What is a board portal?
A board portal is a helpful tool typically used by board directors to deal with virtual board meetings and work with highly confidential documents online. Board portal software is a 100% safe, convenient, and a protected solution. A user-friendly interface and protected information exchange are among the main benefits of a virtual board room.
Board portal usage presupposes the management of board documents, which can be tricky with international board directors. The modern board portal market offers various solutions for this, making a secure virtual boardroom a viable solution for a successful collaboration.
When selecting a board portal, you need to pay due attention to its unique functions and critical features.
How does a board portal simplify online meetings?
Board software allows directors to work effectively from any location, organize the workflow, and track progress not only for board members or committees but also for teams or even the whole company.
The main advantages of virtual boardroom software for directors include:
- Streamline online board meetings
With electronic board meeting software, the preparatory stage and the exact process of the online board meeting will be significantly simplified.
- Enhance institutional knowledge
With board portal technologies, executives can obtain real-time insight into the company situation, as well as detailed information about separate departments.
- Help to make truly informed decisions
All the members of the board of directors get access to the latest information.
- Provide top-notch protection
A modern encryption system and related programs decrease the risk of security violations.
- Make collaboration easier, both
online and off
Online and offline work formats provide users with an opportunity to review documents, participate in discussions and leave notes.
- Guarantee ease of access and use
Ability to access the platform safely and conveniently from any spot.
- Find and access information quickly
A search option provides the ability to find desired documents or information fast.
The main board portal features
When choosing the most suitable board portal solution for your case, ensure the following features are present:
- Expansive and secure data storage. Paperless document storage and exchange are the primary functions of board software. The ideal portal has to provide solutions for managing and safekeeping large amounts of files. Take note of the storage volumes as well as the proposed storing options.
- Interactive data gathering tools. Getting everyone’s opinion during online board meetings should be as easy as raising a hand in a physical assembly. Tools such as live chats, polls, Q&A, and proposal feeds will allow you to keep complete focus on the discussion and decision-making.
- 24/7 support. A support team that is available around-the-clock and provides fast responses and diverse contact channels will always be an asset to successful board management software implementation. Apart from solving any possible technical issues, the support crew will also assist with optimizing the overall governance.
- Pre-designed organization templates. Regardless of the industry, director board meetings tend to run in similar patterns. Therefore, having an option to utilize a template can save a good deal of precious time and effort.
- Device compatibility. A virtual board room has to be equally accessible and functional on any device. The ability to join the discussion from anywhere in the world is a key element of board portal functionality.
- Adjustable access settings. Not everyone on the board will have the same informational access privileges. That’s why a good board meeting software will always allow you to align the retrieval rights with your company’s structure.
- Various administrative tools. Instruments such as automatic minute recording, attendance tracking, update notifications, archives, and directory searches are crucial for a productive board portal software experience. This way, the board and other participants will be able to get straight to work.
Board portal software comparison
We have combined ratings from the leading software review resources with our ratings to present a board portal comparison. A product’s features and value-for-the-money software are among the most important things to compare when looking at board portal options.
Board of directors software comparison by value for money
- BoardMaps
- iDeals
- Brainloop
- iBabs
- Boardeffect
- Pervasent Board Papers
- Loomio
- Nasdaq Directors Desk
- Diligent
- eShare
Board meeting management software comparison by features
- BoardMaps
- iDeals
- Loomio
- iBabs
- Brainloop
- Pervasent Board Papers
- Diligent
- Nasdaq Directors Desk
- eShare
- Boardeffect
Board meeting software advantages
The exceptional flexibility of the virtual boardroom platform and convenience of its use provide directors and managers with the ability to lead projects more carefully and effectively.
Board portal serves as a valuable tool, equipped with Q&A section and other options, allowing partners to share and view essential materials, including the following:
- Report on risk management
- External audit results
- Resolutions and agendas
- Investor presentations
- Incentive schemes, etc.
Board management software usage process
Using electronic board meeting software is simple and does not require much time or effort to set up:
- Arrange and schedule a board meeting
- Create and distribute board packs among partners
- Share the packs with board members so they can review and leave comments
- Access the pack throughout the whole process with an opportunity to open it on your device during the meeting
- Approve and distribute board meeting minutes
- Archive and store a copy of the meeting materials within a safe database.
A user-friendly, secure and completely intuitive virtual boardroom will help you conduct quality virtual board meetings with over 500 participants seamlessly.
The most common virtual boardroom use cases
The majority of all board management software have very similar priorities: security and convenience.
However, depending on the area of operation and internal structure, different organizations will pay more attention to certain aspects of the virtual boardroom software than others. Below are a few examples of how board portal selection can be approached from various perspectives.
