How to Evaluate Data Room Providers

A virtual dataroom is a secure, online repository of documents that is used for due diligence, M&A and other sensitive transactions. Modern providers offer tools that are tailored to specific types of projects or industries and go beyond storage and sharing documents. These features can greatly streamline the management of documents and data exchange, as well as improve internal transparency. It can be difficult to select the best solution for your company when there are a myriad of options to evaluate and pricing structures to compare.

Compare how each vendor will meet the unique project requirements. The first step is to determine the kind of data you will store and share. If your project involves a M&A transaction, you need to find an organization that has the knowledge to prepare the information for due diligence and close the deal fast. If you mergers and acquisitions have to exchange large and small files, ensure that the provider supports a range of file formats and sizes. Find out which operating systems it supports.

Check the security features of the provider to make sure they’re in line with your industry’s and any specific regulations. Examine, for example, whether it provides virus scanning and firewalls, as well as other security tools. Also, check whether it offers detailed permissions settings for groups and users and other protections. Also, look for access restrictions that prohibit printing, downloading, and copies, as well as restrict access remotely, even in the event that documents were downloaded to computers of users.