How To Use Virtual Data Room Software
11 November, 2022A virtual data room (VDR) is a secure cloud-based repository used to store, access, and share confidential documents with multiple partners and stakeholders, some of whom may be in remote locations external to your organization. This collaboration process is common for financing proposals, audits, compliance and regulatory proposals, creation of internal policies and procedures, and a host of other projects. In many cases, the collaborators are using popular software like Office365 and its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications.
But how secure are these documents? The fact is that these confidential documents are vulnerable to hacking, particularly during the team collaboration process.
The good news is that ShareVault has developed a secure online environment for archiving confidential documents, and protocols to ensure that documents remain secure during the collaboration process. Follow the five easy steps below to ensure safe collaboration.
1. Get Organized and Set Permissions
Designate a VDR system administrator, usually a project team leader. He or she will do the preliminary step of naming and organizing folders. Now the folders are ready for document uploads. The administrator then sets up a list of users and defines their access and usage permissions.
ShareVault provides the system administrator with a simple interface to make a list of users, as individuals and/or groups, and to set their access permissions. Access controls include:
- Passwords: ShareVault security requires two-factor authentication, meaning a user first enters a password, and then receives a text message with a unique code that must be entered in order to proceed. Once the password is confirmed, he or she has access based on his or her usage permissions
- Access Designation: A user can have access to all or to select folders and files
- Policies: ShareVault provides fully-configurable file security policies, allowing administrators to easily define the appropriate levels of file protection. For each policy, administrators can specify whether users have the right to print, save, copy/paste text, capture the screen, and to which, if any, a watermark should be applied. In addition, you can specify an absolute or relative expiration date. Much more flexible than the limited view/print/save levels provided by a typical virtual data room, ShareVault policies give you the ability to easily control exactly what rights each user has when accessing your content. Because it's so easy to change, you can modify the rights as your project progresses.
- Cut-off Dates: For further control, the administrator can alter access permissions at any time, including the ability to set a cut-off date
- Watermarking: The administrator can set dynamic watermarking, which “brands” a document with the user’s name, date, email and IP addresses, as well as a customizable confidentiality statement.
Once a proposal document has been approved, the administrator can extend access to senior management, partners, or customers.
Other sharing platforms provide usage permissions limited to view, print and save, but ShareVault is designed to expand permissions control and to make them fully customizable. ShareVault lets you select from seven security attributes and allows for batch operations so the system administrator can adjust access and usage as trust in a user increases. For example, the administrator may grant a user the right to print certain documents as the project moves into its later stages.
2. Invite Users
ShareVault provides the project administrator with a simple interface to make a list of users, as individuals and/or groups, and set their user and group access permissions.
3. Upload Documents
Uploading a document to a folder in ShareVault is easy: simply drag-and-drop. ShareVault tools also provide for bulk uploads.
As an organizational tool, the ShareVault administrator adds hashtags to a document. These “hierarchical hashtags”' identify a document by subject, source, date, and other criteria, including its status as it moves toward completion. For example, a document hashtag can change from “In Review” to “Final” or “Approved”.
4. Ask Questions and Collaborate
Developing an M&A proposal, legal brief, partner agreement, pharma submission, or other critical document is a process that typically requires extensive collaboration and multiple iterations of the document. ShareVault facilitates that process with a built-in “Q&A” feature.
When new information arises or clarification is needed, a user can simply click on the ”Q&A” button. A dialog box appears so that a user can post a question and receive replies from team members or project experts.
ShareVault also includes a powerful search function. Team members can use hashtags or subject matter key words or phrases to quickly search documents in folders in the VDR. Search results appear in context, meaning not just the search word but also a portion of the sentence or paragraph in which it appears, which dramatically reduces ‘wild goose’ searches.
5. Invite Investors & Stakeholders
ShareVault virtual deal room software ensures security, and its tools make the process of developing a proposal, due diligence report, contract, or regulatory submission as easy and efficient as possible.
For example, a company in M&A or private equity can develop a deal proposal and extend access to potential investors and other stakeholders. The VDR administrator controls access to ensure that only the relevant documents are available for review. To ensure confidentiality, the administrator can designate access to view-only, and he or she can “shred” any document, even after they have been downloaded.
Another example is when a proposed product moves to the final stages and is ready for regulatory review. To meet the requirements of regulatory oversight, ShareVault provides an advanced audit function, allowing the administrator to generate an audit report at any time, with granular detail of users, dates, nature of input, and other required information. ShareVault includes the ability to share files with regulators in the required format, such as Electronic Trial Master Files, or New Drug Applications for pharma and life sciences, and Seller Agreements for M&A review.
Get Professional Assistance
ShareVault has more than fifteen years of providing ultra-secure Virtual Data Rooms for companies in finance, pharma and life sciences, real estate, tech, healthcare, energy, and other industries. Our knowledgeable team will create a secure online work environment customized to your industry and organization. Our support team is available 24/7 by phone, chat or email.
The Best Virtual Data Room Software
At ShareVault, our mission is to revolutionize how enterprises protect and share their sensitive information. We provide a secure and reliable platform for our customers. Our goal is simple: We take care of the security, so you can focus on your business!
Contact a qualified ShareVault representative today to learn more about a custom solution.