In most companies, data rooms have already been implemented or are planned to be implemented soon. With the help of these digital solutions, the deals become transparent and manageable. This article guides how to choose a suitable vendor for your company.
Online data room: how to automate deal management workflows?
Online data room is a digital platform that allows companies to organize and automate work with electronic documents throughout the deal life cycle. The main functionality of the data room should include the ability to create, modify, store and route documents, and other service capabilities, such as search, classification, etc. In addition, the data room deal module ensures the accumulation and processing of all information on relationships with counterparties, guarantees the careful drafting of the contract and all its annexes and changes, and then will assist in the precise fulfillment of obligations and the settlement of disagreements.
Traditionally, workflow automation is associated with work with correspondence, administrative and organizational documents, etc. However, the data room also allows you to associate each document with the actions that should be performed on it. Thanks to such a system, it becomes possible to track the performance of certain work by employees. Thus, the software provides effective document flow management and information security in the company and increases control over the execution of work on documents and employees’ productivity.
Guide to choosing a data room system for business
There are dozens of data room solutions on the global market of digitalization systems for working with confidential business data. Which one is right for your company depends on the initial conditions and tasks. Although most data room vendors have similar functionality, some additional features can be demanding for certain companies. In the selection process, top managers and company executives pay attention to several aspects, highlighting those most important for the enterprise. They are as follows:
- User interface and experience. The criterion of feeling comfortable when working in the interface is important. It should be understandable and not cause negative emotions or inconvenience. Employees will be annoyed by the brakes in work, an illogical sequence of actions. It should not be. Sales managers have a lot of work, and many tasks, so the system should be convenient and easy to use.
- Integration with services and applications. The data room is not an additional coin in the piggy bank of a company’s accounting, analytical, and forecasting programs. Its task is to unite them, simplify employees’ work, and optimize and automate business processes.
- Functionality. You need flexible and scalable data room software because you use a unique stack of tool combinations. They help attract customers, sell them a product, and close deals. Your business is constantly growing, and tools are being added and changed. Over time, data room features will not be enough, so make sure you can safely upgrade to an advanced version. Making the right choice for companies with difficult sales is especially important. One-stop solutions usually don’t suit them and don’t meet their needs. Such businesses should prefer a data room, which can be adapted to their own needs and developed as the enterprise grows.
- Cost. Expenses will be associated with purchasing a license, implementation, and maintenance services. It must be taken into account. It is impossible to get data room for free. There are demo periods (for 1-2 weeks) when you can install and test the software’s functionality in practice for free to evaluate the capabilities of a particular system.