Business-critical information is one of the most valuable and important assets of any business and must be properly protected. That is why most companies use virtual data rooms to provide a secure collaborative environment for business operations. In this article, we will analyze what security features should data room have.
Digital data room for secure business workflow
In connection with the development of information technologies and the digitalization of the economy, one of the most important issues in the company’s activities is ensuring data security. The information is of great importance both for internal users – managers, executives, managers, employees of the corporation, and for external – the founders of the corporation, investors, banking and credit institutions, competitors. That is, information is transmitted between actors at both the micro and macro levels, so information security must be ensured at each of these levels.
Following ddraum.de, virtual data room (VDR) is known for the fact that important, mostly business, documents are safely stored there. Thus, these software solutions are becoming increasingly popular. This concept is mostly used by companies doing due diligence or entering into various types of collaborations: for example, as part of an M&A or joint venture.
What must a data room be able to do?
It is particularly important to choose a suitable data room provider. Because this not only keeps your confidential business documents but also makes a significant contribution to the result of the collaboration. In general, every data room is similar, but some functions are chargeable for some and included in the package for others. The most important function is the simple and secure uploading, storing, and managing of sensitive files. These can be documents, business letters, diagrams, or other forms of information transfer.
In this function, usability also plays a major role. A simple and quickly understandable use not only influences the participants positively but also the result of the negotiation or the cooperation. If the procedure within the data room turns out to be difficult, then all participants have to try harder. At worst, this can prevent potential deals.
Necessary security measures for every data room vendor
The data room software must fulfill its functions, meet the specified criteria of quality, safety, reliability. Thus, there is a list of advanced security features that every data room should contain:
- Changes in documents, deadlines for documents, movement of documents, as well as control over all versions and subversion of documents should be automatically monitored in the VDR.
- Comprehensive VDR should cover the entire cycle of office work of the enterprise or organization – from setting the task of creating a document to its write-off in the archive, to ensure centralized storage of documents in any format, including complex compositional documents.
- VDRs should combine disparate document flows of remote enterprises into a single system and provide flexible document management through both rigid route determination and free document routing.
- The VDR should implement a strict delineation of users’ access to various documents depending on the competence, position held, and powers.
- Access control function: grant various forms of access to the participants. You decide who can only view documents, who can save them, and who can even change them.
- Audit log: Which user logged in when and did what on which document? This is exactly what you can find out with an audit function and thus eliminate inconsistencies.
- Security features: document backup, prevention of screenshots and print jobs, time-limited access, two-factor authentification,