Assessing Virtual Data Room Providers

INTRODUCTION

There are a number of VDR providers out there, and investment bankers and advisors have an unfortunate tendency to assume that their offerings are all the same. In truth, features and cost structures can vary widely. If you think all data rooms are created equal, think again.

VDR Providers

Cost structures of VDR providers are similar to cell phone and internet plans. You pay a base fee, and then there may be extras based on features. Some firms may also offer unlimited plans that allow you to use the VDR for different projects and use cases at a predictable cost. When assessing solutions, you’ll want to understand how you will be charged for the service (in order to avoid any unexpected costs) – e.g., by the page, the number of users, storage size, duration of the project, etc.

You also need to carefully consider the level of support provided to you as a customer/VDR administrator and to the users/third parties you invite into your data room to review documents.

M&A Deals – VDR

M&A deals aren’t 9-to-5 and if a user can’t access the document he or she needs to review, they need to be able to reach the vendor’s support 24/7/365 without any voicemail runaround or delays. A good way to look at this is, ‘Would you rather call the VDR provider’s support team at 2 am or would you directly like to troubleshoot the issue?’

You need to consider all these aspects before making the right choice.