Most business processes require the creation and management of documents for core and operational activities. Think of a loan application at a bank, a claim request in an insurance company, a real estate purchase contract —they all require a record, each with its own parameters, data and review procedures. A Packaged Business Capability (PBC), an independent and reusable business functionality, can simplify and streamline the document creation and management process, furnishing companies with a digitized solution that can be used again and again in different applications across their organization.

The digitization of processes for efficiency

Document processing can be very complex and costly to manage, both in terms of time and resources. Regardless of the sector and the process in question, the goal is always efficiency; in fact, it is efficiency that has driven companies to the three-phase system of document dematerialization, digitization, and automation, which is now becoming increasingly intelligent due to the evolution of AI.

PDF generation, digital signature, and archival

Managing documents efficiently is a real challenge because there are such a wide variety of needs: purchasing a car differs from authorizing a loan for it, or processing an insurance claim differs greatly from damage evaluations. Yet, a good portion of business processes share common operational elements such as:

The generation of documents and/or contracts, usually in PDF format.

Electronic signature requirements for documents. The most common is the digital signature, which entails extra security, identity authentication, and is the most robust in cases of disputes.

An archival process to preserve the legal value of documents. This calls for new automated procedures to the one traditionally used for paper documents.

For some, there are regulatory requirements that need to be considered, like those prescribed by the “Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale (AgID)” that ensures the authenticity, integrity, reliability, legibility, and accessibility of the archived electronic document.

Which approach to adopt?

To optimize the process of creating and managing documents, companies should first understand and evaluate their current situation.

• Does the process already have an application that supports it end-to-end?
• Will it scale with new business growth?
• Are the steps to generate PDFs, require digital signatures, and archive documents integrated and managed by the application?
• Can the application quickly adapt to technical developments such as new versions of the PDF standard, or regulatory changes such as new specs for digital signatures?

With this evaluation in hand, and looking at the specifics of your business processes, you can decide whether a new application is needed or if enhancing the existing system makes more sense. In either case, your team must proceed with an approach focused on compliance, speed, and efficiency. This is why composable architecture with its independent and reusable software components like PBCs, is the right solution for modern businesses.

Packaged Business Capabilities in document management

PBCs are independent, modular, and reusable software components that address specific business functionalities and work synergistically with the existing application landscape through API calls.

Independently designed and self-contained, PBCs can integrate into any IT architecture alongside other PBCs to expedite and improve the execution of key business processes, such as document management as discussed.

This composable approach offers important benefits to companies, from both a business and IT perspective:

• On the business side, a composable application makes organizations much more agile than before, giving them the ability to adapt, evolve, and respond quickly to changing market demands. It provides maximum efficiency without wasting financial resources and time.
• On the IT side, it simplifies the management and maintenance of software solutions, reducing complexity and improving the scalability and flexibility of its infrastructure. The result is increased operational efficiency, lower management costs, and better allocation of IT resources.

In the macrocosm of business process digitization, being able to rely on PBCs dedicated to unifying the three essentials of a document management system—data capture and PDF generation, governance and electronic signatures, and archival and discovery—provides companies with a simple yet comprehensive solution. It allows them to use the same PBCs for different applications, knowing that the modules are always state-of-the-art in terms of technology and regulatory enforcement. The compounding effect is enormous.

Intesys's approach as a composable enterprise

Intesys embraces the composable approach as the future of IT and of business. The composable enterprise is revolutionizing the workplace in various ways: requiring the alignment of goals between IT and business, speeding up and promoting collaboration across different departments, exploring alternative management strategies to facilitate rapid changes, and making technology partners indispensable to the application development process.

With all this in mind, Entando, in collaboration with Intesys, developed a set of Packaged Business Capabilities dedicated to integrating the document management processes:

• PBC PDF Maker: For document composition, data capture, and online PDF document generation
• PBC Sign: Integrates the signature processes by interfacing with the qualified provider Namirial
• PBC Arch: Handles the integration of Namirial's legally compliant electronic archival system

Based on cloud native technologies, the Intesys PBCs work with various integration strategies. They can serve as the building blocks for new applications tailored to fit into any business process. But they can also enhance an existing process ecosystem by providing new functionality options or replacing poorly performing segments.

Intesys’s role is designed with maximum flexibility in mind, adapting to the specific needs and available skillset of each client. As an Entando partner, they provide PBCs built with the Entando Application Composition Platform to other third party companies. Intesys can also lead their application development efforts to provide innovations and solutions, successfully adopting the composable approach to customize components and build agile applications.

Learn more about the PBCs Intesys have developed.