The word “free” always looks nice, but the sad truth is you often get what you pay for. If you’re considering Dropbox, Google Drive or another file-sharing site platform to store and share your board materials, you may want to think twice. Implementing a board portal has some solid benefits that can help you achieve the good governance you want.
Limited functionality
Dropbox and other file sharing sites allow you to do one thing: share files. But there’s more to practicing good governance than sharing information between board members. Board portals like Aprio allow you to be more productive, with the ability to share annotations, sign documents, and hold votes in-camera or between meetings. In addition, an access log allows you to see which of your directors has viewed a document prior to a meeting.
Security
You’ve probably read about this, but it bears repeating. There are a lot of security risks to having people download sensitive materials to their personal computers and devices. Especially if it happens via a link shared through email. There’s no way to control who might access the data, whether the file continues to exist long after it expires, or what happens if the device is lost.
In addition, your information may be stored on a server in another country. If that country is the United States, your files could be subject to the Patriot Act, which allows American authorities to access and seize data stored on US soil without your knowledge. If good governance is one of your top priorities, this is a must to include in your risk-management considerations.
Ease of use
Look, we understand that not everyone was born with the ability (or even the desire) to adopt new technology. Board members and administrators work hard, usually around challenging schedules. They don’t have time for repeated lessons about how to manage files — it needs to happen, and it needs to happen easily. Aprio makes it happen, with an interface that’s easy to use and ongoing training (both group and one-on-one).
A great relationship
When you have a question about accessing sensitive board data, it’s nice to have someone to, you know, ask. Free file-sharing software assumes you’ll ask Google or read a help file. When you use Aprio, we’re available if you need to talk to a real, live person. After all, the thing we want most for you is success, which is why we offer around-the-clock support, ongoing training, and how-to Webinars to go with the new features we add every quarter.
Want to learn more about how Aprio can make your life easier? Book a demo, and we’ll walk you through it or download our free Board Portal Buying Guide.
