When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, as well as many other financial transactions between two companies, the days of brick-and-mortar data rooms are over. What once was a necessity for the secure reviewing of sensitive documents is now an archaic thing of the past that has been eclipsed by the overwhelming power of technology.
Here are five ways that a virtual data room is superior to a brick and mortar data room.
Less Travel
In the days of brick-and-mortar data rooms, the interested parties would have to travel across country (or across the globe) to get to the other company’s data room, whereupon they would go through stringent security protocols to make sure that they weren’t going to steal proprietary information, and then be let into the data room, often accompanied, and often under lock-and-key.
Those days are now past.
A virtual data room is exactly what it sounds like: a data room, with all the security safeguards as a brick-and-mortar data room, but you never have to leave the comfort of your home office. While this is especially useful in current times when travel is severely restricted and dangerous, it is also a big waste of time and can be quite costly–especially if the transaction between the two companies is a large mergers & acquisition that will require multiple people–dozens, even–to access that data room and view and review the documents within. When those dozens of people have the ability to view the M&A information from their own devices–while security protected–you don’t have to be in a constant state of unrest, everything from disrupted day-to-day activities to high expenses to inability to focus on other projects to slow moving work pace. A Virtual Data Room takes all that away.
Higher Security
A Virtual Data Room is different from just throwing everything on the cloud and granting access to the people in the other company who need to look at it. There’s a lot more involved to the security than that. When a company uses a virtual data room, their information is just as secure, if not more so, than a brick-and-mortar data room. A Virtual Data Room uses all the latest encryption technology, including secure connections, 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard, and Premium Grade TLS Protocol. On top of that, we’re compliant with virtually every compliance regulation body, including ISO 27001, AiCPA SOC 2, EU-US Privacy Shield, HIPAA, PCI SAQ-D, and FISMA.
Easy, Secure Access Wherever You Are
Not only do you not have to be in the brick-and-mortar data room of your partner company’s offices, but you can access their information wherever you need to be to work through the details of the M&A. You’re not tied down to the desktop PC in your home office, but you can access–with all of the encryption and security mentioned above–their information from any device, including tablets and phones, on any secure connection. This means if you have business to do in Hong Kong, you can work on the M&A while you’re there. Stuck at a convention in Las Vegas for a few days? Spend the evenings working on your M&A. You can even study the documents of the M&A on the plane while you travel to and from other business deals (who aren’t using VDRs–yet). This is the real benefit of a Virtual Data Room: it’s virtual, meaning that it’s everywhere you need it to be, whenever you need it to be there. No need for copying documents and keeping them under lock and key. You can work through your data wherever you are
Attracting High-Quality Investors
If you’re looking for partners to merge or acquire your business, and you have an VDR set up, you’re going to get a different kind of buyer than if you require them to fly out to your location and sign a lot of forms to be let into a room full of filing cabinets. No, you’ll be recognized as being on the cutting edge of technology, which will influence the way that companies perceive you. When you’re making a first impression with investors, do you want them to think of your company as an antiquated futzy old company that still uses antiquated technology and processes, or do you want their first impression of you to be one of sophistication and prowess. Remember–you only get one chance to make a first impression (and in the world of M&As, where they’re going to be dealing with that technology day-in and day-out for months, it’s more than just a FIRST impression.)
Caplinked’s Concierge Service
There’s more to setting up a VDR than just putting a lot of files on the cloud and letting your partner go to town on them. There’s a lot of work to be done before your partner is ever going to see those documents, so you’re going to want to make sure that the software that you use is up to the task. Well, Caplinked’s concierge service does that work for you. Rather than you having to set up folder and file structures, our team can do that for you. With API integrations that integrate any application to quickly and easily share, protect, and track your business’s sensitive data; with our file management system that can allow project managers to upload new documents on an ongoing and frequent basis; and with client support that us unmatched in the industry, your assigned project manager and sales director will be your front-line support and will be supportive and proactive in your Virtual Data Room transactions.
