The Best Virtual Data Room Solutions for Simplified Data Management
Data transfer and seamless communication are generally key to a quality partnership. Establishing such a long-term or long-term relationship with a customer is impossible when you do not share information quickly and comfortably. Therefore, it is worth using the virtual data room to ensure the ease of data sharing and secure communication.
What is a virtual data room?
A virtual data room is a product of combining elements of a web content management system and document management system. It is the storage (archive) of defined confidential corporate documents in electronic form and with a clear structure.
In addition, this virtual data room has a unique technology, which gives an objective opportunity to manage the documents downloaded from the repository. For example, an administrator can cancel access to the file anytime and any user even when s/he has now downloaded the paper. This feature is necessary for everyone who works in the banking sector delivers the work of logic, and flashes retail sales.
How Virtual Data Room Works
Virtual data room (VDR) technology creates an online workspace that replaces a traditional conference room filled with boxes of documents. VDR solutions provide a way for employees and partners to share important documents with clients and third parties. The administrator also can control data access, ensuring stored documents’ security. It all eliminates the need to fumble with folders filled with paper documents and scanned versions of documents at various email addresses or stored on CDs.
What used to take months and cost several downed trees can now be done in a matter of days. The documents are online and accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection. In addition, no one needs to travel to the location where they previously prepared the documents for legal and other inspections. Nor is it necessary to provide personal oversight to ensure that documents are not taken out or copied or that everything needed is available to visitors. Saving costs also means saving time when attendees go on business trips and only finding out later on the spot that the necessary documents aren’t available.
Using documents in virtual data rooms has greater security guarantees. Participants in the operation must register in the data room by entering their passwords and have different rights to access the documents. Some can download the paper, and some can only read it on the screen. Some people who have access to the data room will only have the right to, for example, read the document online but will not be able to print or download it or will only have the right to download the file with a watermark. It means that the person who makes the documents available for viewing will not have to follow the movement of the papers physically; the software takes care of everything.
Since the documents will never physically leave the room, they cannot be lost. In addition, it will be easy to recover data from data room services even after several years and check who and when was familiar with what documents.
The Main Features of VDRs
Nowadays, many different online data room software vendors have their products. You can see a list of the main ones here vdrsolutions.org. They may differ in the set of tools, their implementation, etc. However, there is a list of must-have instruments and features that every data room software is equipped with.
Watermarks
With this feature, you can identify the person to download the file, assign authorship, mark the download date, and so on. It helps protect the information from unauthorized use.
Access Restrictions
Data room administration can assign access levels according to roles. As a result, there can be participants in the team who can fully or partially edit the document, only read or download it, etc. At the same time, you can change the access levels in a few clicks.
Advanced-Data Encryption
Regarding security, 128-bit encryption is a must for all modern VDR technologies. At the same time, many providers are switching over to 256-bit keys. It directly prevents hacking and information theft.
Scanning of Files
Working with a data room implies downloading large amounts of information. The content can be very diverse: text files, audio content, videos, etc. It is not uncommon for malicious files to be found among the mass of data and thus disrupt the stable operation of the software. VDRs have tools to scan infected and flawed files to prevent this situation.
Data Backup
All modern software that helps you work with large amounts of information allows you to create backups, and VDRs are no exception. As a result, it helps achieve higher security and data integrity in unexpected situations. This feature may vary from provider to provider, who may offer data storage either in the cloud or on a secure server.
High Level of Availability
Most of today’s online data room software is web-based or has an application. As a result, all team members can access all resources, participate in discussions, leave comments, and download and edit documents on the go.
Datarooms Functionality
The Data Room is the foundation and core of a document management system. However, it should be noted that it is not just some database that stores data on a permanent or temporary basis and is used to prepare analytical materials, but an information system with specific properties. It is the most responsible part of the management decision-making process, which again shows that it is aimed at a general overview of the company’s state. Thus, the virtual data room:
- Represents a subject-oriented system: the data is organized into an object model corresponding to a particular company’s subject area.
- Integrates data, which means that data is collected from different sources, but data rooms are cleaned up and brought to the common denominator of the object model entities.
- It is non-volatile. That is, it is always relatively static and organized so that the data is updated by keeping track of changes in the original information systems. For example, this principle forbids the complete reloading of data when updated. The VDR provides mechanisms for incrementally loading, marking, and editing data.
Moreover, the electronic data room stores the entire history of the company’s activities. This means that all data downloaded from any source is saved. Therefore, switching from one user to another, archiving data, and changing the horizon of data storage in the original system should not violate the basic principle of data storage, management, and exchange in VDRs.