Board portals are now quite popular programs that help improve the productivity of board members and make their tasks easier for them. Such demand generates supply, and now many companies provide services for portals for boards, but not all of them are of high quality, and even if the program is the best among others, it is not a fact that it will suit your particular case. In this article, we’ll show you how to choose the best board portal that would be a worthwhile investment for your company.
Step 1. Assess your needs
Each company has its priorities and methods, and this must be taken into account when choosing a portal for boards. Below we will tell you about some aspects that need to be analyzed and, based on your decisions, make a start when choosing a program:
- Efficiency and cost savings – analyze how your company can save. The right portals should help reduce the time for organizing the council and the council itself, as well as your cash costs for a paper, travel allowance for council members (if they are far away, etc.
- Data security is taken seriously – your choice should fall on a program that provides only the best security protocols, and provides your space with data encryption and sophisticated authentication. Insecurity of the portal can threaten large losses for the company
- Ability to make decisions quickly – should provide high-quality video conferencing functions, as well as improved interaction functions so that board members can keep in touch and come to the right decision even remotely
Step 2. Compare the products
Once you have decided on your needs, you can begin to select the most suitable options for you. When viewing reviews, you should pay attention first of all to:
- Service – the support service must get in touch as soon as possible after you have contacted it. Support staff should understand how their product works, and provide advice on issues of interest to you, or fix problems as soon as possible
- Training – it is important that absolutely all council members are trained in managing the portal for boards because not everyone knows how to handle modern technologies
- Data security – in terms of basic security functions, almost all providers provide reliable protection. Pay attention to the additional security features, it will be very good if the provider can offer you remote deletion or a choice of the location of your data
- Pricing – expensive does not always mean high quality, sometimes it is simple speculation to pump money out. In order not to get into such a situation, ask for comparable prices from other suppliers including all additional expenses
Step 3. Ask the right questions
Once you’ve selected your main options for programs, it’s time to talk to the vendors. In this case, it is important to ask the right questions, which should relate to such areas:
- Increase the efficiency of the board of directors in operations/communications – make sure that the use of management tools is simple to know for sure that the program can increase the productivity of the board of directors
- Training and support – make sure that the cost of training is spelled out in the main price list of the supplier, and also check the availability of different types of resources applicable in training, for example, personal instructions
- Total cost of ownership – check the cost of absolutely all aspects of the program and at the same time check how the supplier can meet your efficiency requirements