How to Successfully Implement an App Data Room Solution

In today’s business environment, being continuously connected is critical for many activities, from contract management to mergers and acquisitions. 

Now imagine you have the power to access highly confidential documents and workflows anytime, anywhere, all while ensuring top-notch security. That’s the reality of using a data room application. 

Keep reading to learn the following:

• 3 steps to tailor the data room app to your business needs.
• 4 best practices to implement a data room properly.
• 5 criteria to select a VDR provider.

What is an app data room?

Virtual data room apps (VDR apps) are security-first mobile workspaces where companies manage sensitive information and conduct business transactions such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The primary function of a data room app is to secure mobile file sharing and business collaboration.

App data room value	Description
Flexibility	“Anytime, anywhere” access helps busy executives review and communicate on critical matters on the go and outside business hours.
Faster decision-making	Decisions are made faster when multiple parties are easy to align. Take advantage of real-time activity updates and 24/7 access to project materials.
Superior security	Deal teams enhance data security with multi-factor authentication, end-to-end data encryption, granular access permissions, encrypted downloads, dynamic watermarking, and other features.

Tailoring data room app to your business needs: 3 practices

Evaluating your requirements for a data room app is crucial for several reasons:

• Fit for purpose. You can select a data room app that perfectly fits your business context.
• Higher ROI. You can bypass apps with overhyped, expensive features and find more affordable solutions that closely match your needs.
• Better adoption. Users will adopt new software more willingly if it organically integrates into existing workflows.

Review these criteria to understand which data room features fit different business contexts.

Criteria	Recommendations
Business size	Consider solutions with flexible subscription plans. Understand the scalability potential for cloud storage, user count, bandwidth, features, etc.
Business model	Frequent acquirers need more powerful due diligence tools, like advanced Q&A workflows, contract approvals, enforceable NDAs, and redaction of business data.
Compliance requirements	Check compliance certifications like ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS for regulated industries.
Remote collaboration	Aim at Android and iOS mobile apps, file syncing, comments & notes, and activity tracking for better cross-functional collaboration and project management.

Consider these practices to tailor a data room app to your business needs.

Develop use cases

Understand which tasks you need a data room app for. Check a few typical data room use cases.

👁️‍🗨️ Pro tip: Consider a data room for investors checklist to build an investor-centric data room.

Gather input from stakeholders

Survey stakeholders to explore existing business demands and challenges. You may focus on the following questions considering use cases for the data room app:

• Does the app need to integrate with existing systems?
• How much data storage do we need?
• What are our scalability requirements?
• What security features do we need?
• What regulations do we meet?
• What core tasks do we need to optimize?

Compare features

Research data room apps to understand which features apply to your business model. Here is the list of core data room features to aim at.

👁️‍🗨️ Check a full list of data room providers if you seek both mobile and web data rooms.

4 best practices to implement app data rooms

Here are the best practices to implement app data room:

1. Make a transition plan
2. Prepare a test data room
3. Complete pilot testing
4. Roll out your data room

Make a transition plan

Implementing a data room app means transitioning data and people from one software to another. Or, integrating virtual data rooms in existing systems. This process needs a transition plan with the following steps.

Step	Specifics
Roadmap	Outline the necessary virtual data room setup steps.
Project inventory	List all projects with sensitive documents for migration. Understand which stakeholders will be affected.
Time and resources	Estimate the time and money required for migrating highly confidential files. It takes an average of 2-4 months to switch from one software to another.
Communication	Decide how to tell stakeholders about the upcoming changes. Assign teams responsible for app testing, data migration, onboarding, etc.

Prepare a test data room

A data room app needs to be up and running before you invite users, so take these steps:

1. Contact a data room provider. Communicate your requirements and choose a data room plan.
2. Set up a test data room. Upload files, configure data room settings, and access logs on various mobile devices. You don’t typically need to pay upfront because most data room providers offer 14 or 30 days of free trial.
3. Complete training. Participate in user training programs provided by data room vendors to have an advanced understanding of the data room structure and user permissions.

Complete pilot testing

Test a data room app within a small group of stakeholders. Consider the following:

• Determine the testing scope. Decide which features and metrics you will test.
• Run tests. Upload files, use various devices and operating systems, set permissions, create groups of users, integrate the data room with existing systems, etc.

Roll out your data room

Begin a full-scale implementation when small-scale tests are finished. Take the following steps.

Configure workspace settings

With many data rooms, you can seamlessly convert your free trial to a live project. Just rebrand the project and configure additional settings if necessary. Focus on security settings.

Organize documents

Upload a data room folder structure and create user groups. Configure file access permissions and additional settings like two-factor authentication and IP allow lists.

Onboard users

Check security settings and invite users to a fully configured secure environment. Supervise mobile data room app installations, and explain how to use a data room application. Launch the project officially and manage user feedback continuously.

Double-check the following actions when setting up a data room:

• Create a folder structure
• Upload documents
• Classify documents with document labels
• Add user groups
• Access a file permissions tab under each user group and configure permission settings
• Invite users to user groups
• Check user activity tracking

👁️‍🗨️ Check a reference data room checklist to know which files and folders to include in your workspace.

Selecting the right app data room provider: 5 criteria

Consider the following factors while choosing a data room provider:

1. Pricing options
2. Free trial conditions
3. Security options
4. Onboarding services
5. Ease of use

Pricing options

Consider flat-fee subscriptions over per-page or per-user pricing models. Prioritize data room providers offering unlimited storage, users, and projects. Doing so will help you seamlessly scale data room workflows. It might also be tempting to use a free virtual data room. However, free or freemium versions might be less secure than paid ones.

Free trial conditions

Opt for 30 days of free trial. Based on our observations, 14-day trials are short for quality pilot testing. An ideal scenario would be choosing a virtual data room provider that doesn’t charge you until the project goes live.

Security options

It’s better to prioritize data rooms with robust security features. Otherwise, negating security features might be a costly mistake. Thus, public cloud data breaches cost $5.17 million per incident in 2024.

Onboarding services

63% of customers consider onboarding programs when purchasing software, expecting comprehensive training and onboarding support. High-quality support during data migration maximizes results for your business. Therefore, seek VDR providers with training programs, dedicated customer managers, and data room setup help.

Ease of use

Consider mobile features when evaluating data rooms, such as a clean mobile interface, mobile applications, low system requirements, and multiplatform support. Our findings indicate that these features improve usability and translate into fast onboarding, better user adoption, and reduced training costs.

If you want to maximize your data room experience, consider iDeals VDR. This mobile data room app is easy to set up (It takes 15 minutes) and has several advantages:

• Widows, Android, and iOS applications
• 30-day free trial and fixed pricing
• 24/7 customer support with a 30-second response time
• Dedicated project managers
• No billing until your project goes live
• Unlimited storage, projects, and users
• Advanced security features like IP and domain restrictions, 8 levels of access, dynamic watermarking, and screen capture blocking

Bottom line

• Mobile virtual data room software helps you manage projects remotely and securely.
• Understand which tasks you need a data room app for. Stakeholders adopt carefully selected apps much better.
• Test a data room app within a small team before full-scale migration.
• Consider user-friendly data rooms with free trials, advanced security options, quality onboarding support, and flat monthly fees.
• Many data room providers offer free trials that allow quality pilot testing. Seek providers that don’t charge you until your project goes live.

Category

Data rooms