ISV developers: Enhance your product by building a Docusign connector

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, streamlining business agreement processes is more important than ever. Docusign is a leading provider of electronic signatures and Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) solutions, enabling businesses to sign, send, and manage documents securely from anywhere. Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) play a crucial role in this ecosystem by integrating Docusign agreement solutions into their applications, enhancing productivity and efficiency for their business customers. They incorporate customized eSignature workflows by building a Docusign ISV connector that utilizes the Docusign eSignature REST API. This blog post aims to provide ISV developers with a comprehensive understanding of what a Docusign ISV connector is, the development process, and the resources to be successful.

What is a Docusign ISV connector?

ISVs typically have a software product that meets a main business need, such as a client relationship management application (CRM), a human resources app, procurement app, document generation and management app, etc. A Docusign ISV Connector is a prebuilt integration that seamlessly incorporates Docusign electronic signature capabilities into an ISV application. The connector is built such that any customer can configure the connection to their Docusign account, enabling the integrated functionality within the application. The ISV-built connector handles the specifics of the API integration, facilitates authentication and authorization with Docusign, and manages the agreement processes between the ISV’s product and the customer’s Docusign account.

Key benefits of using a Docusign ISV connector

1. Enhanced functionality: By integrating Docusign, ISVs can enable their users to sign documents electronically directly within their application. This added functionality can be a significant value-add, making the application more attractive to potential customers.

2. Improved user experience: A seamless integration means that users do not have to switch between different platforms to complete their tasks. This improves the overall user experience, reducing friction and increasing productivity.

3. Security and compliance: Docusign is known for its robust security measures and compliance with various global regulations. By leveraging a Docusign ISV connector, ISVs can ensure that their applications meet stringent security and compliance requirements, which is a critical consideration for many businesses.

4. Scalability: Docusign’s infrastructure is designed to handle high volumes of transactions, ensuring that the ISV’s application can scale efficiently as its user base grows.

Features for Docusign ISV connector integrations

Adding Docusign eSignature features to your product involves a modest amount of analysis and design. Once the relevant workflows are identified, begin designing the incorporation of eSignature. At this point, consideration should be given to some of the key features and strategies that can both improve the value delivered and provide a competitive advantage:

• Composite templates are the most flexible and capable model of constructing envelopes through the eSignature API. This model supports direct use of documents, anchor text for placement of tabs, use of server-side reusable templates, code-based template injection, and everything in combination. 

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  "compositeTemplates": [
      {
          "document": {...},
          "serverTemplates": [{...}],
          "inlineTemplates": [{...}]
      }
  ]

• Consider use of the embedded Sender View as a way to accommodate the broadest range of features in use by customers, while giving the sending user the ability to review before sending. 

• Set your product apart by supporting multiple delivery methods. By default, Docusign delivers notifications to signers via email. However, Docusign also supports SMS and WhatsApp as delivery methods.

  

• Recipient authentication can provide senders assurance that the correct signer was reached. Options include using an access code (shared secret), SMS/phone verification, and issued ID verification. 

• Meet the signers where it is most convenient. The delivery methods listed above allow mobile signers to easily complete the process. Conversely, Docusign offers embedded signing via the API, perfect for in-app users to complete signing without leaving your app. 

  

• Notifications are important for keeping users informed as well as triggering automatic actions within your application. Use webhook notifications to convey status changes to your users, enable automated signed document retrieval, and prompt for corrective actions when needed.

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  "eventNotification": {
      "url": "https://apps.example.com/app2/webhook-listener",
      "requireAcknowledgment": "true",
      "loggingEnabled": "true",
      "deliveryMode": "SIM",
      "events": [...
      ],
      "eventData": {
          "version": "restv2.1",
          "includeData": [
            ""
          ]
      }
  }

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• Finally, consider the opportunity to offer non-Docusign users the ability to experience your integrated solution for free. Digital Referral gives your users a free trial to link to your integration. Those that qualify with an upgrade to a paid plan will earn you a referral fee. Contact your partner team for more information and eligibility requirements.

  

How to get started with Docusign ISV connectors

1. Explore the Docusign Developer Center: The first step is to familiarize yourself with the resources available in the Docusign Developer Center. This includes comprehensive documentation, API references, and sample code to help you understand the integration process.

2. Understand the overall development plan: In the Developer Center, choose the API Integration Get Started button followed by the ISV Connector integration approach. This leads you to the Starter Kit. The main nugget here is to review the ISV Connector Implementation Plan. This highlights the development path when building a connector, covering all the essentials.

3. Set up Your development environment: Follow the setup instructions provided in the documentation to configure your development environment. This typically involves creating a Docusign developer account, creating an API integration key, and setting up authentication.

4. Integrate and test: Use the provided code samples and SDKs to integrate Docusign functionalities into your application. Thoroughly test the integration to ensure that it works seamlessly and meets your users’ needs.

5. Deploy and monitor: Once the integration is complete and tested, submit your integrated solution to the ISV app review process via the Partner Onboarding team. They will help prepare you for the Go-Live process, enabling your integration in our production environment. Monitor the integration to ensure that it performs as expected and address any issues that arise.

Getting on the right path

There is a wealth of information on the Developer Center. How do you avoid getting overwhelmed? I’ve seen some development teams miss out on some basics, and many more that totally missed out on opportunities to amp up the value of their product and make their customers ecstatically happy. How do you ensure you are maximizing value for your integration effort? I recommend you start by reviewing the ISV Connector Implementation Plan. Next, look at the feature options raised in the plan and see how they resonate with your product and your customers. Then take a look at the Sample Apps. These run from a hosted location, but are also accessible as source code via their links to Github. Note that the Business Sample App is focused on ISVs, demonstrating how to support both admin consent and individual consent, as well as four different use cases that incorporate features to set your integration apart. 

Get Benefits by joining the Docusign Partner Program

I recommend joining the Docusign Partner Program. There is no cost to join the program, but there are many benefits. By registering as an official partner, you are eligible for numerous benefits, including showcasing and tiering benefits. As an ISV partner, your app will go through an App Review process. This ensures we get the information necessary to list and showcase you and your app as a Docusign partner integration, equip our sellers with a battlecard for your integration, ensure you are equipped and prepared for the Go-Live process, give you access to a free production account for managing your integration keys, and have access to our Support teams, including Developer Support. You will also have access to partner educational resources through our Partner Portal.

Conclusion

Leverage our developer and partner resources to reduce your time to market with features for your product that increase customer satisfaction and give you a competitive advantage. Docusign offers a secure, compliant, and scalable solution that can position your application as a more valuable tool in the digital transformation journey of businesses. 

For more detailed information and support, visit the Docusign Developer Center and start exploring the possibilities today.

Additional resources

• Start building today with a free developer account.

• Check out the ISV Connector Implementation Plan to guide your integration.

• Join the Docusign Developer Community for development support, to connect with other developers and more.

• Partner with us to explore how to take your product to the next level.