Virtual Data Room Pricing – How Much Should A Virtual Data Room Cost?

Virtual Data Room Pricing – A virtual data room, or VDR, is the inventory of the M&A professional. These specialized solutions for sharing large amounts of sensitive documents outside the firewall are an inevitable part of M&A negotiations. Data rooms help alleviate the burden and risk of disclosing confidential documents to third parties during the due diligence phase of an M&A transaction. Newcomers to the world of investment banking and mergers and acquisitions often sink their teeth into the difficult tasks of document management, disclosure, and due diligence – usually with a director breathing down their necks!

While data rooms are an indispensable tool for mergers and acquisitions, many investment bankers and consultants have an unfortunate tendency to assume that all virtual data room solutions are the same. Virtual data room pricing structures can vary widely between vendors — and these differences can have a significant impact on the value and versatility you get from your data room investment.

What is a virtual data room?

Virtual Data Room is a secure online data store used to store and distribute data. Virtual data rooms are used when strict data confidentiality is required.

It has many advantages over physical data business rooms such as 24/7 data accessibility from any device, any location, data management security, and cost savings.

Virtual data rooms are used in many industries including biotechnology, IT and telecommunications, investment banking, accounting, government, energy, corporate brokerage, etc.

Virtual Data Room Pricing Explained

The cost structures of VDR providers are comparable to mobile phone and internet subscriptions. You pay a base rate and then there may be extras based on features. Some companies may also offer unlimited plans that allow you to use VDR for a variety of projects and use cases at a predictable cost. When evaluating solutions, you need to understand how you will be billed for the service—for example, per page, several users, storage space, project duration, etc.—to avoid unexpected costs or excesses down the line.

#1 How do virtual data room solutions base their pricing?

Virtual data room providers generally charge a monthly fee for their services. This fee is determined in three ways, each of which can be attractive based on the type of project you are undertaking.

Some VDR providers will base their rate on the number of pages loaded into the virtual data room. This option can be an attractive rate table if your project is small or if the files you upload are limited in number but large, such as videos, images, or other multimedia files.

Other providers charge based on the size of the data room or the megabytes of the information uploaded. This can be a good choice for projects that mainly consist of text files, as text files are relatively small. Providers that charge based on megabytes typically define different data room sizes, but will make it easy to upgrade if needed.

Alternatively, some providers may charge you a fixed monthly fee. This fee can allow for unlimited storage and an unlimited number of users, or it can be based on the number of users with access to the data room. VDRs that allow unlimited storage and unlimited users are beneficial for large projects with long deadlines.

In addition, providers that charge a fixed monthly fee usually offer discounts for long-term plans, such as yearly. Therefore, when evaluating costs, it is important to consider how many users you are likely to have and how long the project will take. Some providers may seem cheaper at first because they only charge a certain amount per user or that much per megabyte, but if the project explodes, those costs can skyrocket.

#2 How does the price of the virtual data room affect the features offered?

There are two different classes of virtual data rooms: legacy data rooms, which are very feature-rich in terms of security and functionality, and budget data rooms, which are more limited in terms of functionality. When evaluating the virtual data room pricing, make sure you get the security and functionality your project requires. It’s never a good idea to sacrifice important features to save some money.

In addition, many data room providers offer more than one level of data room functionality. For example, a provider might have a pricing plan for their full data room and a cheaper plan for a scaled-down version that doesn’t include any advanced features, such as the ability to remotely shred documents or block screenshots.

#3 How does the size of your project(s) affect the price of the VDR?

Projects can vary in size and duration, but it’s also important to consider the possibility that you have multiple projects that require multiple data rooms. Most full-featured data rooms have advanced permissions features that allow you to run multiple projects in the same data room.

However, this can sometimes be inconvenient for administrators. What have I put where? Which groups have I allowed? When evaluating virtual data rooms for multiple projects, consider what is most cost-effective. With some providers, it can be more economical to have multiple data rooms for multiple projects. For others, it may make more sense to run multiple projects simultaneously in one data room.

