Advantages of a Virtual Boardroom Over Physical One
The widespread shift to teleworking and the rapid proliferation of new digital solutions have forced boards of directors to change their approach to digitalization. After all, they should ensure that the organization fulfills its mission and delivers significant and lasting value to its clients and society. To do this, the boards of directors must invest in digital tools, learn cybersecurity best practices, and develop the skills needed to keep businesses running in today’s digital world. One of such tools is a board management software that is defined as a virtual platform on which board members can communicate and collaborate on certain strategic issues. These strategic matters can include creating guidelines, servicing stakeholders, hiring managers, reviewing performance, and more.
Development of a virtual boardroom technology
The days when much of the office space was occupied by physical servers are gone. Fewer and fewer companies want to clutter the office with iron. However, this has not yet become part of history, as the myths hovering around the clouds continue to hold some users in their arms with their iron machines. If you are also hesitant to choose – a virtual server in the cloud or a local server in the office, let`s analyze the evolution of virtual board software.
With the advent of the Internet in the 1990s and the development of digitalization of all spheres of our life board members had to adapt quickly and innovate in their day-to-day work. The first stage of this innovative activity was characterized by the emergence of secure online storage for boards. In fact, this technology did not make significant adjustments to the work of directors but this was enough to lay the foundation for the further development of cloud technologies.
The main push for the introduction of innovative paperless meeting solution was the scandals surrounding the well-known American corporations WorldCom, Adelphia, and Enron, which were accused of financial fraud as they exaggerated their profits to attract new investors. In response to these events, the US government issued a new law requiring the introduction of new standards for the security of corporate information. Therefore, there was a need to introduce new software that would make the management of the board of directors more efficient and the exchange of corporate information more secure.
BoardVantage has become the first provider of an online board meeting. This electronic board book
served as a repository for meetings materials. With the development of corporate management and digital technologies, there was a need to develop a system of board meetings and secure data exchange. Finally, in 2005 the notion “board portal” had appeared.
A real boom in this process was created by the implementation of iPads at board meetings. It makes the process of collaboration more functional and mobile. A new stage in this evolution is characterized by the emergence of a comprehensive Convene solution that focuses on cloud technology.
Benefits of virtual boardroom solution
Virtual boardroom provides the following advantages:
- Higher attendance. The online format is convenient because you don’t even have to leave the house. There is no need to adjust the schedule to attend the meeting in person. It can be done remotely, therefore it’s easier to attend meetings.
- Cost efficiency. As there is no need to be present in person, there is no need to pay for the business trip (accommodation, meals, tickets, etc.) The costs of organizing the virtual boardroom are minimal and associated with the organization of the workplace.
- Improved meeting efficiency. All important documents are prepared and gathered within the software, and board members can focus on vital questions instead of searching the documents and listen to boring long reports. Moreover, there is a possibility to reach a larger audience.
- Better engagement. Thanks to the modern interface and functionality of virtual boardrooms, it’s easier to stay focused, organize and finalize polls, etc. The platform has a built-in interactive whiteboard that can be shown to all participants of the video conference.
- Wide list of products to choose from. Boardroom software is a solution developed by a lot of different vendors. They adjust their products to the needs of different types of companies and organizations: from small nonprofits to huge financial and governmental institutions. Each company can easily find a product that suits its unique needs. There are certain criteria for choosing a reliable board portal: confidentiality, clear interface, useful options for collaboration, the maximum number of participants, free version, and the ability to integrate with solutions you already use.
Top features of virtual board software
Board portal software is in demand today due to its useful features:
- Agenda builder. This feature allows you to schedule appointments, attach materials in advance, and create and send interactive files to users via mail.
- Documents center. It provides an effectively organized document search system that allows you to find a document with minimal information about it.
- Meeting management. Conferences are managed through web interfaces available in the authorized user’s personal account on the service web pages. There are available features: scheduling video conferences, inviting participants, downloading files before conferences, entering active video conferences from the service website, archiving conferences, etc.
- E-signature. Use an electronic digital signature that has been verified using an enhanced key certificate with strong digital signature tools.
- SSO (single-sign-on). The technology provides the ability to use a single identifier to access all authorized IT resources and systems and allows you to solve the problems of strong and end-to-end user authentication.
- Voting management. This technology helps streamline the process of making important decisions by voting.
- Task management. It is a program that simplifies workflow and project management. Now, to find out how efficiently the team is working, to set a task for the employees and control the execution, it is enough to open the program.
