Scope
Define which projects, teams, and email flows are covered, including vendor or third-party contexts and excluded systems.
A formal proposal aligns technical controls with legal and contractual obligations, reduces the risk of data exposure, and clarifies who implements and approves changes.
Final review cycles should include signatory approval by the person or role authorized to accept project-level security changes.
The project manager typically certifies that the proposal matches project scope, timelines, and budget. They coordinate sign-offs and serve as the primary point of contact for remedial actions.
The security lead verifies technical controls, approves encryption and access configurations, and documents any compensating procedures required by compliance teams or third-party vendors.
Define which projects, teams, and email flows are covered, including vendor or third-party contexts and excluded systems.
Specify encryption in transit and at rest, DKIM/SPF/DMARC settings, attachment handling rules, and any mailbox-level access restrictions.
Describe required signer/authentication strength for approvals (SAML/SSO, MFA, SMS OTP, or KBA) and the audit evidence captured.
Map approval order, required signers, escalation paths, and what constitutes acceptance of the proposal and subsequent changes.
State retention periods for emails and logs, the legal basis for retention, and how audit trails will be preserved and accessed.
Include incident response steps, breach notification responsibilities, acceptable use, and exceptions approval procedure.
| Field | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Authentication Method | SAML/SSO, MFA, or email+SMS OTP |
| Signature Field | Required signature and date fields |
| Conditional Fields | Show vendor details only if third-party selected |
| Audit Capture | Record IP, timestamp, and action log |
Ensure the platform can produce a tamper-evident signed file and retain an audit trail that meets legal and internal audit requirements.
Date when reviewers must receive the draft
Typical 5–10 business days for stakeholder feedback
Final date for all required signers to sign
When IT begins applying controls
Effective Date establishes retention clock
| Criteria | Project Proposal | Enterprise Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | specific projects | organization-wide |
| Approval | project signers | ciso/board signoff |
| Change Control | project-level changes | formal change board |
| Retention | proposal-specific | standard retention schedule |
| signNow | DocuSign | Adobe Sign | PandaDoc | HelloSign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $8/user/mo | $15/user/mo | $14/user/mo | $19/user/mo | $15/user/mo |
| Free Trial | 7-day free trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk Send | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Audit Trail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Envelope Cap | No envelope cap | 100 envelopes/user/year | Varies by plan | Varies by plan | Varies by plan |
Optica Ventures used a written proposal to centralize communication controls across multiple investments.
A real estate developer standardized vendor email handling and e-signing for permits and change orders.