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Hiring virtual data room services means you are throwing the ball in someone else’s court. Whether you are looking for virtual data room providers for ongoing data storage needs or need a secure platform for due diligence, a bad or improperly researched decision can cost you thousands or even millions.
That’s because bad data room vendors not only waste your time or money, but their insecure services can make you find yourself in lawsuits, especially if you are dealing with sensitive customer data. The only solution to avoid this misery is to invest your time in finding a trustable virtual data room provider.
The next question that you should ask is, how to choose the right virtual data room vendor? Or what to consider while choosing a VDR provider? This guide can help you find answers to your questions.
Important Tips to remember when choosing a Virtual Data Room Provider
When choosing a virtual data room, there are a few vital aspects to consider:
- Your needs and expectations. You should decide what you intend to achieve with a virtual data room.
- Your security preferences. You should understand what specific security measures to prioritize in your choice.
- Data room expertise. You should consider previous expertise of your virtual data room vendor, and whether it has experience working with your industry.
- Your operating system. You should discover the deployment options the data room has to offer, and decide whether it meets your business needs.
- Customer reviews. Last but not least, you should analyze some virtual data room reviews and see what other customers say about your selected vendor.
Below we are going to analyze these aspects in more detail, but if you want to compare virtual data rooms on your own, here is a globally trusted resource for detailed data room comparison and detailed information about data rooms https://dataroomproviders.ca/.
1. Decide what you intend to achieve with the virtual data room
Those days are over when there were only a few data room vendors available in the market. The virtual data room market has grown immensely, and there are specifically designed virtual data rooms for different purposes.
For example, DealRoom virtual data room is specifically used for due diligence in M&As and other similar processes. DealRoom data room services are not ideal if you intend to use them for the long term, especially if you are on a tight budget. Similarly, if you are a law firm or need an online data room software for litigation, then iDeals virtual data rooms would be much better.
In short, narrow your research according to your needs and look for specialized services.
2. Look into virtual data room software security
If there is one thing where there are zero chances of a compromise, it is definitely the data room security. Data room security is the reason why you turned to VDR technology in the first place.
First of all, make sure that the electronic data room complies with all mandatory cyber security standards, including ISO 27081, ISO 27001, and ISO 27017. After that, look for state or regional data security certifications such as HIPAA, FINRA, SOC2, SSAE 16, and GDPR.
Once you are sure that your potential service provider ticks all boxes in the certifications section, make sure it provides at least basic security features, such as;
- Document access control. It gives you the ability to assign user roles in your virtual data room and restrict their document access level according to your needs.
- Two-step verification. It is a basic feature that you often get in any high-end online data room software, and it prevents unauthorized entries in your data room.
- Reporting or auditing. Modern-day virtual data rooms also give you the luxury of detailed audit reports on activities performed in your data room. That said, who viewed files, who edited documents, login time, etc., can be traced through these reports.
Other recommended security features include digital watermarks, remote device purging, customizable NDAs, and Fence View mode.
3. Consider data room provider’s experience in the industry
How much experience a virtual data room vendor has is an important question to ask. The first step should be visiting their website; if it doesn’t have much information about their past projects, it can be a red flag. Also, it can be an indication that the vendor may be falling behind the competitors.
Industry experience also matters a lot because only trained and experienced service providers can understand the unique needs and problems of different consumers.
4. Discover if the virtual data room vendor supports your operating system
Can you believe that many virtual data room providers don’t even support common operating systems such as Mac, Windows, Linux, or Android? If your company or employees use Windows, then look out for vendors that support Windows as a deployment method.
Here are some top virtual data rooms that support Microsoft Windows:
- iDeals
- SecureDocs
- Box
- Google Workspace
- eFileCabinet
5. Read online customer reviews
Although it is a basic element, reading online customer reviews can help you learn a lot about the service provider. However, read detailed reviews from trusted websites like Trustradius, G2, Capterra, Software Advice, Domain.com, etc.
One of the biggest benefits of reading detailed customer reviews is that you assess where a service provider is lacking or what are its weak points.
Other important things to consider include:
- Does the vendor offer your desired features?
- Does it support API and third-party app integration?
- How good is their customer support service?
- Does the company have a dedicated mobile app?
Final words
Choosing a data room software vendor that doesn’t understand your needs can turn too expensive for your business. It will not only waste your time and money but may compromise your data security as well. Therefore, always go for certified data room vendors and go through the tips mentioned above for better decision-making.