How to choose virtual data room in Australia?
If you are looking for digital solutions that will allow your company to share data efficiently and securely, you should definitely consider using a virtual data room (VDR). Read on to learn exactly what a VDR is, what kinds of companies are using VDRs in Australia, and which are the best virtual data rooms available.
iDeals is truly versatile and easy to use data room that can fit any business and any industry. This data room provider takes security to another level with advanced bank-grade encryption and numerous built-in features.
- 24/7 Phone & Email Support
- Multi-Layered Data Encryption
- Eight Levels of Document Access Rights
- 30-day trial
- Free demo
- 3 pricing plans
If you need a solution only for Mergers and Acquisitions, Ansarada is a decent choice.The built-in AI analyzes the activity of a user to bring them the documents they will likely need once they enter a data room.
- 24/7 Localised Expert Support
- Ultimate security
- Granular access & permissions
- 14-day Free Trial
- Free demo
- 3 pricing plans
Onehub is a data room software provider that has been offering virtual data room services since 2007. Companies across all industries use OneHub for secure document sharing and storage.
- Email/Help Desk
- Encryption
- Document Management
- Yes
- No
- 4 pricing plans
Merrill is one of the oldest data room providers that knows how to help a business succeed. Now it has new name - DataSite.
- 24/7/365 support (phone, email,chat)
- Ironclad Security
- Real time user permission
- No
- Free demo
- Unknown
SecureDocs is a simple data room that will help you manage your corporate documents. Experienced users might consider this provider as too simplistic, but those who have never used a data room will feel quite satisfied.
- 24/7 support
- Certified AWS Data Centers
- Permission-Based User Roles
- 14-day Free Trial
- Free demo
- 3 pricing plans
If you’re always after a reputable name Intralinks data rooms should be your choice. In general, it’s a decent data room that will provide you with all the basic features you need.
- 24/7 Support
- "Unshare" feature
- User permissioning
- No free trial
- Free demo
- Unknown
This provider has a vast experience in file-sharing and will keep your sensitive data safe. You can customize your data room as you like and integrate it with other tools.
- 24/7 support
- Frictionless security
- Strong user authentication
- Unknown
- Unknown
- 4 pricing plans
Donnelley is one of the oldest corporations that offers simple and effective data rooms. It will help you process contracts and information about potential partners very quickly.
- 24/7 support
- Customizable watermarking
- Advanced permissions
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Unknown
Sterling data room A Sterling data room is a software solution by Sterling Technology. Its virtual data rooms provide security and automation for sharing documents and collaboration within M&A, real estate, banking, and capita
- 24/7 support team based in London
- Native file protection using Microsoft Rights Management
- Setting permissions on multiple files
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Unknown
SmartRoom VDR is very user-friendly, so any training makes no sense. Your users will have such capabilities as secure filesharing, file management, 365/24/7 helpline, and others.
- 24/7/365 support
- Smart Lock
- Smart Share
- No
- Free Demo
- Unknown
What is a virtual data room?
A virtual data room is a digital platform where companies can securely store and share data. VDRs include a great variety of document management and security features, such as bulk upload, automatic document naming and indexing, granular user permissions, document encryption, double-factor authentication, and data redaction.
Virtual data rooms differ from physical data rooms in that they function entirely online — the only physical components of a VDR are the servers where the data is stored. Virtual data rooms are also distinct from cloud storage solutions, which are online data sharing platforms, but are not secure.
Here’s an overview of the differences between VDRs, physical data rooms, and cloud storage solutions:
| Cloud storage | Physical data rooms | Virtual data rooms | |
| Features | Limited uploading and sharing features | No features | Comprehensive document management, user permissions, analytics and security features |
| Accessibility | Easily accessible: data is stored online and can be accessed from any device | Hard to access: data is stored in a physical location and cannot be accessed online | Easily accessible: data is stored online and can be accessed from authorized devices |
| Ease of use | Harder to use: users are required to create an account to log in, and platform features are limited | Hard to use: users have to go to a specific location to inspect the data | Easy to use: users don’t need an account to log in, and features are comprehensive |
| Security | Low security: anyone in possession of user login details can log in from any device, and stored data is not encrypted | High security: rooms are constantly monitored and access is restricted | High security: secure servers, encrypted data, granular user permissions |
Do Australian companies use virtual data rooms?
According to the software reviews website Capterra, virtual data rooms are used by Australian companies across a broad range of industries. These include:
- information technology and telecommunications
- financial services, investment, and banking
- higher education, education management, and e-learning
- mining and metals, oil and gas
- aviation and aerospace
- real estate and construction
- biotechnology
- publishing, marketing and advertising, media production
- government administration and NGOs
- accounting
Among industry professionals that use the services of virtual data room providers in Australia are:
- CEOs
- corporate advisors
- analysts
- directors
- finance advisors
- managers
- consultants
How do I choose the best virtual data room for an Australian company?
If you are in charge of choosing the best virtual data room provider for your company, this is a good way to go about it:
- Determine what is the company’s budget for a secure data room. Keep in mind that using virtual data room software means you will no longer spend money on printing and forwarding documents, and that saved money can be used to pay for the VDR.
- Assess your company’s needs in detail. How many documents do you need to share? How many users will need access to them? Does your company have industry-specific security requirements? Will the users need training from the online data room providers?
- Find out what your VDR options are. Not all VDRs are available everywhere, so research what virtual data room services are available in Australia.
- Examine virtual data room reviews to get information on what are the best data room providers available to you.
- Compare pricing plans and find which suits your company’s needs best. Keep your eyes open for hidden costs, like charges for extra document uploads and extra users’ access.
- Check which among the data room providers in Australia offer free trials, as it’s a good idea to sign up for a few of them and compare how they work for you.
- Go back to the list of features your company needs in a secure virtual data room, and draw a comparison table. Which of your favourite VDR softwares offers all the features you need?
Virtual data room comparison
As an example of a virtual data room comparison table, here’s a comparison of the top ten electronic data rooms in Australia regarding seven key features:
| Features | iDeals | Ansarada | Onehub | DataSite | Intralinks | Securedocs | Box | Smartroom | DFIN | Sterling |
| Automatic document indexing | √ | ? | ? | √ | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Full text search | √ | ? | √ | √ | √ | √ | ? | √ | ? | ? |
| Remote shred | √ | √ | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Granular user permissions | √ | √ | ? | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| User activity tracking and reports | √ | √ | ? | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| Q&A | √ | √ | ? | √ | √ | √ | ? | √ | ? | ? |
| Interface customization | √ | ? | √ | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | √ | ? |