Why Is Unlimited Use of Virtual Data Rooms so Beneficial?

Feb 11, 2010 - by Joel Lessem

It has always puzzled me as to why virtual data room providers charge per data room or per page or total number of users.  How can any company running a deal know exactly how many pages of documents they will have? Or how many users are going to access the deal room? 

Therefore, a buyer is unable to predict the final cost of the VDR. If they misjudge the amount of due diligence documentations or users, they can get stuck with a hefty bill. This type of “multi-line item” quoting is not designed with the customer in mind.

The other item I never understood is why the limitation on the number of deal rooms?  It’s not uncommon to have multiple data rooms for a single project.  More so, it’s the ability to start getting “deal ready” and exchanging documents early on in the mandate. Unlimited use also broadens the scope of use.

Our clients share documents for M&A, finance, real-estate deals, valuations, run audits, share key operating reports, share clinical studies and even litigation documents.

Moreover, why to store documents on a local file server that can be challenging to access while travelling?  Can’t share your documents with 3^rd parties from behind your firewall?  Most file servers are vulnerable to: power outages, computer crashes and fire, flood and meteor strikes.  (I have actually seen a legal contract regarding “in the event of a meteor strike”!)

I would rather have my documents on redundant HP Blade Servers with real-time fail over, multiple firewalls and a diesel powered generator with three weeks’ worth of fuel - as a back-up.  Far more reliable than a PC sitting in a dusty closet!

Simply put having an unlimited use virtual data room is highly useful, accessible, secure and reliable.