future of virtual boardroom

As digitalization has taken over the global corporate world, especially in the last few years, organizations are rapidly shifting to online business management solutions. Virtual boardroom software is one of the most prominent business solutions designed for senior company management, such as directors, CEOs, CFOs, corporate secretaries, presidents, etc.

What promoted corporations to switch to board portal technologies? What factors contributed to board portal software market growth, and what to expect in the future? Let’s find out!

Board portals defined

A virtual board room or a board portal is essentially a centralized online data repository and digital workspace designed explicitly for the board of directors, CEOS, stakeholders, board secretaries, chairpersons, and other senior company officials.

Boardrooms can be used for:

• storing board materials and company documents
• ensuring maximum collaboration between board members
• arranging online board meetings
• sharing data in a protected way
• committing board elections
• voting on board resolutions

and other corporate governance activities.

What triggered organizations to switch to board management software?

Three major factors that contributed to the growth of board portal software are:

1. Growth in software technology
2. Remote working
3. High demand for a data backup and easy retrieval system

1. Growth in software technology

Tech companies were serving corporations and enterprises via on-demand or specifically designed business solutions for different operations such as payroll management, inventory management, bookkeeping, project management, document management, etc.

These solutions were serving the purpose they were built for, but there were a few issues:

• The solutions were made for specific operations and for that particular organization.
• The costs of these business solutions were unbelievably high.
• Organizations had to rely on one service provider solely. If they wanted to change their software, everything would start from zero.

Most importantly, there wasn’t any dedicated business software for organizations’ boards. Board portal software are multi-purpose solutions, mainly devised for senior company management.

2. Remote working

Remote working was common in IT firms and enterprises, but it was the Covid-19 pandemic that pushed the global business world to look for remote working methods.

Board members are the most important individuals in any organization’s hierarchy, and it has become important for organizations to find alternative solutions to keep their board members connected. That is why organizations shifted to virtual boardrooms because they can be used for remote working.

Online boardrooms allow board members to collaborate from any part of the world at any time. They can communicate in a controlled environment, share and edit documents, conduct online board meetings, access board material, and confidential business documents, or perform other governance tasks.

3. High demand or remote data backup and retrieval systems

According to study findings from Record Storage System, in 2020, businesses will lose almost 7.5% of paper documents for different reasons. The study further added that document organization and retrieval affect employees’ productivity by 21.3%.

Virtual boardrooms are centralized, cloud-based data repositories where boards can store every board-related document or file, and board users can immediately access it. In fact, a user can locate a file by searching the file name, keyword, group, or phrase.

Apart from that, boardroom vendors provide data backup facilities. If you lose any file due to any reason, it is retrievable from backup storage. When board members can find all the required documents in one place, their productivity increases.

Current virtual boardroom market and the future

The global virtual boardroom market was valued at 2785 million USD back in 2020. Experts predicted that the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17% between 2021 to 2029.

Currently, the market is divided into five major geographic regions, including

1. Europe
2. North America
3. Latin America
4. Asia Pacific
5. Middle East & Africa

North America was the major contributor to global board portal market growth and was valued 956.48 million USD in 2020. Also, based on projections, North America will lead the global market growth from 2021 to 2029.

Why is board portal software important for businesses

1. Better board document management

As we mentioned earlier, virtual board portal software streamlines documentation. Board portals are online data repositories where boards can store all necessary board-related material. Board members can upload, exchange, download, edit, print, or annotate any document; they can work on shared documents and retrieve any file in a few seconds.

2. Data security

Boards are in possession of the most important corporate documents, which must be kept confidential. Board management software makes sure that any record stored in it is fully protected from internal and external threats. Two-step verification, digital watermarking, document access control, user permission settings, revocable document access, remote purging, and similar features provide maximum data security.

3. Cost-efficiency

Do you know that an average company in the USA spends 400,000 USD yearly on paper, cartridges, printers, photocopiers, shredders, cabinets, folders, and paperclips?

Virtual boardrooms are paperless solutions and can immensely minimize these costs. Saving 400,000 USD for your company on an annual basis is a massive boost.

Final words

The last few years have proved to be phenomenal for virtual boardroom market growth, and it is projected to be even better in the coming years. Remote working and the need for cost-saving data management solutions have increased the usage of board portal software in different business spheres, and the trend is expected to continue.

If you are willing to follow that trend and employ a virtual data room for your business, check out this boardsoftware’s guide and go for an optimal solution.

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