A data room is an sites online, secure repository that lets teams share documents and files in a more efficient way than email. Most commonly used during due diligence in an M&A however, it could also be beneficial when a business is looking to attract investors or carry out other work that requires the highest level of confidentiality.

When it comes to M&A, tendering, fundraising and restructuring projects, there is usually a lot of confidential information shared between various parties. It can be difficult to keep track of who has accessed what information, what versions are used and when changes have been made. With a data room, all the required information can be kept in one place, and access restricted by an administrator. It’s a great method to stop unauthorised sharing and ensure compliance.

Alongside storage There are a range of other features that are usually included in the majority of virtual data rooms. These include drag-and drop and bulk upload capabilities and automatic index numbers, optical character recognition dynamic watermarking, as well as an advanced search tool that will help you find specific documents in seconds.

In addition to these options and other features, a majority of data rooms offer redaction tools that allow users to selectively exclude certain parts of a document, without breaking the file as a whole. This can be particularly helpful to avoid missing a single or multiple instances of sensitive information in documents which could have a major impact on the final outcome of the project or deal.