A virtual data room became a crucial part of any business process that involves corporate documents. This tool keeps the files safe, allows companies to exchange them easily, and offers teamwork instruments that streamline and accelerate the deals. It eliminates the need to travel to the partner to bring the documents. Therefore, data rooms cut costs and save companies a lot of time. That’s why entrepreneurs around the world gladly adopt this solution and use it for different internal and external needs.
If you’re just thinking about getting a data room for your company, you need some guidelines that will help you to navigate the variety of providers. There are so many different vendors that it’s very easy to feel lost and frustrated trying to choose the one that fits you. We’ve established four main criteria that you should consider when picking a data room provider.
Data room security
Let’s begin with the most important feature. You need to know that your files are safe at all times – this is one of the primary reasons why businesses stick to data rooms. So a VDR that can’t protect your corporate information properly is rather useless. True, most providers implement military-grade encryption to safeguard the user files both at rest and during the transfer.
But that’s not enough. If someone who has access to your data room gets their login information stolen, even the strongest encryption won’t help. This is the reason why a data room should offer two-factor authentication that will keep unauthorized users away. Such a feature means that users will have to enter not only the login information but a unique code as well. This code is sent upon logging it to the user’s phone. It’s the most widely-used solution, but there are other kinds of two-factor authentication such as fingerprint or face identification. Regardless of the approach, multi-factor authentication will protect your data room from malefactors.
Also, to help data room owners keep their files even safer, providers give businesses control over access other users have. The more granular the levels of access are, the better. Ideally, you should be able to decide allowed actions for every user, folder, and document. Along with this feature, vendors will let you see the activity of other team members so that you can detect suspicious actions right away.
Finally, reputable providers offer dynamic watermarks that also will help you to protect files from unauthorized use. And some vendors provide their clients with such functions as fence view that will keep the information safeguarded from prying eyes. The more security features you can get, the better. Stick to providers that are generous about safety tools.
Ease of use
Imagine the hassle of trying to teach every new employee, partner, or third-party on how to use a data room. Complex interfaces slow down deals as novice users need to figure out how to navigate the features. And it’s fair to say, that non-intuitive tools are quite useless because, in the end, they will steal more of your time than save. That’s why it’s crucial for a data room to be easy to use.
Fortunately for all of us, most providers make their software as simple as possible by organizing neatly all the functions and making menus easy to navigate. So it’s very likely that your data room will be rather easy and pleasant to use, especially if you choose a well-known vendor. However, we still advise you to go through all the screenshots of the interface to see if you like it. Also, most providers offer either a free trial or a demo that will let you experience the tool in action. You should take a chance to try a data room to ensure you like it.
Management
The functions of a good data room should extend beyond basic file uploading, editing, printing, and sharing. The software should index all the new documents automatically to simplify the file management and search for you. Also, it’s better if a vendor offers a drag and drop feature for you to upload files in bulk, and doesn’t limit much the sizes. Moreover, the data room should preserve the structure if you upload files that are already divided into folders.
Additionally, you will need a proper search feature that can look for files both trough their names and content. The OCR is crucial as well because many corporate documents are in the PDF format. A good search function will ensure that all participants of the deal will find the needed files quickly without slowing down processes.
Finally, you should be able to control levels of access for every user, folder, and document. Then you can be sure the third-parties don’t see what they’re not supposed to see, and no one will cause a data leak.
Notifications are also useful, and you should be able to tweak them so that other users get notified only about important actions. This will accelerate deals greatly as all parties will have a chance to react quickly.
Support
As we have said, the data room should be easy to use. But even the simplest interface doesn’t mean you will never have issues or questions. That’s why the support team should be available around the clock. The specialists must be able to answer all your questions and solve any problem you faced. Moreover, they should make sure you’re getting the most out of your data room.
Reputable providers offer different kinds of support – from technical and general help to dedicated managers who will go through the deal along with you to make sure you do everything correctly. In this way, the vendor ensures that the customers are satisfied with the service, and they’re getting all the advantages a data room can offer. Note that all the users should have access to support – even temporary ones that have access to the repository only over a limited time.
Of course, every business has unique preferences and needs. These criteria are the basic requirements that will help you to pick a decent data room. If you want a more tailored solution, you should look for vendors that offer VDRs suited for certain activities or markets. However, most reputable providers can satisfy all the needs.
Today iDeals is the leading data room provider. It keeps an impeccable reputation and high positions for years thanks to the exceptional quality of the software it offers. iDeals excels by all the criteria we’ve mentioned and offers every feature businesses might need. This vendor will be suitable for any needs and fields as it has all the certificates and numerous functions.
The reliability of iDeals is confirmed by trusted resources such as G2 and Softwareadvice, and thousands of satisfied customers. So if you don’t want to spend a lot of time and effort trying to find the fitting solution, you should try iDeals. Chances are very high you will stick to this provider as it fulfills all your needs.