Do all businesses or professionals need virtual data rooms? This is a very common question in the business fraternity. But there is hardly a simple answer to this. Whether you or your business needs a virtual data room depends on different factors.
If you are stuck on whether you should use an electronic data room or not, ask yourself these questions to make the best possible decision.
4 Questions to Ask Yourself Whether You Need a Virtual Data Room or Not
1. What is the nature of your work, and is your current data storage method safe?
The first and the most important thing is to understand the nature of your business. If you run an IT firm, you must have a massive database system. If you own a marketing firm, you must be in possession of huge volumes of data.
Similarly, if you are a lawyer, financial advisor, freelancer, or independent contractor, you must be dealing with considerable volumes of data in various forms, such as clients’ records, document templates, etc.
Where do you keep all that data? Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have a backup system if you follow paper documentation or even digital storage methods?
- If you are storing your data digitally, do you think it is safe enough from hacking?
- Is your current storage system disaster-proof?
- Is your current data storage system cheaper than the cost of a virtual data room software? (It shock you, but virtual data room prices can be way lower than you can think)
If the answer to all these questions is a YES, then a virtual data room may not be necessary for you.
2. Can you safely share your important data with third parties?
A strong data storage system doesn’t necessarily guarantee safe data sharing. Yes, this statement may look a bit odd, but data storage and sharing are two different things. You may have a very safe storage system, but data sharing can still be a problem. Think about these issues:
- Can you share your confidential business files via emails, knowing that famous email service providers like Yahoo have gone through massive data leaks multiple times?
- Can you trust other free data storage and sharing services like Dropbox?
- Do you have control over your data even after sharing it with third parties?
Generally, once you share data with external parties, you have no authority over it.
However, with online data room software, you can share your business data in a controlled environment.
Do you know that virtual data rooms give you the option to revoke document access at any time? Apart from that, you can remove or purge any document even after it is downloaded.
Also, VDRs have built-in customizable NDA templates, and you can get them signed electronically. This way, you can legally bind third parties and hold them responsible in case of a data leak.
3. Can your data storage system protect data from internal threats?
Data protection is not limited to third parties or external bodies. You need to protect your data from internal threats as well. Internal risks include your own employees using or copying data they are not supposed to. Unfortunately, this is common in the corporate sector; your own employees can turn into black sheep.
Data room services can help you tackle these issues. Here is how:
- You can set document access limitations for every employee according to their role and responsibility. You can restrict any user from accessing, editing, downloading, or printing any document. Apart from that, you can prevent someone from taking screenshots and photos of any specific document.
- Audit trails can give detailed reports of all the activities in your data room. You can know who did what and when.
4. Can you access your data remotely?
With the changing dynamics in the global business arena, it is important for owners and professionals to have 24/7 access to business data. In fact, people now prefer remote working opportunities, and if you still use a paper documentation system, remote access is just a distant reality for you.
Data room software brings your business data one click away from you.
As data rooms are cloud-based solutions, your data is easily accessible from anywhere, anytime, without compromising data security.
Most virtual data room providers offer dedicated mobile and tablet apps so that you can access your data 24/7. What’s more, modern data room vendors allow you to use your VDR even without an internet connection.
Final Words
With changing trends and needs in the global business arena, virtual data rooms are becoming a necessity. The level of data security and control they provide is very hard to find in other storage platforms. Even a small business can benefit from data room software because it is easily affordable and very beneficial for you.