Five Guidelines to Consider When Choosing the Right Board Portal Vendor

The use of software solutions has become essential to many organizations over the years. In the case of board portals, a growing number of companies have increasingly begun to rely on SaaS (Software as a service) solutions to increase their productivity and bring down their administrative costs.

However, in the excitement of procuring any software solution, there is always the risk of forgetting that a software solution is only as good as the company behind it. For those looking to buy board portal software, it is important to understand that when choosing the right service provider, there are other things to consider beyond product features.

As the market for board portals has grown, so has the number of board portal vendors. With so many vendors to choose from, such as Diligent, BoardEffect, BoardVantage, Aprio, and OnBoard, selecting the right board portal vendor can be an overwhelming task.

In this article, we’ve laid out five guidelines to help you identify the right board portal vendor for your organization.

Sustainability

Consider how long the board portal vendor has been around and how much longer they will be around. Are they doing well financially and operationally? Is it a single-product company or does it have a wide product range from which it can drive more revenue? Are they up for acquisition? Look for a vendor that you can rely on for the long haul. It would be unwise to procure a solution from a company that will close up shop and leave you hanging after a year.

Flexibility

How well can the company adapt in order to meet your organization’s needs? A flexible board portal vendor will take into consideration your comments and feedback. They will also make the necessary adjustments to your board portal or to your subscription plan. Choose a vendor that will put time and effort into really customizing the board portal in a way that your organization’s needs are best met.

Support and Geographic Presence

Look into the portal vendor’s support options and find out whether or not they will be able to attend to you adequately. What kind of training do they offer and how often can customers avail of this? Where are their offices? Do they have service centers near your area? Can they provide on-site assistance? What support channels do they have? How responsive are they? What is the response time for customer calls and queries? Evaluate the board portal vendor’s commitment to supporting its customers. Find out whether it has the resources and reach to reliably service your company in the first place.

Security Practices

As board portals store important and confidential information, it is incredibly important that your board portal vendor of choice employs a security model that you can be comfortable with. What security standards does the vendor adhere to? Where is the data going to be stored? Are there backup servers? Evaluate whether their security measures and data storage practices are compliant with your organization’s needs.

Track Record

Read up on customer reviews and find out what other clients have to say about working with the vendor you have in mind. Consider their performance history and whether they have been successfully meeting customer expectations over the years. You want to buy from a vendor that can fully deliver on their promises to you.

Selecting the right board portal vendor for your organization is one of the most important business decisions you will have to make. This is especially true if you plan have it as a long-term investment and form a long-term relationship with them. Using the guidelines we presented, we hope you can carefully consider your vendor options and ultimately make the right choice.

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Convene is an award-winning board portal software that is trusted by top organizations across the world including Tesco PLC, Mizuho Securities, English Heritage, Fidelity International, and YMCA. Convene differentiates itself from other board portal providers by being the most flexible and customizable solution in the market.

Enquire for a demo of Convene to learn more.