Some providers do not charge an extra data room, only full storage. For example, if your rate plan allows up to 20 GB of storage, you can have 10 GB in one data room and 10G in another data room at no extra cost. On the other hand, if your plan offers unlimited storage, it would only apply to that data room and additional data rooms would cost extra.

Therefore, if you have multiple projects, you need to decide whether to host them in one data room or separately in multiple data rooms and which is the most cost-effective based on the vendor’s rate structure.

#4 What is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?

When evaluating the cost of virtual data rooms, it is important not to limit the valuation to just the short-term price or purchase price of the VDR, but to consider the long-term price, the total cost of ownership. The total cost of ownership includes both purchase costs and opportunity costs that can be incurred or saved along the way.

Consider a virtual data room that costs $100 a month but is slow, clunky, and difficult to use, compared to a fast, efficient VDR that significantly speeds up document review, but costs $200 a month. A project in the cheapest VDR can take six months or a year, while a project in the most efficient data room can finish in 60 days. Although the price is higher, the most efficient data room has a lower total cost of ownership.

#5 What is the reputation of the supplier of VDR solutions?

Virtual data rooms that have been around for a long time and have a solid reputation in the industry are likely to be priced higher than vendors that are new to the market or vendors that have not established themselves as industry leaders. The companies with the best reputation have them for a reason: they were hard-earned and well deserved. It has a large customer base with a high level of satisfaction.

When evaluating VDR providers, take the time to visit third-party review sites and read testimonials. Talk to colleagues. The extra money you spend on a trusted VDR provider can save you in the long run.

What is the value of support?

When evaluating virtual data room pricing, consider the level of support provided to you as a VDR customer/administrator and to the users/third parties you invite into your data room to view documents. Merger and Acquisition Negotiations do not take place from 9 am to 5 pm and if a user does not have access to the documents they need to view, they should be able to contact support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The supplier , no problems or delays on voicemail.

While it may be tempting to use a generic file-sharing tool to perform due diligence, keep in mind that these basic tools are not designed for the rigors of M&A, where there is a high level of degree of urgency and third parties are not. may sit in their hands waiting for a VDR provider to contact them about the problem they are having when viewing documents. Another good way to look at this is, “Would you rather have the user call the VDR provider’s support team at 2 a.m. or solve the problem directly?”

Virtual Data Room Pricing Checklist

To summarize, here are the metrics that VDR providers typically charge for their services:

• Per page (with overages if you exceed the page limit).
• By the number of user licenses – a certain number of data room users are added and you pay more for each additional user.
• Storage Size – How many gigabytes of document storage do you need in your data room. Additional GBs of storage can be purchased if required.
• Duration of data room transaction – a fixed price is given for months, for example, 3, 6, or 12 months, and after that, you pay monthly for the data room service. M&A transactions often take longer than expected, so keep this in mind when evaluating data room costs.
• Customer support and integration levels – How much involvement do you need to get the data room up and running and get the M&A transaction going? Does the VDR support you and your customers/users? Is support 24/7/365? Is the Service Level Agreement (SLA) 15 minutes out of 24 hours? Ask specific questions: Let’s say a foreign customer can’t print a document at 2 a.m. and call the VDR provider’s support line. How long does it take for them to be a living person who knows the business and can solve their problems?
• The number of transactions – some VDR providers offer an unlimited number of projects, while others charge for the deal. How many projects do you carry out on average per year? If there is more than one, it may make sense to consider an unlimited use option to maximize value and versatility.
• Are the professional services included? What do these services entail, for example offering archive DVDs at the end of a transaction? Does the supplier have industry experience that can make them a reliable partner in your negotiation?

List Of Best Virtual Data Room Providers

Below are the best virtual data room software available in the market.

#1) iDeals Secure Data Room Provider [BEST GENERAL]

Best for small to large projects.

iDeals Virtual Data Room Pricing:

iDeals offers three-rate plans. It also offers a 30-day free trial.

iDeals Solutions is an advanced and trusted provider of virtual data rooms. The exceptional experience and results have been tried and tested by investment bankers, lawyers, and top executives of companies around the world.

As the most results-oriented and flexible company on the market, iDeals VDR always listens to customers and offers them the safest, most comfortable, and fastest solution to achieve their strategic objectives in any type of transaction.

