The biggest challenge is the lack of awareness about the security and compliance standards: Arjit Bhargava, MSB Docs

Can you brief us about your business/Services?
MSB Docs is a pioneer in smart document solutions, helping large-scale industries in going paperless, reducing errorsand storing documents.Internationally and In India we have catered to leading players from across different sectors, including life sciences, education, real estate etc. Launched in India just two years back, we have catered to Apollo Hospitals, BITS Pilani, among others. Globally, we rolled out complete smart documentation and signature solution to one of the first developersof Covid-19 vaccine. We adhere to IT Act 2000 (India) and are one of the recognised startups under the government’s ‘Startup India programme’.

What are your USPs?
MSB has decade old expertise in the Life Sciences and Pharma niche and is well compliant to offer Digital Documentation and electronic & digital Signatures for the regulated industries. We adhere to region-specific compliances such as IT Act 2000 (India), ESIGN Act (USA), eIDAS (EU), FIPS 140-2, SOC2 and SOC3. Further ensuring the highest standards for security – ISO 27001, EU-US Privacy Shield and SSAE 16, we are also compliant with FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EMA, IT Act 2000 and HIPAA.

We are the only eSignature vendor in Gartner Clinical Automation Hype Cycle and the vendor of choice for Life Sciences organization in the Gartner Market Guide.

Being a government recognised startup, what benefits have you received?
Being recognised under the Startup India programme has given us the right visibility and credibility. Furthermore there are startup specific subsidies and benefits provided by the Government of India.

What is your business model/ revenue model?
As mentioned earlier, we help large-scale industries in going completely paperless. We are SAAS application catering to large-scale industries, along with SMEs. MSB Docs has a subscription model in place for customized services as per the preferences of specific industry. We are a B2B SAAS application via a subscription model.

What made you start India operations? What is the scope in Indian market?
India is a growing economy which is adapting regulatory complaint digitaldocumentation in the regulated industries market. Specially in the post-COVID era, the need of the hour is to move out from the cumbersome paper based process to smart document solutions, which are compliant with the laws of different countries, such as IT Act 2000 (India), ESIGN Act (USA), eIDAS (EU), other aforementioned laws and high security standards such as ISO 27001, EU-US Privacy Shield and SSAE 16 and offer FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EMA and HIPPA compliance. Since all these are offered out of the box by MSB Docs, we are the right fit for the market.

We are offering unique solutions to India-based enterprises in the form of Aadhaar Signature, wherein any Indian citizen having a valid Aadhaar card and a mobilenumber registered to it can easily sign documents.

What are your marketing plans for the Indian market?
We have a B2B specific marketing strategy. We are leveraging digital marketing tools like newsletters, emailers etc, apart from events and trade fairs. Our marketing plan takes into account price sensitivity, demographic elements and logistical factors. Needless to say, customer service tops our marketing strategy, as our reputation is built on word of mouth. We aspire to add 100 new Indian logos to our esteemed list of clients.

Which sectors are responding the most and why?
Regulated Industries such as Life Sciences, Pharma, BFSI and Healthcare are the ones that respond the most to our product offerings because of the need for compliant digital documentation and esigning solutions.

From where do you see the next wave of growth coming in?
The structure and core of MSB is designed for regulated industries. We offer comprehensive digital documentation and compliance with various international laws and security standards under one roof. There is ample growth expected in the segment as much more penetration is yet to happen.

What are the challenges in your business?
The biggest challenge is the lack of awareness about the security and compliance standards. The other challenges include adaptability to the new and improved form of documentation and esigning processes. However, we are working relentlessly to overcome all challenges and simultaneously different industries increasingly understand the impact of going digital.

Can you help us understand different types of e-signatures and their use cases.
Electronic and digital signatures are often construed to be same. While electronic signature is an electronic form of ink signature, the digital signature can be captured using Digital Signature Certificate, which is issued by government through authorized Certifying Agencies. It consists of a set of unique keys named as the private key and public key. To sign a document, the signer just needs to insert the USBtoken that contains the DSC uniquely provided to him to the system and enter the password as well.

A perfect use case is Aadhaar Signatures, which we introduced in India. Any Indian citizen having a valid Aadhaar card and a mobilenumber registered to it can easily sign the documents. To sign adocument, the signer needs to show their documents, enter the Aadhaar number, upon which he will receive an OTP on aregistered mobile number and the signature gets done.