Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a private deemed university located in Pilani, Rajasthan India. Established in 1964, the Institute focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. The Institute has a large number of students enrolled from all over the country, who are admitted solely on merit basis and gain a chance to receive top quality technical education. BITS Pilani has been consistently ranked high among the top Indian Universities and is one of the first six institutes to be awarded the Institute of Eminence status in 2018.
At BITS Pilani, documentation takes place at an extensive level. Various types of Agreements, SOWs, NDAs, Invoices, etc are required to be prepared, signed and managed on a regular basis. Traditionally, the Institute used to rely solely on manual, paper-based processes for the creation and management of all these essential documents. Moreover, legal agreements with students used to be rolled out for signatures one by one via email. These agreements were then collected back from each student, taken print outs of and physically stored for future reference purposes. The entire process was highly tedious, due to which BITS Pilani faced the following key challenges –
The process of gathering physical signatures from different signatories involved a high level of coordination, since members of BITS Pilani were spread across different campuses and locations. Moreover, in most cases, a typical print-sign-scan-fax routine was repeated for various documents, which consumed a lot of time and efforts of the employees. In turn, all this caused a significant delay in document closures and the internal processes became slow and inefficient.
The piles of paper agreements had to be physically compiled and stored for future reference purposes. This made document tracking and retrieval quite a difficult task.
With limited administrative staff, BITS Pilani found it difficult to fulfil the overwhelming paperwork requirements. Since the employees dedicated most of their time in managing and storing paper documents, their productivity levels had started to fluctuate.
The Institute was incurring significant expenditure on paper and paper-related processes, which had become one of their key concerns.
BITS Pilani was looking for an efficient, technology-enabled solution which could automate its workflows, expedite its signing process and do away with its cumbersome paper-based processes.
The Institute turned to MSB Docs for a new-age, effective solution. As a leading eSignature solutions provider, MSB Docs was quick to understand the challenges faced by the educational entity. A seamless integration of its eSignature solution was done with the existing workflows of the Institute. To begin with, the following of its key functions were streamlined –
At BITS Pilani, each single purchase entails gathering signatures and approvals from multiple authorities. MSB Docs has made this process extremely effortless, as all documents can now be electronically created, shared and signed using the MSB Docs platform. Besides, all records are now stored in the central repository, from where they can be easily accessed and retrieved at any given time.
BITS Pilani keeps organising various programs in association with corporates throughout the year. This requires them to create multiple documents such as SOWs, NDAs, Security/ Privacy Agreements, etc. The eSignature solution by MSB Docs allows these agreements to be electronically signed and stored using the smart categorization feature. The enhanced security measures ensure complete safety of records, with no chances of data theft or fraud.
The legal agreements, that detail out the institute’s offerings to the students, can now be electronically signed by the students, eliminating the need for any physical exchange of documents. These legal agreements then automatically get stored in the central repository, and the institute/ students can refer to the same at any given point of time to check or confirm the commitments made by the Institute.
The Institute has created various internal committees and sub-committees to ensure its effective operations. The members of these groups are usually spread across different campuses and locations, and are required to sign multiple documents from time to time. With MSB Docs on board, collaboration between these signatories has dramatically improved, as signatures can now be instantly captured from all members, irrespective of their location. The Team Room feature, in particular, has been exceptionally helpful in fostering improved collaboration.
BITS Pilani is continuously in touch with multiple corporates, companies and technical institutes to execute different projects. For instance, various private companies interact with BITS Pilani for software purchases, and this again requires multiple documents to be generated and signed. The end-to-end solution offered by MSB Docs comes packed with complete document management features, automating and transforming each step of the document lifecycle.
The management at BITS Pilani is extremely delighted with the improvements fuelled by the MSB Docs eSignature solution. The Institute plans to expand its usage by integrating the same into various other functions and departments as well.
The integration with MSB Docs has greatly streamlined the signing and documentation processes at BITS Pilani, making them more fast, agile and efficient. Traditional, pen and paper signatures have become a thing of the past at the Institute, which has reaped the following key outcomes –
All physical documents have been seamlessly converted into electronic documents, leading to a commendable 100% reduction in paper usage. This has been a true win for the Institute.
No longer is there any need for printing, scanning or faxing bills, agreements and other documents.
The process of signing and witnessing has become faster and more traceable, thereby leading to greater compliance with internal policies.
Users at BITS Pilani are now able to sign and access their documents conveniently. The simple, easy-to-use interface allows them use the platform with ease, without seeking any support.
Employees of the institute now spend less time in managing paper, which has led to an increase in their productivity levels.
Data Privacy has increased as all documents are securely stored and protected against any kind of external threat.
MSB’s detailed audit trail provides further evidence for audits and disputes.
Administrative overheads have been drastically reduced.
Learn how MSB Docs enterprise eSignature solution helped BitsPilani streamline its Top-Line and Bottom-line