Good practice How to choose Virtual Data Room effectively?

Virtual Data Room is a system that will be used in many projects, often diametrically different in terms of the number of users, duration or the number and frequency of sent documents. So how do you choose the most appropriate offer?

Aleksander works as a director in a large pharmaceutical company that produces drugs, dietary supplements and medical devices mainly on the European market. The company has established its position as a supplier of original medicines as well as high-quality generics, thanks to which it can compete with suppliers in many countries. Therefore, the processes related to pharmaceutical production carried out by the company are practically continuous. Aleksander makes sure that each of them is as transparent and effective as possible. This is a responsible role. After all, intellectual property and multi-million contracts are at stake. So are the achievements of several decades of the company’s operation.

We meet Aleksander when his company is undergoing modernization. It was mainly concerning the IT systems and supply chains because the equipment and laboratory had already been equipped with the highest class equipment. We learned that thousands of pages of documentation are created in the production of company’s pharmaceutical products. Each of them must be subject to strict protection and at the same time be easily accessible when the product concerned undergoes an audit, registration or licensing. How did the data room meet these needs? We have created a central document database for Aleksander, and each department has gained separate access to relevant documents with multiple levels of authority. Making them available inside and outside the organization, such as registration offices, customers and controlling bodies, has become transparent, effective and one hundred percent secure. Aleksander knew that he would stay with us for longer.

The VDR system has become an integral part of the company, significantly accelerating the course of each process. Knowing this, we offered full support from the Customer Service team and a very attractive price offer as part of a subscription extended every 12 months. The documents can be worked on by an unlimited number of users, the amount of data transferred is flexible and adapted to the expected usage – the company pays only for the selected package, and if it expires under the contract, it can buy a new one. It is possible to integrate the Virtual Data Room with the company’s internal IT system, brand it and adapt a whole range of amenities. We work with Aleksander to this day.

Most companies, however, do not create such abundant and strictly protected documentation. We are often unable to predict when the Virtual Data Room will be needed because our projects might be implemented irregularly. This applies, for example, to PE / VC funds that enter or leave investments depending on the market situation. The same is true for individual processes conducted by companies, such as auditing, M&A transactions or restructuring. Can companies that need VDR within one project count on an equally tailored offer?

Projects that do not engage VDR resources on a regular basis over longer periods can use the contract for one month, with an option to extend it at any time. A smaller number of users and data translates into a lower, fixed price, while additional data and users can be purchased at any time when the need arises. This is a good solution when we are not sure whether a given project will take us a month or a little more, and how many people will be involved in it. To illustrate this, let’s take the perspective of an audit process.

Audit is a complex and labor-intensive procedure. Due to the still uncertain situation caused by the restrictions, the interest in this topic increased among entrepreneurs. Depending on the type of analysis, an audit may cover from several to several dozen different areas of the company’s operations, including personnel issues, issues related to real estate, finances, concluded contracts, intellectual property and others. As auditing involves many parties outside of the organization, such as lawyers, regulators, banks, experts and so on, it is difficult to predict how long it may last. What does the FORDATA VDR Lite system give in this case?

First of all, flexibility. One month, one project, 1 GB of data to send and 15 users in the basic offer will allow us to conduct an audit efficiently. However, the process may take longer if, for example, unplanned areas are found necessary to be explored. In this case, you can easily extend the existing contract with all the progress of work or buy individual components of the system as needed. VDR Lite is therefore the optimal solution if we are not able to predict the end of the task, but we do not want to sign a long-term contract and leave resources unused. We write more on the benefits of our system on audit and restructuring pages.

What about the system itself? What to look for if we want documents shared in Virtual Data Room to be really secure – and our project completed faster and more efficiently? It is worth first checking the functions and the level of customer support offered. Does the system have the appropriate certificates, can you check the testimonials obtained from customers, how strong the applied safeguards are and whether the system collects positive reviews in software search engines?

In our case, it includes:

SPEED

• running the instance within 15 minutes
• loading the original document structure
• fast data upload (1 GB even in 7 minutes)
• no installation and implementation

SECURITY

• the ability to block document storage and printout
• watermarks on documents identifying the user
• screen block with the use of the Print Screen key
• ISO 27 001 certificate, compliance with GDPR, servers in the EU

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

• picking up calls in 15 seconds, replying to email in 15 minutes
• proactive action – we know what difficulties the user may face beforehand
• dedicated Project Manager
• 24/7 contact without bots and call scripts

It doesn’t really matter how big the company is and what its annual turnover is. The Lite version of our Virtual Data Room can be used by large consulting companies, one-person offices and small family businesses. If we want to securely share confidential documents, have total control over expenses, and at the same time we don’t know what resources we will need, VDR Lite is the best option to initiate action.