If you are going to do an M&A deal and want to use VDRs, it is a very good idea because they provide proper security, document management, and transaction process features, and they are very flexible. But this is just a general description, to find a worthwhile VRD for M&A you have to try harder. In this article, we will tell you how to choose the right VRD for M&A among all the proposals and highlight the basic features which should have such a data room.
Analyze your business and company
Before moving on to vendor selection you should focus on your business to know exactly what you want from a virtual data room. Be sure to consider the ability of your employees to handle modern technology, even if the interface of the program you choose is super-simple, some may have difficulty adapting. Highlight the basic requirements based on what your company is weak in right now, and when you’ve thought it all through, it’s time to choose. Below, we’ll tell you what key features the best VRD for M&A should have.
Provide ongoing support and training
It is important that your provider will be there for you and will always be available to answer your questions or give you help. Also, make sure that the support department provides any training material on how to use the program. If your provider claims to be available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, you should check it out.
This is important because M&A deals go on even outside of business hours, and when you consider that your potential clients may be in a different time zone, the issue instantly becomes acute. You need to make sure that your provider and its support team are always available to help. Of course, it may cost you a little more in the beginning, but later on, you will notice how this translates into savings in costs and your time.
The number of users and access control
If you are considering doing more than one M&A process at a time and you know exactly how many users you will need, you should check with the provider for their capabilities and limits.
Also, a quality provider will always have extensive user management tools. Make sure that the administrator will be able to set permissions to documents for all users, preferably on a role-based basis, as well as control their interaction with them, such as prohibiting copying, editing, printing, and screenshotting. This can eliminate distractions for your customers, as well as keep you safe from data leaks, resulting in a more efficient and painless transaction.
What features should be included at no extra charge?
Make sure your provider guarantees the following features and does not charge extra for them:
- Personalize the data room and personalize invitations with logos, so your VDR will be easily identifiable
- Easy organization and uploading of data – bulk uploading, drag-and-drop, indexing, quick search, and auto-formatting functions, or maintaining many file types will allow you to quickly prepare your VDR for viewing
- Tracks page counts and data volume
- Tracking and auditing functions to keep you informed of what’s happening within your VDRs and to help you analyze the behavior of your potential partners
- Collaborative features, such as giving multiple users access to the same document at the same time, and enabling secure messaging
- Security -Make sure the provider provides the best security certificates as well as encryption methods, sophisticated login and password protection systems, watermarks, and other safeguards