Sign with Microsoft SharePoint integration. Since there is no need to download and upload a file anymore, the version control is preserved, and the signing procedure is an integral part of the document life cycle.

Why Does This Integration Provide Better Security?

When considering contract management, security is always a top priority for both legal teams and executives. Contracts that are sent out of Microsoft SharePoint go beyond the governance boundaries of the company. It means less control and security of information.

New integrations enable Adobe Sign to identify users, verify their identities, and sign documents without disconnecting them from the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and preserving their safety within organizational security boundaries.

How Can You Build Intelligent Contract Workflows Using Power Automate?

Sending documents manually might work just fine for simple agreements. However, for more complex contracts involving several people responsible for various stages, automation plays a vital role.

Power Automate helps ensure smooth integration between SharePoint and Adobe Sign via structured workflows that will initiate signature requests automatically.

Can Agreements Be Sent for Signature Automatically?

Thanks to Power Automate, a signature workflow could be triggered as soon as the document is uploaded to a certain SharePoint location. For instance, as soon as the agreement becomes available in the appropriate SharePoint folder, it can be sent for signature using Adobe Sign.

This will reduce administrative efforts and make sure the agreement moves on to the signature stage without any delays. It is also possible to set up workflows that will trigger signature requests based on predefined criteria, such as getting final internal approval for the agreement.

How Do Organizations Manage Signature Chains?

Often, many stakeholders are required to sign agreements in a certain sequence. Internal approval must precede the document being sent to the external party.

Connectors for Adobe Sign in Power Automate enable companies to create either sequential or parallel signing flows based on actual corporate structures. For example, Human Resources may need to sign off on an employment agreement initially, then follow it up with a check from the legal team and approval from an executive before moving it on to the employee.

Power Automate will guarantee that each party involved gets access to the document at the right time to prevent any confusion.

How Can SharePoint and Adobe Sign Bridge the Metadata Problem?

There are pieces of information in contracts that must not be lost within documents themselves. It could be something as simple as contract value, its effective date, or which department owns the document itself.

But many companies still rely on employees to manually enter all that information into some system.

How Does Template Mapping Make Data More Accurate?

Using template mapping, it becomes possible to have data from SharePoint lists to fill in fields within Adobe Sign contracts automatically.

In this case, fields like "Contract Value," "Vendor Name," or "Effective Date" will automatically be filled out by the information provided in the SharePoint storage. In turn, this approach allows for greater consistency between the document and its stored version.

As a result, template mapping helps avoid errors during document preparation and saves time on manually filling out the information.

What Happens After Signing the Contract?

Finally, another benefit of the carefully designed workflow relates to the end phase of a particular contract's lifecycle. After all signatories sign the contract, it will automatically be returned back to SharePoint.

In other words, the signed contract will be archived together with the necessary auditing documents automatically. As a result, no legal department will need to look up a signed agreement among multiple platforms.

How Does Adobe Sign Meet Global Legal Compliance?

However, for some organizations, legal validity is even more important than efficient workflow organization. Namely, the rules related to electronic signatures may differ in different countries.

Several international standards are offered by Adobe Sign to ensure organizations can comply with these needs.

Is Adobe Sign Capable of Complying with International Signature Requirements?

Adobe Sign enables compliance with certain legal frameworks like eIDAS in the EU and the use of the Singpass authentication system in the Asia-Pacific region. With this in mind, organizations will be able to conduct more complex verifications while using SharePoint for document management purposes.

The combination of these two tools allows for a safe and legal signing procedure for organizations.

What Makes the Audit Trail Important?

Each of the transactions carried out with Adobe Sign comes with an audit trail. It includes information on when the transaction was completed, who took part in the signing process, the IP address, etc.

When the audit trail is saved along with the signed contract in SharePoint, the organization acquires an eternal record of compliance. Most companies tend to keep these records for up to ten years.

How Will AI Transform SharePoint Signature Flow Process?

The next generation of digitized contract management would involve the use of AI technology. Microsoft is still developing Copilot technologies within Microsoft 365 apps, and in the future, AI integration would be possible within the contract management process.

AI-driven technologies can help in recognizing the contract fields and suggesting signature flow for contracts depending on their type. It means that if a certain contract involves vendor agreements, then the system can recognize them and suggest proper routing for approvals.

Such features will be essential to achieve full-fledged contract management from drafting through approvals, and to document management and storage.

In such scenarios, SharePoint works as the document management hub, while Adobe Sign is used as a reliable engine for signature flow processes and identity validation.

For those organizations that are currently using Microsoft 365 for their operations, this approach will lead to a faster, safer, and more efficient way of managing contracts.

For teams that require even more automation of their contracting processes from start to finish, there are other solutions that can go beyond what we have discussed here.

Dock 365 is a contract lifecycle management tool completely based on Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. With its help, an organization can automate its processes of requesting, approving, negotiating, and signing contracts all from within Microsoft 365.

If your organization would like to optimize its contract management practices through Microsoft 365, schedule a demo session with Dock 365 today.

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