A data room is a safe virtual environment that allows businesses to share sensitive documents during the M&A process. The data room offers users with access to granular permission settings, security auditing, watermarking, and more. Although there are a variety of free tools for sharing files but they do not offer the similar level of functionality required in a due diligence process. Data rooms provide an impressive first impression and allows users to keep track of tasks, ask questions and document uploads.
It can be challenging to manage a huge number of documents when you are performing due diligence, particularly if you’re reviewing documents for many stakeholders. A well-designed dataroom allows users to assign reading and uploading tasks to both internal and external parties. The task recipients can monitor progress and receive notifications when the task is completed or close to close to completion.
Users can create groups that have different access levels to ensure all users have access to only relevant files and documents – and can easily identify the information that isn’t there. A powerful search function enables users to quickly find the data they are looking for in the documents.
A powerful redaction tool is also a key feature in the data room, as it allows quick and easy identification of sensitive commercial information and its removal from documents. Users can cut out images, text and even specific parts of documents in just a few clicks, making it simple to avoid accidental disclosure. The data room also features two-step authentication, which includes passwords and SMS codes.