Automating client management with a Desktop-as-a-Service system for under $2 per month using Amazon WorkSpaces with Docusign

More than 1 billion people in over 180 countries use Docusign solutions to accelerate everyday business processes. The company has expanded from an e-signature offering to a solution for intelligent agreement management (called Docusign IAM) to unlock insights in all the agreements that run every organization. Now, more than 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Docusign.

In 2020, when in-person work was limited during the COVID-19 pandemic, Docusign shipped laptops for company contractors all over the world. Because the average contract lasts less than 1 year, it became expensive to set up and decommission hardware so frequently. This prompted Docusign to look for a simplified VDI solution.

Docusign thoroughly tested several providers and services. After creating multiple proofs of concept, the company ultimately determined that AWS and Amazon WorkSpaces were the right choices for the required range of features and automation capabilities. AWS services are designed to provide a wide range of powerful solutions for building products and optimizing workloads with high price performance. “AWS was an advanced and mature solution that solved our business needs,” says Roman Rasskovski, senior manager for client platform engineering at Docusign.

The Docusign team participated in learning sessions to expand employees’ AWS expertise and changed the workflow to build new, completely automated processes. The team gained the skills to modernize the workflow using flexible, scalable, and reliable cloud services on AWS. “The last line of code we wrote for that workflow was 3 years ago,” says Rasskovski. “Since then, it has run autonomously without engineering interactions.”

At the same time, Docusign moved to a new solution for mobile device management, which required a later version of the operating system (OS) that the initial VDI setup had used. “Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 on Amazon WorkSpaces was a straightforward process,” says Rasskovski. Now, users have exactly the same experience using Windows 11 on their laptops and in virtual desktop environments.

On Amazon WorkSpaces, Docusign accelerated contractor onboarding, created a more consistent user experience, and improved speed and efficiency—all while maintaining strong security and high performance. Because the new services connected seamlessly to existing workflows and provided opportunities for automation, the IT team now has less to manage.

Docusign’s automated VDI workflow spans the configuration, maintenance, and decommissioning of each Amazon WorkSpaces environment. Docusign uses a combination of AWS services, including Amazon API Gateway—a service for creating, maintaining, and securing APIs at nearly any scale—to set up and remove Amazon WorkSpaces environments.

The company runs serverless actions using AWS Lambda, which businesses can use to run code without thinking about servers or clusters. Then, an AWS Lambda function launches the orchestration workflow on AWS Step Functions, a visual-workflow service. When a user requests a virtual desktop, the VDI solution starts provisioning one in seconds. The entire provisioning time from the user’s request for VDI to getting started with their work takes 15 minutes, instead of 2 months in the case of a physical computer.

Through the Docusign chatbot on the team chat, end users can specify their configuration requirements, such as the type of environment, amount of RAM, and size of the hard drive. Then, each time Amazon WorkSpaces is running, all the user’s preferences are downloaded and installed automatically. When a contractor leaves, another automated workflow reads the status of the user and automatically removes the environment that’s no longer in use.

Docusign can now automate client onboarding and offboarding and run the entire VDI setup while cutting costs to less than 2 dollars per month. “A key feature that differentiated Amazon WorkSpaces was the ability to hibernate a virtual desktop,” says Rasskovski. “We’ve drastically reduced the time and money that we spend on managing VDI. Contractors use virtual desktops for only a few hours per day.” In addition, by automatically decommissioning environments and cleaning up unused accounts, Docusign saves 15,000 dollars per month and further minimizes manual work.

Using Amazon WorkSpaces, Docusign’s engineers don’t have to test updates and changes on two different OS versions. They can test on the latest OS to verify that all the devices and virtual desktops are running. “We’ve not only improved security but also decreased operational work,” says Rasskovski.

The company has transformed the remote-work infrastructure and Docusign from a hardware-based system that relied on manual engineering work to a simple, automated VDI setup on AWS. Using AWS services, Docusign has increased productivity and unlocked a more consistent experience for end users.

The company is constantly looking for ways to innovate and is exploring the possibilities of using AI to enhance the Docusign IAM suite. In addition, Docusign continues to improve the suite as AWS services evolve.

“The people at AWS are customer centric and genuinely innovative, and it’s good to be riding this wave with that team,” says Rasskovski.