Virtual Data Room How To Guide

Data room users tend to be busy people. They need their virtual data room to be straightforward, innovative, and easy to manage. 

Luckily, data rooms typically don’t take long to open. No matter which provider you use, you will need to follow these simple steps in order for your virtual data room to be active.

- Prepare information you want to store in a data room.

- Follow these four simple steps to get your data room up and running in no time:

• Select a VDR provider
• Create groups and add new users
• Set permissions
• Add documents and files
  

1. Select a Virtual Data Room Provider

Before you can start document storage or due diligence, you need to pick a virtual data room provider. Due to the many providers out there, it’s important to do research on the pros and cons of each. You can use virtual data room vendor review sites and VDR comparison charts to educate yourself on the options and see which one best meets your team’s needs.

Once you select your virtual data room provider, you will need to set up your room and invite users.

Depending on the provider, once you choose them, you can immediately contact customer support to receive help and training. 

For example, with DealRoom, our customer support can help administrators have their room up and running within a few minutes.

2. Create Groups and Add New Users

Creating groups and adding new users to a virtual data room is simple. In this article, we will cover how to create groups, add new users, set permissions, upload documents, and create folders with our virtual data room, DealRoom.

With DealRoom, the “Groups” tab is where administrators can set file, requests, and other permissions. Administrators can also view the secific members in each group. Users that are not admins only see the members of the groups that they have access to.

To add new users, all you have to do is type in their email address. The user will receive an email invite and add in all their own information. To add a new group, simply hit the “+” next to “Groups” and type in the group name. You can also copy, rename, and delete groups.

3. Set Permissions 

All permissions for the room are located within the “Groups” tab. Common permissions include file, requests, admin, membership, group, and more. Note that all file permissions are set on a group level.

For file permissions, there are four options to choose from including view, download, download original, and edit:

• View - users can only view files with a watermark
• Download - users can download and print watermarked files
• Download Original - users can view, download, and print original unwatermarked files
• Edit - users can move, upload, overwrite, delete, and rename files and folders, as well as edit the index
  

Requests permissions are where administrators can turn on and off different request settings. For example, this is where they can decide if public comments need to be approved before being visible and which requests lists groups can view.

As soon as you upload files, the file permissions tab pops open. This is where you chose from view, download, download original, and edit. File permissions can be adjusted at any time.

In addition to file and request permissions, administrators can also set permissions for group members, parent folders, and more. They can give a specific group administrator access, hide members from each other, allow regular users to invite new users, and more.

4. Add Documents and Files

The document tab's content empowers teams to transform, retrieve, and classify documents and folders all within one platform. Benefit from various virtual data room features such as bulk upload, built-in document view, smart search, drag-and-drop, and more. The convenient built-in Excel and document viewer gives users file visibility, without ever having to leave the platform.

To upload new documents and files, users head over to the “Documents” tab. Users can then bulk upload documents using drag and drop, and the system will maintain the file & folder structure inside the VDR when uploading. DealRoom also has free due diligence and other checklist templates available online for download that can be imported into your room. 

DealRoom also has free due diligence and other checklist templates available online for download that can be imported into your room.

These templates will automatically populate folder structure and requests within the room.

Even though many VDR platforms have the same set up format, not every provider offers the same extra features, customer service options, and pricing.

Useful Links

How to Find the Right Virtual Data Room That Meets All Your Security Needs

Why M&A Deals Need Virtual Data Rooms

How to Choose The Right Data Room For Investment Banking