Features:

• Drag and drop functionality to load the file.
• It offers a bulk upload function with no limitation of file size, number, and format.
• It also offers automatic index numbering and full-text search capabilities.

Technical details:

• Supported languages: English
• Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone/iPad, Windows Phone.
• File Upload Size: Unlimited
• Storage: unlimited

Verdict:

iDeals offers leading possibilities for the virtual data room. Supports more than 25 file formats. It gives you full control to keep your data confidential.

#2) Intralinks

Ideal for medium and large companies.

Intralinks Virtual Data Room Pricing:

Intralinks offers a free 30-day trial. You can contact the company for pricing information. According to online reviews, the price of Intralinks VIA starts at $25 per month.

Intralinks offers various merger and acquisition solutions, including a virtual data room. It has some advanced features like analytics and file management with AI. It offers an intuitive user interface for ease of use. It has features like watermarking and automatic indexing.

Features:

• Drag and drop functionality.
• Bulk upload of files and folders. This feature also allows you to change the name before submitting it.
• Detailed reports on data room activities.

Verdict:

Intralinks’ virtual data room solution is available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone/iPad. It supports different languages ​​like English, German, French, etc.

#3) Merrill Data Site

Ideal for medium and large companies.

Merrill Data Site Virtual Data Room Pricing:

You have to request a quote for pricing details.

Merrill Datasite can be used as an online data room solution for investment banking, business development, private equity, and law firms. It provides visual analytics for document activity. Allows you to adjust settings and manage these document activities.

It offers industry-leading security and can meet the most stringent security requirements.

Features:

• It has permission management features.
• Document access levels can be defined based on roles.
• It provides a contextual search.
• It provides a drag and drops feature for uploading files. You can publish the files immediately or you can set to publish them later.

Verdict:

Merrill Datasite offers a virtual data room solution for Windows and Mac platforms that allows you to upload zip files up to 50 GB. It supports multiple languages ​​including English, German, French, etc.

#4) BrainLoop

Ideal for small, medium, and large companies.

BrainLoop Virtual Data Room Pricing:

BrainLoop offers a free trial for its services. You can get a quote for pricing details.

BrainLoop provides a SaaS solution to protect the sensitive data of the organization. In the same service, it offers a communication solution for Councils and Committees, M&A and Due Diligence, and a solution for Secure Collaboration.

Features:

• It is available as an online solution and can also be used offline.
• Supports all mobile devices.
• To give you native work experience, it is integrated with MS Office.

Verdict:

Offers a variety of products such as Board Suite, Board Room, Deal Room, Collaboration Room, and My Room. Works on any device.

#5) Watchdox

Ideal for small, medium, and large companies.

Watchdox Virtual Data Room Pricing:

Blackberry offers a free version of the product. There are three editions, namely, Send, Collaborate, and Secure Plus. According to online analyses, the prices for BlackBerry Workspaces are $15 per user per month.

Watchdox is Blackberry’s solution for workplaces. This is a secure enterprise-grade platform for syncing and sharing files. It protects against ransomware. Watchdog lets you collaborate inside and outside your firewall.

Features:

• It provides AES-certified 256-bit encryption for files.
• It supports all your existing data stores, so no data migration is required.
• This produces a detailed activity log.

Verdict:

BlackBerry offers the solution for secure storage, synchronization, and file sharing. Offers a solution for every budget. It can be the solution for any industry such as financial services, healthcare, media, and entertainment, etc.

#6) Box

Ideal for small, medium, and large companies.

Box Virtual Data Room Pricing:

Box has plans for both individuals and businesses. It offers two plans for individuals, namely Individual (free) and Personal Pro ($10 per month).

For businesses, it offers four plans, namely Starter ($5 per user per month), Business ($15 per user per month), Business Plus ($25 per user per month), and Enterprise (request a quote). Box also offers a free trial for Starter, Business, and Business Plus plans.

Box offers the solution for sharing, storing, and collaborating files. It provides features to securely manage and access data from anywhere. It is accessible from desktop and mobile. It has file blocking features, advanced file previews, and access statistics.

