Gartner Analyst Gregg Kreizman published at January 4^th 2010 a new market update about the “North American and European Electronic Signature Suite and Service Market”

He stated that a growing number of enterprises are turning to software and services that provide dedicated functionality supporting the disciplined electronic signature process flows and controls for one or more disparate lines of business.

 Some Key Findings 

• E-signature software and services represent a small but growing market.
• E-signature software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers have gained an increased competitive foothold in the U.S.
• North American markets strongly favor “click to sign” solutions, while other geographies adopt digital signature solutions in keeping with prescriptive legal requirements and national initiatives, such as smart ID cards. 

Some Recommendations 

• Conduct analysis of functional needs and capacity requirements — particularly transaction volumes prior to receiving and analyzing pricing proposals. Without this analysis, it will be difficult to accurately compare offerings from different vendors that use different pricing models and tactics.
• When planning the purchase of e-signature software, or when planning to integrate systems directly with a SaaS provider, budget an initial amount for professional services at least equal to software costs.

 For more information about the study please contact Gartner.