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US Joint Chiefs of Staff

US Joint Chiefs of Staff

Based at the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) represent each major branch of the United States armed forces, and their primary responsibility is to ensure military readiness. The JCS also advise the US president and secretary of defense on military matters.

Because the JCS' effectiveness depends on their ability to organize, analyze and communicate information quickly and efficiently, they needed to accelerate the Joint Staff Action Processing Program (JSAP), an electronic staff package/briefing system. While JSAP enabled packages to be created, routed, reviewed and archived, they were still falling to paper when it came to approvals, of which there were many.

Silanis’ e-signatures helped the entire department to overcome that last hurdle, and going paperless has since allowed the JCS to benefit from a wide range of cost and time savings. Find out how Silanis e-signatures were the key to taking the JSAP electronic, in this case study.


Full Success Story

Joint Chiefs of Staff Create a Paperless Work Environment

A primary goal for the United States’ Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), located at the Pentagon in the Washington DC area, has been to accelerate work processes and create an entirely paperless work environment for the organization’s Joint Staff Action Processing Program (JSAP). Another objective, given the confidentiality and significance of many of the documents being created by the generals and directors of the department, has been to assure the security of signatures and authenticity of all online documentation.

Summary of Problem

The JCS initially came to Silanis with very specific requirements. They wanted a secure electronic signature solution that would precipitate their workflow system immediately. They also wanted an application that would require little or no integration effort or training of key JCS personnel who work on strict deadlines. As the leading commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic signature software on the market, ApproveIt® Desktop was their first choice. Once ApproveIt Desktop was installed and tested, it became evident to the JCS information systems specialists that all personnel would greatly benefit from a department-wide rollout.

Summary of Solution

Silanis’ software was integrated into the JCS’s LAN at the Pentagon, and deployed to all 1500 Joint Staff members. All JCS action requests, documents and forms are now created in Microsoft® Office® and electronically signed and authenticated using ApproveIt. “The final hurdle in the JCS paperless action processing system was to provide the highest echelons of Staff with a means to securely hand-sign documents electronically. ApproveIt Desktop provided us with that capability. The savings in man-hours involved has been substantial,” says Lieutenant Commander Chris Agan, JCS.

Summary of Benefits

The JCS has been using the software since July of 1997 in conjunction with its automated workflow system to electronically sign and route documents, and the entire organization has benefited from the cost and time savings associated with a paperless work environment. ApproveIt’s signature security, document authentication, and approval automation capabilities are now an invaluable addition to the JCS’s day-to-day work processes.