Virtual data rooms began to develop in the 1960s and have replaced physical data rooms. Although many companies have already switched to cloud storage, some still do not use VDR technology. So what are its strengths compared to the physical data room – more on that later.
Big deals of the past – how was it?
The physical data rooms in the past were archives and warehouses with boxes in which documents were stored. However, one of the significant cases to take advantage of the data room has always been more of a deal for example, mergers and acquisitions.
A vast room stood out, into which piles of documents were carried. Dozens of employees could be involved in this process. The transactions took many days to complete. But the most critical problem was the possibility of data theft. After all, many important documents were in full view of dozens of company employees.
The virtual data room eliminated all the shortcomings of the physical ones and also transferred the conduct of large transactions to a new level of comfort.
How does the virtual data room work?
VDR is a carefully protected cloud where your documents reside. Thanks to internal integrations, company employees can work with many documents without leaving the data room.
You can add company employees or give access to consultants and lawyers during large transactions.
Benefits of a virtual data room versus a physical one
The virtual data room, in comparison with the physical one, wins in several ways:
- Your files are in a safe place, from where neither company employees nor outside hackers can steal them. An insider leak is the most common reason for the loss of company information. Approximately 70% of cases are associated precisely with employees gaining access to information and stealing it. VDR technology helps to avoid this.
- The data is conveniently stored, and it is easy for you to find the document of interest. You can create a data storage structure of any complexity in a virtual room. The main thing is that it is comfortable enough for you. Also, virtual data rooms offer the ability to search documents by a single word or a whole text.
- Access settings for different employees. Previously, everyone had access to the data room. Often employees of one department could see the documentation of another. This is one of the reasons for the loss of information – everyone had too much access to files. In VDR, you can flexibly configure access for employees. The administrator assigns who sees certain documents and can edit, read, view, or print them.
- Some companies still do not trust the cloud. And in vain – the shadows are well protected from data loss, flexible in settings, and available. Even if you have a small company or startup, you can easily choose a data room for yourself. The starting price of such a service is about 50-100 dollars per month. Of course, extensive holdings can buy data rooms for thousands of dollars a month.
To be sure of the benefits of VDR, it is enough to order a trial version of the software. Many providers allow you to try the data room for 3-14 or even 30 days.