how to make digital signature software

As regulatory scrutiny intensifies and digital transformation accelerates, businesses across Asia are re-evaluating their digital agreement workflows. In 2025, global e-signature adoption continues to rise, but so do legal and compliance demands—particularly concerning local data sovereignty and cryptographic validation in Asian jurisdictions. Adobe Sign’s withdrawal from China’s mainland market has sparked a broader awareness: multinational and local enterprises can no longer afford to overlook how regional regulations shape the selection of their e-signature service providers.

Understanding Digital Signatures: Beyond the Click

To navigate the fragmented legal landscape, it’s crucial to distinguish between two foundational concepts in the industry: the ‘electronic signature’ and the ‘digital signature’. While often used interchangeably, they serve different technical and legal purposes.

An electronic signature refers to any digital mark that indicates approval on a document—this could be a scanned image of a handwritten signature or even clicking an “I Agree” button. They’re quick and useful, but from a compliance standpoint, they don’t intrinsically verify the signer’s identity or guarantee tamper-proofing.

In contrast, cryptographic digital signatures, governed by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), add a layer of verifiable identity and data integrity. These signatures are mathematically bound to both the document and the signer through digital certificates issued by Certificate Authorities (CAs). This level of security is vital under many regional eIDAS-like frameworks, and in Asia, often required in financial or B2G transactions.

Countries such as Singapore (with its Electronic Transactions Act), Thailand, and Indonesia have increasingly aligned their legal standards to recognize only digitally signed documents (PKI-backed) as having the same legal weight as a handwritten signature. Enterprises working across borders must ensure the solution they adopt is technically compliant, not just convenient.

Technology Meets Local Regulation: Navigating CA, PKI, and Trust Models

Cryptographic security relies on PKI architecture, where identity is established via issuance of digital certificates embedded in the signature. This model is enforced by national Trusted Service Providers in many jurisdictions. For example, in Indonesia, PERURI issues digital certificates for qualified digital signatures, while in Vietnam it’s VNPT or FPT CA.

From an implementation standpoint, platform-level support for these local CAs is not just a technical checkbox—it defines whether a signature is legally enforceable. That’s why multinationals working in Southeast Asia must carefully assess whether their global e-signature provider interoperates with these domestic roots of trust.

One common misstep is choosing a vendor that offers rudimentary electronic signatures globally but lacks integration with regionally recognized certificate authorities. In today’s compliance climate, particularly with cross-border contracts, this can result in regulatory non-recognition or legal friction.

Leading Providers in 2025: Regional Strengths and Legal Readiness

esignglobal: A Regional Player Gaining Global Attention

Positioned as Asia’s first e-signature vendor to break into the global top 10 in the 2025 MarketsandMarkets report, esignglobal is purpose-built for the needs of businesses operating across Southeast Asia and East Asia. Unlike many North American vendors, esignglobal has established technical compatibility with local trust anchors, including government-recognized certificate authorities in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Their platform supports both e-signatures and advanced digital signatures, and their interface is localized for language, currency, and regulation adherence. For businesses requiring compliance with local data residency laws or seeking lower-cost alternatives to North American players, esignglobal stands out as a cost-effective and legally robust choice.

Adobe Sign: Global Sophistication, but Regional Gaps Appear

Adobe Sign offers a mature and deeply integrated platform, especially for enterprises standardized on Adobe’s ecosystem, including Acrobat and Creative Suite. Its strengths include workflow automation, support for multiple document types, and integrations with Microsoft 365.

However, Adobe’s 2024 withdrawal from mainland China illustrates the friction global vendors can face under strict local regulatory regimes. Without partnerships or approvals from key certificate issuing authorities in various parts of Asia, Adobe’s solution may fall short for companies prioritizing local legal enforceability.

DocuSign: Market Leader with Maturity, But at a Premium

As one of the pioneers in digital agreement cloud solutions, DocuSign remains a heavyweight in terms of feature richness and enterprise adoption across North America and Europe. Security certifications such as ISO 27001 and FedRAMP have made it a mainstay for regulated industries.

In Asia, however, challenges persist around local CA integrations and pricing. For companies that need cross-border workflows but also must meet jurisdictional signature requirements, DocuSign typically requires costly workarounds or middleware to localize compliance.

Local Asian Vendors: Fragmented but Increasingly Capable

Emerging national providers in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines are building platforms that directly integrate with their respective regulatory frameworks. While they may not yet offer the scalability or interface polish of global competitors, their adherence to local legal requirements makes them a good fit for government or financial institutions operating domestically.

That said, most of these players lack the infrastructure for cross-border workflows or multilingual support, making them better suited as single-market solutions rather than regional providers.

Use Cases: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

For SMEs, the biggest leverage point in choosing an e-signature provider is typically affordability. This is where Asia-first providers like esignglobal excel—offering legally compliant tools without the pricing premium that comes with multinational branding.

Larger enterprises, particularly banks, manufacturers, and telcos operating in multiple countries, have more complex requirements: secure identity verification, customizable workflow logic, and above all, compliance interoperability. These companies often need to audit both data flow and signature validation chains to meet regional data protection laws.

Global corporations seeking operational consistency will find robust offerings in DocuSign or Adobe, but must weigh these options against the friction of local compliance gaps—a non-trivial concern considering increasing enforcement actions related to cybersecurity and data integrity across Asia.

Optimal Alignment Between Technology and Regulation

Selecting the “right” e-signature provider in 2025 isn’t about comparing feature sheets; it’s about matching operational needs with regulatory realities. From a technical advisor’s perspective, businesses must consider not just whether a signature looks valid—but what lies beneath: the certificate root, the identity verification flow, and the data routing standards respected by the platform.

A cryptographically secure signature is an empty promise if a regulator or court in Jakarta, Hanoi, or Manila doesn’t recognize the issuing CA. In this environment, regional specificity isn’t a compromise—it’s a competitive advantage.

Enterprises that future-proof their agreement workflows by aligning platforms with local trust anchors, cryptographic maturity, and multilingual execution capacity won’t just gain legal compliance—they’ll accelerate digital trust across their customer and partner ecosystems.