- Healthcare organizations. The global Covid crisis has significantly amplified the digitalization of healthcare establishments. And finding the right balance between confidentiality and collaboration became a unique challenge for healthcare professionals worldwide. A board portal software that allows organizations to distinctly segregate large amounts of data as well as facilitate fast communication would be an ideal solution in such cases.
- Commercial institutions. A board portal for commercial projects and companies has to offer a variety of data formats such as video and audio. Typically, this will go hand in hand with increased volume levels. Well-structured centralization and regular updates are key to successful commercial governance.
- Non-profits. Non-profit organizations often face a lack of funding. This makes it especially important to find a board portal software that provides tailored options for minimal budgets. Additionally, the straightforward collaboration solutions and an ability to adjust the software to the specific organization’s needs can become a great asset for digitalizing non-profit board meetings.
- Financial institutions. Apart from the requirement of utmost security, fund managing involves great amounts of data that have to be available for access at any point. An ideal board meeting software for financial organizations will have advanced archive capabilities and simple search mechanisms. Government-compliant regulation is also crucial.
Always consider the unique characteristics of your company before settling on a particular board management software. It might take some time to compare the available options and make a choice. But once you’ve picked the board portal that meets your needs, you will be rewarded with all the benefits of simplified paperless workflow and enhanced governance.
Board management software and data security
Board management software provides board members with a secure repository for documents. Once files are uploaded to online storage, they’re protected by bank-grade encryption, and all members of the leading team can access them easily.
Additionally, board portal software offers a chat that is just as secure as the storage space. Here board directors can communicate, quickly manage board documents, and even create polls. If two directors need to talk about something privately, they can create a chat that will be safeguarded as well. This feature keeps any conversation hidden from unauthorized eyes.
What does a board of directors do within the board portal?
The board of directors can:
- Hold online board meetings
- Plan and initiate further work for others
- Explore important data before, during, and after the board meeting
- Learn business content and use it for project promotion
Best virtual boardroom providers
Board by iDeals is a virtual boardroom that enables matter management from initiation to execution.
Key advantage: A variety of automatized processes that cut preparation time by 70%.
- Organization, sharing, and dynamic updates of agenda, matters, and additional materials.
- Online and offline broadcasting to all participants.
- Continuous secure access to all past, current, and future meeting items.
Knowa helps British businesses overcome corporate governance challenges. It allows executives to share board materials, hold remote meetings, and make better decisions thanks to seamless communication.
Huddle board collaboration and governance platform helps executives and managers reduce duplicate tasks and boost team efficiency with the following capabilities.
Brainloop provides a board portal that specializes in sensitive data organization and tailored business solutions.
Key advantage: Several available data hosting locations.
- A centralized managerial dashboard for tracking all meeting-related activities.
- Simplified solution deployment among all participants.
Diligent is a secure and efficient board meeting software for convenient remote decision-making.
Key advantage: Real-time company and industry analytics, news, and resources.
- Effective performance across most devices and operating systems.
- On-site support with an option for tailored training sessions.
eShare offers a straightforward board portal software solution for technology-enabled meeting administration.
Key advantage: An ability to track and optimize the company’s governance.
- Convenient attendance and document distribution tracking.
- Diligence monitoring of every participant.
Boardvantage is a virtual boardroom that prioritizes comprehensive data organization and fast communication.
Key advantage: Built-in task manager for simplified delegation and supervision.
- Enhanced sorting and labeling capabilities.
- Several attendance-increasing tools, including multi-platform notifications and meeting archives.
- Simplified discussion process.
Pervasent Board Papers is a suite of adaptive board management software with an emphasis on fast and secure data access.
Key advantage: Minimal installation and familiarization periods for accelerated planning.
- Flexible interface for any organization size.
- Automatic downloads for technically inept participants.
- Organic workflow on any device.
Loomio offers modern board portal software for effective and resourceful decision-making.
Key advantage: Open source capabilities for maximum adaptation.
- Affordable pricing solutions for non-profit and small-scale organizations.
- Proposal tool for centralized, inclusive discussions.
Decision Time combines secure board management software, OKR management software, and risk management software in one intuitive SaaS solution. It reduces the need to implement more separate board portals, risk registers, and key results software products. Everything a company would need to practice good governance, manage risk, achieve strategic objectives, improve board meeting preparation, and enhance board engagement is in one software product.
Conclusion
Board portal software provides directors with useful tools that allow them to plan and assign tasks, record meetings, keep track of the productivity of all teams, etc. All the information registered in the virtual boardroom gets instantly encrypted, ensuring it will never get into the wrong hands.
Thus, using this technology, directors can be sure that at least a part of the cybersecurity plan is executed. Of course, you will need to take care of other security concerns as well. But the data related to the board (typically the most valuable data in the company) will be reliably protected.
If you don’t know where to start when choosing this software, you can take a look at the board portal comparison. It will show you the criteria to consider when picking a provider. Don’t forget to also take a look at board portal reviews to find out what others think of the provider’s service.