As corporations and enterprises around the world go digital, the ways of doing things have changed significantly. Modern businesses are moving towards more and more automation in every section. One of the most promising and worth mentioning trends in the recent past is the use of cloud-based technologies, such as board portal software.
Board management software is a revolution in corporate governance. It has simply made things a whole lot easier and highly automated, and corporations are rapidly switching to these cloud-based tech masterpieces.
Let’s discover some amazing benefits of board portal software after its brief introduction.
What is board portal software?
Board portal software, aka the board of directors portal, is a cloud-based virtual platform for board members and administrators. A boardroom allows company management and board members to freely and safely communicate and collaborate with each other.
A virtual boardroom helps board members in different ways, such as conducting virtual board meetings, getting easy access to board materials, better coordination, remote accessibility, and whatnot. All these factors ultimately help board members in executing their governance responsibilities.
Benefits of a virtual boardroom
Although board portal software can offer so much to an organization board, here are some of its most prominent benefits.
- Better board document management
Effective board document management is one of the biggest challenges for any board administration. Managing paper documents is not only frustrating and time-consuming but very expensive as well.
A board has to manage sensitive corporate documents such as financial records, audit reports, orientation manuals, policy manuals, meeting minutes, etc. The major challenge is not just keeping these documents but making them readily available and easily accessible for board members.
Traditionally, the board management used to print these documents and circulate them to board members only during meetings. This made it very difficult for board members to access these documents whenever they needed them.
However, the board room has solved this problem to a great extent. Depending on their access level, board members can access any board material at any time from anywhere just by logging from their mobiles or other recognized devices.
- Impeccable board material security
As we mentioned earlier, the organization board is in possession of confidential and important corporate documents. Relying on paper documents can be very risky in many ways. For instance, they can deteriorate with time, can be “stolen” or copied, may completely burn due to fire eruptions in company premises. And if the organization keeps multiple copies, it is not only expensive but risky as well.
However, with the board portal, all the board materials can be stored in a highly secure centralized platform. Virtual boardrooms eliminate the risk of data leaks to a great extent. First of all, only authorized users can access board portal software. The two-step verification makes it virtually impossible for the hackers to breach the portal’s entry barrier.
Moreover, board management can set access restrictions on any specific document or section of the board portal. In fact, the management can set a restriction on downloading or printing any file.
Apart from that, board portal software allows the management to monitor the activities of board members; this brings more accountability and transparency.
- Easy to arrange physical or virtual board meetings
Virtual boardrooms can really shorten the preparation time for board meetings. For example, it is easier to prepare and get approval for the board meeting agenda. High-end portal software have built-in templates for meeting agendas, which can be used as they are or changed according to specific needs.
The agenda can be prepared in minutes and sent to board members for recommendations. Then, the secretary can send the meeting agenda to the board president for approval and share it instantly with all board members. The same can be done with board meeting minutes.
Apart from that, the board portal can be a great platform to conduct virtual board meetings. Leading virtual boardroom vendors provide futuristic virtual meeting tools, including voting tools, videoconferencing, etc. Board members can vote anonymously and start a motion during the board meeting.
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- Better collaboration between board members
The board portal is not just a simple data repository or a meeting platform. It is a virtual space where board members can coordinate in any aspect. Board members can share the latest industry news, engage in group discussions, conduct brainstorming sessions, share updates on the projects they are supervising, share and access corporate documents, and arrange emergency meetings on short notice.
In a nutshell, the board portal ensures maximum communication between board members, which helps in more efficient governance.
- Cost-efficiency
Last but not least, virtual boardrooms are a cost-effective option for corporations in multiple ways. Board portals are paperless meeting solutions, which means the company can significantly reduce the paper cost.
In fact, it is not just paper costs; board portals can eliminate or at least minimize these expenses:
- Printing costs
- Document distribution costs
- Document storage costs
- Cost of acquiring and maintaining printers
- Cost of physical board meetings
Parting thoughts
The board of directors portal is simply an amazing addition to corporate assets. It helps in automating the board document management, streamlines board activities, ensures maximum collaboration between board members, and is “safe as houses.” Last but not least, it is a cost-cutting option for corporations.