More and more reports of revolutionary technological advances are emerging, and it is only natural that business leaders sometimes feel confused. Based on interviews with participants in PwC’s Annual Global CEO Survey in 2021, it was found that 77% of them are concerned about the pace of technological progress in their industry. Businesspersons also said that their priority is data security. At the same time, in the first place among the tools for the exchange of information is the data room software.

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Sharing Confidential Information

There are many situations where managers or employees need to share confidential information with various partners. Whatever is planned in this case — mergers and acquisitions, the exchange of legal documents, or the attraction of investments in a private fund, the use of data room services will be the best solution. Such software has several specific features.

  • Safety

Such solutions use modern security technologies. Users can be assured of the confidentiality of the transmitted information.

  • Ease of Use

The API is one of the key benefits when using virtual platforms. You and your partners do not need special training — you can start working with data in a few minutes after creating a room.

  • Price

When comparison of virtual data room providers, one should pay attention to the cost of the product. As a rule, such services have an affordable price list.

  • Customer Satisfaction

Virtual data rooms are flexible and customizable solutions that can be integrated with other business applications.

When choosing the right service for sharing your collaborative documentation, you should carefully consider the characteristics of each one. To compare virtual data rooms, you should look at their features, pricing, and customer reviews. Reliable providers are always ready to provide complete information about their products and give security guarantees.

Virtual Room to Accelerate Business Deals

Initially, virtual data rooms were created as alternatives to conventional premises for due diligence in mergers and acquisitions. Before the era of Internet technologies, familiarization of potential participants in the transaction with documents looked like this:

  • The seller allocated or rented one or more premises to which folders with paper documents were brought.
  • A schedule was drawn up for visiting the room and working with documents for potential buyers (bidders).
  • If the bidders were from another city or country, their representatives went on a business trip, spending time traveling and money.

Currently, companies in various fields of activity use electronic data room services. This software is relevant where it is necessary to provide convenient access to confidential information to a certain circle of people who may be thousands of kilometers from each other. A virtual data room is required in the following cases:

  • analysis of corporate reporting;
  • creating an archive of documents
  • audit;
  • preparation of an initial public offering (IPO);
  • mergers and acquisitions;
  • Search and provision of information for investors;
  • bankruptcy and restructuring;
  • preparation for obtaining certificates for medicines or other scientific developments.

A user’s most important advantage with a secure data room is complete control over the data. Neither FTP nor public storage will be able to provide such an opportunity. Using DRM-protection technology, the administrator can revoke the right to access a document even after he is already outside the corporate network.

Choosing a Data Room Provider

Choosing a high-quality service will help to accelerate business development significantly.  To get a quality product, consider the following points.

  • experience in implementing similar projects;
  • affordability;
  • availability of international experience;
  • multilingual interface online data room software;
  • availability of round-the-clock technical support;
  • the ability to receive both a finished product and a flexible offer with customizable parameters;
  • usability and intuitive clarity of the interface of the virtual data room;
  • availability of additional features;
  • the high degree of information protection;

If consulting companies are involved in the transaction, they can also be involved in the selection of a virtual data room provider. Online storage allows you to create a virtual database with the ability to quickly exchange documents. In this case, the administrator can restrict access rights, apply watermarks to confidential documents, or delete a room. A special DRM component is used to protect the information, which works throughout the entire life cycle of a document (even after it has been unloaded).

Principles of Protection Against Unauthorized Access

For the selected information storage and exchange technology to be useful for transactions with documents, it is necessary to understand the principles of its operation. The following are the main features of virtual data rooms that will allow you to optimize your business processes.

Control and data room due to diligence Set detailed rules for password strength and user session duration. Set the time to revoke access to files.
Restricting access by time and IP-address Limit access to the data room to a specific amount of time and specific IP addresses.
Granular User Permissions Manage permissions to view, download secure PDF files, print, download source documents based on the user’s role in the project.
Checking protection from another user’s point of view Make sure project members can only access the documents they need — check any user’s file permissions.
2-step authentication You need a password and a one-time code sent to the user’s mobile phone in an SMS message for two-level authorization.
Mobile device management Apply security measures and control the availability of protected documents on users’ mobile devices.

Data room due diligence will also allow you to monitor compliance with internal rules using a journal, where every action taken within the virtual room is recorded. Users can generate reports in PDF, Excel, or printable formats later in meetings and presentations.

Afterword

There are unavoidable one-time costs associated with using a virtual data room. However, this is the only available way to protect its data and a powerful virtual tool for its development. For full-fledged protection, a virtual data room must have the functionality to protect documents even after they are unloaded.

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