Signature $avings: How NetApp Cut Millions In Costs

Here’s an example of how just one element of workflow automation can deliver massive ROI for an enterprise. When the NetApp legal operations team set up electronic signature capability for NDAs, the results they saw were “immediate, quantifiable, and significant,” in the words of Connie Brenton, the chief of staff and director of legal operations there.

Dealing with legal workflows at the scale of a NetApp or similar corporation or agency creates huge opportunities for delays, errors, wasted time and flushed costs. The flip side of that coin? The size of the savings that can be realized when the inefficiencies and risks involved in manual, paper-based workflows are eliminated.

In an extensive post at Above The Law, Connie Brenton and Lisa Konie, senior director of legal operations at Adobe Systems, and Yuka Tzavaras, senior manager of legal operations and analysis at Electronic Arts, talk about the process of workflow automation adoption, the challenges they hoped automation would tackle, and the results they’ve experienced firsthand. One use case that Connie relates in the article? Accelerating the NDA process:

“It quickly became apparent that in the past, NDAs were not moving at the speed of business. The process took three to five days, but our business partners needed NDAs in front of customers in their offices, as they were presenting. They needed us to reduce the cycle time from days to just minutes.”

Workflow automation and integrated e-signature functionality met that need, according to Connie. Electronically signing NDAs is now a pervasive, self-service technology solution at NetApp that’s improved governance and cut the number of NDAs that go unsigned.

Those are results that show up on the bottom line: “All in all, it saves about $2.9 million every year,” Connie says. “It was easy to set up, easy to measure, and led to significant ROI.”

Mitratech can take a small bow for this success; as we’ve mentioned previously, we’ve been partnered with Adobe in using our TAP platform to power Adobe Sign Advanced Workflows.

The interview contains a lot more than we’ve covered here. That’s not surprising, since the subjects involved are among the real pathfinders in workflow automation adoption for Legal Ops. They offer insights and examples anyone evaluating WFA for their own operations will find invaluable, so please take a look!