Over recent years, the popularity of the virtual data room has exploded across the UK and the rest of the world beyond. Taking one step further than the standard cloud storage system, a good VDR offers the kind of convenience, robust security and outstanding performance that would be expected were the business to set up its own servers and central storage systems on the premises itself. Of course, the fact that a VDR is more powerful, more reliable and managed by a team of professionals makes the idea vastly superior to the on-site data storage solution – the fact that it’s also infinitely cheaper doesn’t harm things either.
According to the experts at ProjectFusion, ensuring that you and your business get the very most out of your own VDR is a process that starts long before you actually go live and begin playing with your new system. The better you plan and the further ahead of time you start putting things in order, the better your chances of revolutionising the way your business does business from then on.
So with this in mind, here’s a quick look at the five most important steps of all that will in most instances guarantee you a smoother transition to a new VDR:
1 – Choose the Right VDR Service
First of all, to assume that every VDR on the market right now is just as good as the next is a bad idea…and very bad at that. While there will always be those that are quite literally safe, secure and professional enough to be used by the biggest companies in the world, others are charging good money for systems that are wide open to security threats. From convenience to ease of use to features to security and so much more, it really does pay to do your homework and select a stellar brand from the start. After all, it’s much easier to get it right the first time than it is to get up and running only to then find you need to make the switch again.
2 – Decide on Indexation
The fact that you are considering investing in a VDR pretty much confirms that you have a fair amount of important data to store and share. As such, and just as is the case with any given physical storage room, you’re going to need some kind of indexation system in place in order to know where things are and find anything that’s needed. Any good VDR will come with standard search features and alphabetised indexation systems as standard, but in terms of how your files will be stored, grouped and ultimately accessed, you’ll have total freedom of choice across the board. It’s therefore a good idea to think of how best to index your files and have a good system in mind ahead of time.
3 – Document Preparation
Never underestimate just how long it can take to get your files in order – especially if you happen to have physical copies of files that need to be scanned and processed. You’ll find that document preparation is also the perfect excuse for a bit of document housekeeping – as in a great time to go through your files and start getting rid of anything that’s not 100% necessary. Needless to say, this isn’t a quick job and will take a fair bit of your time – hence why planning ahead is a good idea.
4 – Decide Upon Access Rights
Something else you’ll have total control over with a good VDR is the access rights when it comes to who can access what data and what they’re able to do with it. It’s common for businesses to start thinking about this only when the system is already up and running, but not only does this tend to be hugely inconvenient, it could also pose a potential security risk. As such, you should be thinking ahead of time exactly how many different levels of access rights you’d like to have in place and who they should apply to. And of course, you can always tweak them later at any time.
5 – Choose a VDR Manager
Last but not least, you’ll probably want a great many people to play a part in keeping the data room organised and in good working order, but at the same time you should always have one single VDR manager who oversees everything. You need one person at the top of the chain who may then liaise with the service provider when and where needed, otherwise the rest of those using the system will not know who to turn to when there are problems or questions to answer.