What is a virtual data room?

A virtual data room or data room is a purpose-built cloud solution for the secure storage and sharing of confidential business information. Data rooms offer specific sets of features such as advanced permissions, Q&A tools, notes, and bookmarks, as well as multi-factor authentication and watermark. Although virtual data rooms have traditionally been used for financial transactions, IPOs, and real estate asset lifecycle management, their use cases have grown over the past decade. Potentially any company concerned with the secure and specialized management of its documentation can turn to data rooms. Today, many vendors like Docurex offering a SaaS solution are increasingly integrating machine learning technology into their software, expanding their offering to include tools such as machine translation of documents, results management, and automatic analysis of warning signals.

How should you choose a data room provider?

A data room is room to stock confidential business IDs. Now, the idea has evolved online – virtual data rooms are becoming more common and are increasingly replacing the need for physical data rooms.

As the name proposes, a virtual data room is room to store sensitive documents. The virtual element comes from the fact that it can be accessed from anywhere, as long as there is an internet connection. Businesses that need to perform due diligence and manage assets throughout their lifecycle typically use virtual data rooms. It is also useful when entering into various collaborations between business stakeholders. Some examples of this include mergers and acquisitions or joint venture investments, but also executive communication between board members, patents and licensing, etc.

Essentially, a data room will act as leverage in all kinds of projects that require secure and professional document storage, management and sharing.

Finding a suitable data room supplier is crucial for the success of a project. By focusing on the right supplier, you add a layer of security to your confidential business documents. It also contributes significantly to the success of the cooperation or transaction.

What features should a data room have?

The general concept and functionality of different data halls may be similar to each other; however, each provider and data room has functions that correspond to specific use cases. Each user will also have their own expectations and needs and, therefore, it may be impossible to determine what are the most important features of a virtual data room it depends a lot on the project and the user.

Nevertheless, virtual data rooms have basic functionality that is easy and secure uploading, saving, and managing multiple files. Files can range from documents to business letters and diagrams; all kinds of information transfers can take place in a data room. The important thing is that it goes smoothly and safely.

It is also about the intuitiveness of use. If the virtual data room arises with simple and easy to realize workflows, the user experience will be positive. This, in turn, will play an important role in the success of the negotiations. If the setup in the data room doesn’t have an intuitive and easy feel, project participants will have to put in more effort to upload, save, and manage files. This can hamper and slow down the progress of the project.