Document and data storage has been a part of businesses and their administration for a long time now. Earlier, companies used to stack rows upon rows containing physical documents in dedicated storage rooms that were password protected and consumed large spaces. This has largely been replaced by the advent of their virtual counterparts. Physical data rooms have been replaced by virtual data rooms.
Physical data rooms are increasingly being replaced by virtual data rooms at a breathtakingly high speed. The information held by these data rooms is often confidential, and the fact that physical data rooms are difficult to manage has contributed to them being replaced by virtual data rooms.
In this digital age, it is a no-brainer that if the virtual or digital aspect of any task exists, it is likely to be replaced by its digital version, and hence the rise of virtual data rooms over physical ones doesn’t come as a surprise. For those still in disbelief, given below are three solid reasons why virtual data rooms are better than physical ones:
Table of Contents
1. VDRs facilitate flexible work
With physical data rooms a big drawback is anytime an employee wants to refer to an old company document, they’d have to go back to the storage room to physically retrieve the document, copy it, and place it back in the storage room. Not only does this eat up a ton of their time, but it also isn’t a feasible option for remote employees.
However, virtual data rooms are superior to physical data rooms since employees do not have to travel to and fro from a physical location back to their desks to retrieve company information. They can simply log into their room and search for the file they are looking for from anywhere in the world.
2. VDRs are eco-friendly
Physical data rooms are not good for the environment in terms of the vast amounts of paper they use. Every document and every little piece of information that is stored in physical data rooms is saved on paper which is highly bad for the environment. Additionally, paper decays over time and hence physical data rooms require all documents to be refreshed after a certain time and hence consume more paper in the future.
On the other hand, virtual data rooms eliminate any need for the use of paper and hence are extremely eco-friendly. All data that is to be documented can be drafted and saved digitally. Additionally, since virtual data rooms do not use any paper they don’t run the risk of getting ruined or damaged due to paper decay.
3. VDRs facilitate due diligence
When companies are involved in audits, mergers, or acquisitions, the other party requests permission to perform due diligence on the company’s assets and liabilities to ensure that all reported financials are correct. Physical data rooms make the process of due diligence extremely difficult since the investigating team has to physically go through all paperwork which would be strenuous and time/consuming.
However, due diligence on digital documents is easier to conduct as the investigating team can easily go through documents, search for things, in particular, using Ctrl+F, and view multiple documents at one time.
Conclusion
Virtual data rooms are an innovation in the field of documentation that was long overdue. It was high time that the tedious task of managing painfully complicated physical data rooms was put to a halt and replaced with an easier and digital version. The above-mentioned benefits of virtual data rooms testify to their betterment over physical ones, and companies still running physical data rooms should take heed and make the shift.
