The volatility and complexity of today's marketplace are placing more pressure on boards to be accountable and transparent. Boards are in a constant state of evolution, and they need tools that help them evolve and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. A board management software is a good start, but a portal alone doesn't provide boards with all the tools they need to give their company their best efforts. With such important decision-making constantly on their heels, it's nearly impossible for boards to function without using a board management software system. The wrong tools cost corporations time and money, so it's important to compare systems and get the best value right from the start.

Board Management Software Comparison: How to Get the Best Value

When doing a board management software comparison, boards will want to look at specific areas that will help them in several different ways. What programs and features save them time or money? Do the products have the level of security that they need to protect the board's work? Are the solutions mobile-friendly? What do I do if I have a problem? What happens if products become outdated? Diligent Corporation considered all of these important questions when designing a fully featured board management software and a suite of governance tools called Governance Cloud to form a total Enterprise Governance Management system. In today's fast paced boardroom, it is important to use tools that can help improve governance and streamline processes. Enterprise governance management or EGM can be defined as: ''the discipline of applying technical tools and resources to the full range of governance needs to govern at the highest level and deliver long-term success and sustainability.'' Diligent's software solutions allow corporate secretaries to create lightning-fast agendas. The software drastically cuts down on the time and materials needed to create board books, complete with attachments. More importantly, corporate secretaries can make last-minute agenda changes and board directors and others can see the changes in real time. Governance Cloud products offer a fully integrated solution that provides the features that boards need most. High-level security ensures that board work and communications remain confidential and secure, which saves boards the cost of dealing with an unsuspecting data breach. Diligent understands that board directors are frequently out of their homes and offices, which is why the software solutions in Governance Cloud are mobile-friendly. Diligent has been an industry leader from the beginning. Their software designers are continually at work assessing the governance environment, meeting with board directors, and developing innovative features that streamline and improve governance. Directors can access award-winning customer service and support around-the-clock.

Board Management Software Comparison for Security

A basic level of security isn't secure enough for any board. To assess the strength of security requires boards to know what level of security they need and compare that to the level of security that the board management software provider has. Boards should be inquisitive about the privacy, security and handling of data. Board management software representatives and salespeople should be able to answer these questions expertly. Diligent Corporation offers a board governance management software product with a world-class hosting infrastructure that incorporates robust encryption, and internationally audited, ISO- and TRUSTe-certified solutions. Diligent also uses secure, cloud-based storage for documents, which is unlimited. Diligent's board management software allows board directors to access and download documents offline if they choose to do so. If mobile devices get lost or stolen, the remote wiping feature erases all data so that it can't get into the wrong hands.

Board Management Software Comparison of Features

Board directors can access Governance Cloud solutions 24/7, anywhere in the world, with or without Wi-Fi. Directors can complete questionnaires, collaborate, place votes and sign board meeting minutes using any mobile device. Governance Cloud gives boards centralized access to meeting materials, policies, bylaws and other important documents by allowing them to log into the portal from any setting using any electronic device. Corporate secretaries or board administrators have granular control over user permissions. Settings ensure that board directors can access only the parts of the board management software that they need, leaving the rest of the data confidential and secure.

Factoring Innovations Into a Board Management Software Comparison

With the rapid evolution in the regulatory and governance environments, software can quickly become outdated. A board management software comparison must consider more than the company's current listing of products. A good comparison requires looking at the company as well. Consider the company's commitment to product development and their approach to innovation by assessing their past record of consistency, transparency and offering high-quality products. With Diligent Boards, directors will appreciate the ability to make annotations, markups, and highlight or draw on text. They can also share documents without markups if they choose. The tools in Governance Cloud are fully integrated, which provides board directors with the ability to use all the tools using one secure log-in. A prime example of innovation is the new enhancements to Diligent's Voting and Resolution tool. Boards can now customize the type of voting, including yes/no votes or for/against/abstain votes without a signature. The program also sends notifications to board directors when new votes are available. Board directors can vote anonymously and add comments in the portal if they choose to. Boards sometimes need a simplified, quick voting procedure. Diligent's Quick Voting is the perfect tool for issues that need little or no board discussion, such as standard unanimous consents. As an option, boards can get the results tallying feature, which provides them with voting results in real time. Board directors who serve on multiple boards will enjoy the convenience of being able to apply their profiles and electronic signatures to all of their log-ins just by enabling the board overlap function.

Evaluating Training and Customer Service in a Board Management Software Comparison

Board management portals and other software tools should be intuitive and user-friendly. Inquire about the training methods available, such as webinars, videos, group training and one-on-one training. Board directors may have different learning styles and learn at different paces. Everyone should be able to get up to speed using the tools as quickly as possible. When board directors have questions, they need answers right away. Diligent's customer service representatives answer questions 24/7 and 365 days a year. Boards should expect that someone will answer their calls quickly and provide answers on the spot. Diligent has won numerous awards for excellent customer service. A board management software system is an investment in the company's operations, now and in the future. Diligent ticks every box for security, innovation, features, integration and innovation, making it the best choice to support enterprise governance management.