It is very much possible that you may have spent hundreds and thousands on improving your business data security but still couldn’t get satisfactory results. But the question is, have you ever thought of investing in virtual data rooms? Or even came across this term before?

Online data room software is one of the latest and most remarkable additions to online data storage solutions. If you want to know how a virtual data room can keep your business data safe and improve your business, then this guide is tailor-made for you.

Virtual data room definition

A virtual or electronic data room is a cloud-based online data repository for storing and sharing business documents and personal data. Data rooms are equally helpful for businesses and individuals.

People often believe that virtual data rooms are just limited to businesses, but professionals, especially independent contractors from all over the world, are using data rooms for storing their important documents and connecting with clients and other professionals.

Modern data room software is equipped with project management and collaboration tools which make them secure online deal rooms. That’s why corporations use VDRs for IPOs, capital asset purchases, fundraising, M&As, real estate deals, and audits.

In a nutshell, a virtual data room is:

  • An online data repository
  • Virtual workspace
  • Online deal room

3 reasons why virtual data rooms are beneficial for your business

Online data room software has so much to offer to your business, but here are the top three benefits of VDRs for businesses.

1. Business document management

When it comes to business document management, nothing can be better than virtual data rooms. In particular, they offer the following.

Secure centralized data storage

Virtual data rooms are online data storage places where you can store all your business documents in one place. But why is a centralized data repository useful for your business?

An organization consists of multiple departments such as sales, marketing, taxation, accounting, finance, human resource, etc. Generally, every department maintains a separate document storage place. Organizational data dispersed in different places makes inter-departmental coordination difficult.

By using virtual data rooms, every single file related to your business can be stored in one place and is accessible from anywhere.

Efficient data organization

Centrally storing data is not enough; it is equally important to organize your business data to make things easier for your employees and external parties (auditors, legal advisors, creditors, debtors, etc.).

An electronic data room allows you to organize data the way it suits your business. You can create sections, folders, and subfolders and store data in multiple formats such as videos, images, audios, documents, etc. Furthermore, you can find any file easily — just enter the file name, phrase, or keyword in the search bar and immediately access the file.

Seamless file sharing

Users in the data room can access or share documents with ease. Everyone in the data room has a defined role and access permission settings, using which they can edit or alter any file, create annotations or comments to documents, and add multiple users to work on a single document simultaneously. Most importantly, businesses can collaborate and share important data with stakeholders and investors.

2. Business data security

Any data management system is incomplete without unbeatable security; virtual data rooms provide you with that security. Data rooms are hosted by certified virtual data room providers that make sure your data is safe from cyber threats.

If you are using certified data room services, your vendor will provide you amazing security features at all levels. Any document you upload to your data room is backed up in multiple servers to ensure that your data is not lost in any way.

Here are some other security features you will find in any high-grade data room:

  • Two-step verification. It requires any data room user to log in by entering a password in a one-time generated code.
  • Fence view. You can protect any file or document from being screenshot, edited, downloaded, printed, or photographed.
  • Access restrictions. Data room management can restrict any user or group from accessing a specific file, folder, or part of any file.
  • Remote purging. The data room administration can wipe all the data from a lost or stolen device connected to the data room.
  • Digital watermarking. Users can add digital watermarks to their documents to avoid copyright problems and trace any file editing or alteration.

3. Cost-efficiency

Lastly, but most importantly, virtual data rooms help you save financial resources for your businesses. It may shock you but businesses, on average, use 100,000 papers per month. Using an online data room software means you are going paperless, saving burdensome paper and printing costs.

In fact, how can you forget courier charges, especially if you have to dispatch documents to other states or countries? In addition to that, you can avoid expenses incurred in team meetings. In short, data rooms are budget-friendly and cost-efficient business solutions.

Summing it up

Virtual data rooms ensure three important things for your business, such as data security, document management, and seamless collaboration. On top of that, data rooms are easy to set up and even easier to use. And best of all, they help you save money. Therefore, you should definitely consider going for a virtual data room solution, if you haven’t done it yet. You can read here some additional information on the best data rooms, their strengths and weaknesses, use cases, and more.

About the Author

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Mirko Humbert

Mirko Humbert is the editor-in-chief and main author of Designer Daily and Typography Daily. He is also a graphic designer and the founder of WP Expert.