Montreal — E-signature provider Silanis Technology has joined the IBM ECM ValueNet Business Partner Program that will allow customers of both companies to combine ApproveIt, an electronic signature solution, with IBM's Enterprise Content Management solutions, to accelerate operations, improve service and reduce costs by keeping business processes electronic.

With the addition of Silanis e-signatures to the IBM ECM ValueNet Business Partner Program, IBM's customers can derive even greater benefit from their content management infrastructure by enabling business applications to stay electronic.

"E-signatures bridge the gaps between systems and applications," said Richard L. Warren, CEO, Silanis. "Without this ability, processes will still fall to paper whenever a signature is required."

As more business processes move online, there is greater need for electronic content management (ECM) solutions to capture, manage and store data efficiently. Likewise, as high-value, regulated electronic transactions like consumer lending become more common, e-signatures are necessary to maintain compliance and enforceability. For these reasons, organizations often implement ECM and e-signature solutions together.

Silanis solutions provide the best possible electronic evidence by capturing the information needed to demonstrate signing intent if a transaction is ever contested.

IBM's ECM ValueNet Business Partner Program provides a set of Web-based tools to allow the industry's top service partners, independent software vendors and technology partners to network and collaborate on delivering a vast range of services and solutions to IBM customers worldwide.