Virtual Data Rooms: Close Deals Faster

When documents and data needs to be shared securely between organisations or with clients, a virtual data room is the fastest and most affordable means of accomplishing your company’s goals. The concept and use of data rooms has been around since long before the internet, so how does a virtual data room actually work?

Physical world
In the physical world, a data room provides an invaluable resource for businesses wishing to share and refer to confidential documentation within a closed and secured environment. This environment is a literal closed room: it is regulated, and all access to the room is supervised. Data rooms are often employed during the most crucial stages in negotiations, and in the brokering of business deals. They contain all of the relevant data, from business plans to company accounts. Naturally, the information contained within is highly sensitive and subject to stringent confidentiality agreements.

Virtual data room
A virtual data room behaves in exactly the same way: giving organisations an online space within which they are able to operate during activity when security and discretion are every bit as essential as transparency and openness. Businesses and clients can still view, reference, copy and share documents and data within a secure and controlled environment. The only difference is that this environment is a virtual space, and the documents are digital files.

Extranet
The technology that makes the virtual data room is essentially straightforward, but incredibly reliable. A business virtual data room is a type of extranet – a website which allows access only to authorised visitors. The host of the virtual data room may grant permissions and authorise pre-specified levels of access. This way, a virtual data room can allow multiple users to access the files and resources saved within it, while allowing them to view only the items which their own clearance allows. The additional benefit of a virtual data room over one in the real world is that this system allows multiple users – including rival bidders, in the case of a sale or acquisition – to view documents simultaneously, rather than one at a time.

Modern business environment
In the modern business environment, performance and efficiency are key. Being able to meet deadlines and achieve high standards is fundamental to building a strong reputation and forging long lasting professional relationships. Virtual data rooms bypass many of the constraints of a traditional working environment – providing a space that is discreet, secure and available 24 hours a day, whereas a physical data room will usually only be accessible during working hours.

The worldwide web has changed many aspects of the way we conduct business; the technology we have at our disposal means that we can even use the online world to manage even the most sensitive and confidential elements of company data in a modern and more efficient manner.