Let’s talk about the devil of digitalization.

I just came back from The Sales Conference 2018 organized by Prosales. It was probably one of the largest B2B sales and marketing events in Sweden, as there must have been around a thousand people gathered at Globen yesterday.

There were several great speakers including the New York Times best-selling author Daniel Pink. The topics, on the headline level, seemed diverse but all the content presented by the colorful speakers simply touched on a single topic - digitalization.

That is, the discussions were around the Internet and its future. Data-driven, AI, voice, yeah, I think you get where I’m going.

At some point, when one of the speakers asked the audience, “How many taxis do Uber own?” - I vomited a little.

So, what the hell is digitalization?

Joke aside, and as cliché as it sounds, digitalization is real. But it’s hard to grasp because it is abstract. You can’t feel it or touch it.

People have been searching the term “digitalization” for ages. There are almost 10 million hits and numerous definitions available online.

Gartner defines digitalization as “ the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business.” Forbes further elaborates on that “A digital transformation journey moves an organization from a process-defined world to a data-driven world.”

As someone who’s been in the document automation industry for the past 12 years, I am no stranger to “digital” and I feel very passionate about the topic.

Anyway, at the event yesterday, a competitor of Oneflow misleadingly talked about “digitalization” through a giant screen between the keynotes. So I felt the need to speak up, in fact, I felt the need to raise my hand and say something but it was in that moment I remembered I was in Sweden. And you’re not supposed to do that.

But in Sweden, you’re encouraged to question, debate and to be critical. At least in a proper forum. Like on LinkedIn I suppose. And this is the reason I’m even writing this article on a Friday night… with a glass of bubbles by my side ;)

The differences between the PDF camp and the HTML camp

So real quick, in the e-signature world, there are basically two types of vendors in the market: the PDF camp and the HTML camp.

Let’s start with the PDF vendors.

The PDF e-signature vendors make it real easy for me and you to start implementing e-signature onto our documents because there is no change involved in how we are used to working. We all have documents saved in the PDF. So when we want to send a document to be signed electronically with one of these vendors, we simply upload the document to the e-signature tool, then send it to our customer directly from the tool.

We like the PDF because we feel that the document is in the format that cannot be accidentally modified, and it preserves the look and feel of our documents.

Now, let's talk about the HTML e-signature vendors.

The HTML e-signature vendors, on the other hand, seem alien to most people. To start implementing e-signature with the HTML vendors, they require me and you to create and edit our documents in the tool itself.

-Wait, what? Do I have to recreate the document in your editor?

-Well, yes, if you want a document that is interactive, responsive and digital.

-Wait, what? Isn’t PDF already digital?

-No, it is not. It is, in fact, the devil of digitalization.

-Huh? #mindblown

The PDF is the devil of digitalization.

Remember what Gartner and Forbes said about digitalization?

Digitalization is all about the use of data to move a business forward.

The PDF is therefore not a digital document, because instead of creating data that can be leveraged by the digital ecosystem, it traps data into a format that is static.

The fundamental use of the PDF was to preserve the look and feel for printing purpose, and that’s why the format itself is not meant to be flexible.

I call it the devil of digitalization. Because of its existence, the process of digitalization is somewhat delayed. Humans are creatures of habits. Change makes us insecure and uncomfortable. That’s why we love the PDF because it looks familiar.

It’s like looking at a piece of paper. Except that we are looking at the static paper inside a computer screen.

For many, choosing to work with PDF documents is often a decision made out of convenience rather than rationale.

The HTML format, on the other hand, is the language of the Internet.

HTML documents are designed for interactivity and readability from any device, anytime, anywhere, as long as you are connected to the Internet. I emphasize “readability” because we all know that our primary screen size is getting smaller.

Oh btw, can you make a PDF document responsive to the changing screen size? I guess not. #letszoominandoutinstead

Moreover, the data on an HTML document is alive! It is portable, searchable, and analyzable. The data from your HTML documents can be leveraged across your existing ecosystems such as your CRM, BI and ERP systems.

That is digitalization. That is "moving to a digital business".

So back to the giant screen moment.

The competitor who spoke about digitalization was a PDF e-signature vendor. They either had no clue on the difference between “digitalization” and “computerization”, or intentionally misled the audience by coining the word “digitalization” because it was top of mind at that moment.

I think it’s OK to market or position yourself as whatever you wish to. That's your choice. And I have tremendous empathy on why they did it as I’m a marketer myself. But for the sake of technology advancement, I felt the need to shine the light on the difference between what we do and what they do.

Here's a piece of advice.

Every time I do an interview with our customers, I ask them what advice they would give to our readers when choosing an e-signature tool, and the answer is always the same.

“Dare to think different and that's when you'll experience real growth.”

As always, thank you for reading my articles. If you enjoy the article, please leave a smiling devil face emoji in the comment ?? because it will totally make my day. Love ya’ll.

Now back to my bubbles. Enjoy the weekend!

PS: And if you’re wondering, yes, at Oneflow, we help you convert your PDF documents to HTML documents so you can start using our e-signature service instantly. Interested? Comment below or DM me ??