Sorgenia: Going Paperless, and Accelerating the Time to Market

Success Stories: Experiences in the Digital Sphere told by Businesses Themselves

In the history of every business, there is a moment when growth requires an overhaul of company procedures to make work phases more efficient, faster, or automated, or to streamline exchanges of data.
This was certainly true for Sorgenia, a leader in the energy & utilities industry producing and selling natural gas and electricity on the open market. To find a solution to accelerate their time to market, the company looked to Intesa (IBM Group). This is how Sorgenia was able to carry out a complete transformation of its processes, with leverage provided by digital services.

Sorgenia’s Goal

Sorgenia first identified a strategic area for optimization: managing its contracts with branches located throughout Italy, which were primarily operating on a B2B model. Before, contract documents had always been passed back and forth in hard-copy format between the central office and the branches. Since the number of contracts ranged from 10,000 to 20,000 every year, this process took untold man hours to make sure all documents were filled out and signed, not to mention the expense of sending the documents through certified mail.

«For us, this process meant enormous manual processing times, so it was terribly inefficient in terms of time-to-market, to the point that we were not always able to execute the contracts on time» notes Alessandro Bertoli, ICT Director at Sorgenia.

From Document Generation to Document Retention
The solution engineered with Intesa to digitalize these document transfers with area branches allowed Sorgenia staff to exchange documents directly in a digital format. The signatory’s identity was verified by sending an OTP (One Time Password), which enabled Advanced E-Signing capabilities through a web portal customized for Sorgenia.

«We switched from a predominantly manual procedure in dire need of acceleration, to digital tools that automated the procedures, making them more controlled, more secure, and with a guaranteed time to market,» says Alessandro Bertoli.

As required under the rules established in the Code of Digital Administration, contracts became read-only once signed, thus ensuring the integrity of their content. The documents were then filed and retained in accordance with the law.

«This service first allowed us to automate this process, and then to become independent, customizing procedures as our business needs required. In our industry, those changes happen on a monthly basis.»

One Solution, Many Benefits

Although improving time-to-market was Sorgenia’s primary goal, the solution provided by Intesa ushered in a host of other benefits: a notable reduction in paper and paper expense, which in turn lowered the company’s environmental impact significantly.

Not only does digital contract management speed up the transfer times between headquarters and branch, it also allows documents to be accessed on the go, reducing manual errors and the chance of misplacing a document. Finally, the use of Advanced E-Signing and contract-retention protocols ensures an overall increase in corporate legal compliance.

Alessandro Bertoli had these final thoughts: «This digitalization process has been, for us, a starting point rather than a destination. These types of tools allow for ongoing evolution and transformation – they adapt to the changing needs and goals of our business.»