MOXIS on Board.
The Austrian Sailing Association needed a digital signature solution for its document management. “We wanted to finally replace paper-based signature processes with electronic ones,” says Stefan Glanz-Michaelis, Head of Service & Administration at OeSV. In the end, MOXIS’ maximum hosting flexibility also tipped the scales.
As a nationwide institution with many volunteers and few permanent employees, the Austrian Sailing Association (OeSV) is traditionally decentralised. Stefan Glanz-Michaelis was looking for a solution that would ensure maximum transparency in decentralised signature processes, while at the same time conserving human resources and the in-house IT infrastructure. “It’s not just about signatures. Every document that is presented to the presidium members for signature is also always a basis for discusssion,” says the Head of Service & Administration.
Founded in 1946, the OeSV today represents the interests of 20,000 members, oversees compliance with regulations at competitions, and stands alongside the alpine sailing community with coaching staff and advisory expertise, including 15 active members of Austria’s national teams. The financing of the federation and the sailing sport up to the federal league lies apart from membership dues and sponsoring incomes to a large extent in public hand. Therefore, one of the most important tasks of the staff is to prepare applications for funding, to have them signed by members of the presidium who are authorised to sign and to submit them. The steering committee has not broken any new ground in this respect: Some of the people on the management board already knew and appreciated working with electronic signatures from their own ventures.
"Corona has additionally shown us once again how essential legally compliant electronic signatures are for maintaining the association's ability to act."
Stefan Glanz-Michaelis
Head of Service & Administration, OeSV
eSignatures in the funding system
The sailing association signs a large number of different documents electronically. Contractual documents relating to permanent employment contracts with trainers and administrative staff are just as much a part of this as purchase contracts with external partners, sponsorship contracts and from time to time, documents relating to the association’s funding system. “With MOXIS, the association can finally sign paperless and independent of location,” says Stefan Glanz-Michaelis. As the person responsible for IT, he has accompanied the implementation of MOXIS from the very beginning. “Since our committees and the presidium are scattered throughout Austria, MOXIS also allows us to work efficiently in teams on association documents that require signatures.”
One of the motives for integrating electronic signatures was to bypass time-consuming mailing. Especially when several presidium members work on a document in parallel, digital signatures simplify the process in a significant way. “Corona has also shown us once again how essential legally compliant electronic signatures are for maintaining the association’s ability to act,” says Stefan Glanz-Michaelis.
Relief due to MOXIS Professional Cloud
At the same time, the use of the Professional Cloud relieved the burden on the association’s own IT infrastructure. This hosting variant from MOXIS fits seamlessly into the association’s overall digital agenda: In recent years, the sailing association had built up an on-premises structure at great expense. This is now to be reduced and simplified step by step, hence the move to the cloud. “Through the professional cloud variant of MOXIS, we are streamlining internal association processes and can also save costs,” Glanz-Michaelis draws an initial interim balance. “MOXIS is now a permanent fixture on board – like a life jacket and an anchor!”
Christoph Schomberg, Senior Editor at XiTrust