Features:

• Box protects against data loss.
• It has custom branding features and mobile security checks.
• It also offers features such as automatic expiration.

Verdict:

Box offers a variety of products for businesses, teams, and individuals. The solution for any type of business can be to provide a secure and scalable platform for content sharing and collaboration. It is a cloud-based platform and works in any browser.

#7) Ansarada

Ideal for small, medium, large companies and also for freelancers.

Ansarada Virtual Data Room Pricing:

Ansarada offers three pricing plans, namely 90-degree basic, 180 degrees recommended, and 360 degrees unlimited. You can get a quote for pricing details.

Ansarada offers several solutions, including Data Rooms. Ansarada’s data rooms are powered by AI. This data room solution is secured with many security features such as watermark, security controls, and print and save settings.

Features:

• Ansarada has team collaboration and business collaboration features.
• It integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox.
• Document analysis and classification are based on AI.
• Management, risk, and compliance, it offers features such as secure watermarking, security timeouts, blocking and tracking of PDF and Microsoft Office files, and single sign-on.

Verdict:

Ansarada delivers the virtual data room solution exclusively for M&A. It is one of the best virtual data rooms, because of its features and functionality.

#8) Digify

Ideal for small, medium, and large companies.

Digify Virtual Data Room Pricing:

Digify offers a 7-day free trial for both the Team plan and Business plan. The team plan costs $96 per month. You can get a quote for the Enterprise plan.

Digify provides features and functionality for document security, virtual data rooms, file tracking, and statistics. It can provide unlimited data rooms with one account. It integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box. The Gmail extension helps you track email attachments.

Features:

• For document security, Digify provides the functionality of access control, restrict forwarding, revoke access, print and download permissions, watermark, expiration date, admin control, security settings, etc.
• It allows you to upload multiple files from your computer or Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box.
• Digify provides file stats for the entire team.
• It provides real-time notifications for file activities.

Verdict:

Digify supports the most popular file formats such as PDFs, images, and videos. This tool allows administrators to create security presets that help teams and companies maintain consistency in company file policies.

#9) Firmex

Ideal for small, medium, and large companies.

Firmex Virtual Data Room Pricing:

Firmex offers a free two-week trial. You can get a quote for pricing details.

Firmex provides a secure document-sharing solution for professionals. Firmex VDR solutions can be used for complex processes such as due diligence, compliance, and litigation. It is used in various industries such as the business and legal sectors.

Features:

• Drag-and-drop function for uploading documents and folders.
• It provides functionality such as watermarking, restrictions on viewing, printing, and saving of documents, and functionality such as document access expiration.
• Automatic indexing.
• Document activity report.
• Verdict: Firmex offers a virtual data room solution suitable for complex processes such as due diligence. It is feature-rich and used by professionals to share a secure document.

#10) SecureDocs

Ideal for small, medium, and large companies.

SecureDocs Virtual Data Room Pricing:

SecureDocs offers a free trial for 3-month and 12-month subscriptions. A 3-month subscription costs $400 per data room per month. A 12-month subscription costs $250 per data room per month. Volume packs are also available. You can request a quote for these packages.

SecureDocs offers a virtual data room solution for any large company. It comes with features like instant installation and an integrated electronic signature. It offers various security features such as two-factor authentication, customizable NDA, permission-based user roles, etc.

Features:

• It offers features such as two-factor authentication, bulk user invitations, and customizable permissions.
• Allows you to restrict user actions.

Verdict:

SecureDocs offers features such as dynamic watermarking, permission-based user roles, and customizable nondisclosure agreements. This allows administrators to set permissions for Office and PDF documents.

Conclusion

Not all virtual data rooms are priced the same, nor do they offer the same features and capabilities. When evaluating the virtual data room pricing, it is critical to understand what reFeatures your project will require, what you will get for your money, and what the long-term total cost of ownership will be.

If you think all VDRs are the same, we hope this virtual data room pricing primer gets you thinking again. When selecting a virtual data room service to support your investment banking or consulting business, there are important factors to consider. Ask the right questions in advance to get the most out of your data room.