FileCloud + Signority: Simplifying Secure, End-to-End, Content Workflow Automation

FileCloud + Signority: Simplifying Secure, End-to-End, Content Workflow Automation
by Jason Dover – Chief Product Officer, FileCloud

May 23rd, 2024

In today’s fiercely competitive business landscape, the call for automation has never been louder. This demand stems from the necessity to cultivate competitive edges and operate with swifter agility to meet customer demands. To further assist organizations in addressing these imperatives, FileCloud is proud to announce its acquisition of Signority, an industry leading, Canadian-based provider of e-Signature and document workflow automation solutions. This strategic move enriches FileCloud’s enterprise file sharing and sync portfolio by integrating Signority’s end-to-end secure, automated digital signature solution. Signority’s offerings, being both SOC 2 and CSA-Level 2 certified, facilitate seamless digital transactions, governance, and compliance, aligning perfectly with Canadian data sovereignty and residency requirements. This acquisition synergizes with FileCloud’s existing content workflow automation capabilities, enhancing them and enabling customers to streamline their content-centric business workflows effectively.

The Significance of e-Signatures in Content Automation

In conventional file and document workflows, authoring or ingestion into an enterprise environment marks just the beginning. Facilitating adequate collaboration among stakeholders, enforcing appropriate security measures and access controls, and ensuring proper categorization and retention of content are additional pivotal components. FileCloud’s robust automation and policy framework fulfill these requirements comprehensively. However, the surge in enterprise digitization demands, particularly in recent years, has intensified the need for embedded e-Signature capabilities within file and content management processes. As content lies at the core of modern businesses, crucial processes and transactions often necessitate a signing step. Meeting this burgeoning customer demand with Signority represents a fundamental aspect of our ongoing automation strategy.

Integration and User Experience Enhancements

While numerous e-Signature solutions abound, they often operate disparately, resulting in subpar user experiences for both employees and external parties involved in the process. Moreover, signed content typically requires long-term storage in third-party cloud services, diminishing the owning organization’s control. As we progress with integrating our product portfolios, customers will gain the ability to ensure on-premises or self-managed public cloud storage of signed documents by designating FileCloud as a storage target. Furthermore, forthcoming product updates will empower customers to trigger signing workflows directly from within FileCloud, thus optimizing the user experience. This integration promises a streamlined approach to tackling typical document workflow processes.

Compliance Assurance

Ensuring compliance with industry-specific and jurisdictional standards ranks high on the priority list for CIOs across organizations of all sizes. Non-compliance with these standards could entail significant financial repercussions. Often, achieving compliance necessitates substantial changes to IT infrastructure, processes, and content management methodologies. It demands standardized approaches to document access management, storage, and electronic signature handling, particularly for content containing sensitive data. FileCloud offers an array of capabilities for generating and automatically applying policies based on content characteristics. Additionally, templates are available for configuring the content ecosystem to comply with relevant standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and NIST 800-171. The integration of e-Signature capabilities further enhances FileCloud’s solution, simplifying the process of compliance with required standards.

Looking Ahead

We are excited to welcome Signority’s established product and talented team into the FileCloud organization. These capabilities will significantly empower us to simplify end-to-end workflow automation for our customers. In the upcoming quarters, we will facilitate product integrations across our portfolio, making it easier for customers to address their content automation challenges and advance their digital transformation initiatives.

Our commitment to the Canadian market remains steadfast, and we aim to build upon Signority’s successful business while extending FileCloud’s strong value propositions globally. We are enthusiastic about the prospects this acquisition brings and the added strength it lends to our impactful portfolio.

Stay tuned for further updates!

Is AGPL a Scam? How Small Companies Can Maximize Benefits While Remaining Compliant

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Navigating AGPL:

Strategies for Small Business Success

Navigating AGPL:

Strategies for Small Business Success

Is AGPL a Scam? How Small Companies Can Maximize Benefits While Remaining Compliant

May 3rd, 2024

Why Large Companies Avoid AGPL

The Affero General Public License (AGPL) is notorious for its strict terms, which can be a deterrent for large companies. For instance, Google has explicitly banned the use of AGPL software on its corporate servers due to concerns about the license’s requirement for source code disclosure whenever the software interacts with a network. This policy stems from the risk of inadvertently exposing proprietary software due to the AGPL’s broad scope of application.

Understanding the Differences Between GPL and AGPL

The General Public License (GPL) and the Affero General Public License (AGPL) are both free software licenses, but they address different concerns particularly around network use. The main difference lies in the AGPL’s response to the “network use loophole” present in the GPL. Under the GPL, modifications need to be shared if distributed, but mere use over a network does not count as distribution. The AGPL extends these requirements to network interactions: if you modify AGPL software and run it on a server for others to interact with, the source must be made available to all users.

The Grey Area and Covered Work: The AGPL’s definition of covered work includes not only the program itself but any modifications and additional elements used to interact with it over a network, such as APIs. This is crucial for cloud applications, where even if you do not modify the original source code directly, integrating it into a larger system or application still subjects the entire system—or the “separate project”—to the AGPL. This means that creating new functionalities that interact with the original AGPL-covered software, even if in a separate project, can be considered as creating a derivative work, thereby requiring the distribution of the entire project under the AGPL. This broad scope of “covered work” under the AGPL aims to ensure transparency and freedom of use over networks, but it also poses significant implications for how companies structure and manage their software development.

Strategies to Avoid License Contamination

For companies wishing to use AGPL software without risking their proprietary code, certain strategies can be implemented:

  • Separate Projects: Keep AGPL software and proprietary software in separate projects.
  • APIs and Command Lines: Interface with AGPL software through APIs or command-line scripts, which can help maintain a boundary between different software components.
  • Documentation and Disclaimers: Ensure that all API usage and the separation of the software are well-documented. Include legal disclaimers and user notifications about the use of AGPL software and what it entails.

Understanding Your Obligations

When using AGPL software, you must:

  • Provide source code to users interacting with the software remotely through a network.
  • Include a copy of the AGPL license and make it clear that the software is licensed under the AGPL.

You are not obligated to:

  • Disclose your proprietary source code that is separate and not integrated with the AGPL-covered software in a manner that constitutes a derivative work.
  • Provide support to network users of your project if your business model does not include offering professional services.
  • Provide the version history of your project; however, you must supply the latest version currently in use.

Conclusion

The AGPL is not a scam but a legal tool that enforces the free use and distribution of software. It is stringent, designed to ensure that freedom and transparency extend to the user of software over a network. For small companies, navigating the complexities of AGPL can be beneficial with the right legal understanding and use strategies, allowing them to use open-source software while protecting their proprietary developments.