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In the last in a series of four blogs on investor relations challenges, we look at a very important criterion: how user-friendly are your preferred data rooms?

As office-based employees pivoted to home-working during the pandemic, and travel was ruled out, firms turned overnight to rely on online solutions that enabled staff to work remotely.

Whether this was providing access to corporate drives and systems, or putting in place a data room that allowed information-sharing and online collaboration, out of necessity came a whole new way of working for many people.

Since then, people have grown used to working online and in many cases, embraced it – a recent survey by Microsoft found that 70% of people want a more flexible way of working in future, with 88% of business leaders convinced that hybrid working will be a permanent fixture.

The challenges of remote working

This new hybrid or remote model does have its challenges, however. There’s no IT team down the corridor, on hand to solve those tech challenges we all face from time to time. Whether you’re trying to collaborate internally, or share information such as investor relations communications externally, it’s vital that all your users can easily access and use the data room you have chosen.

Another challenge is the oft-cited ‘always-on’ culture; the expectation that workers are at their desks and primed for impromptu online meetings at all times.

In the initial phases of the pandemic, when companies’ employees scrambled to instigate business continuity plans and keep the wheels turning in unprecedented circumstances, this might have been short-term acceptable. Long-term, though, increasing numbers of workers are facing burnout and ‘Zoom fatigue’ and want time away from their desks – being able to access the systems they use from devices other than their laptop becomes important.

And we all face the challenge of information overload; today’s time-poor and pressurised workers need a way of sifting the valuable from the irrelevant; the essential from the nice-to-know.

Introduce your contacts to user-friendly investor relations

One way to tackle the virtual communications challenge is to introduce a virtual investor roadshow data room for your IR communications. As well as being ultra-secure, virtual data rooms are easy to use, creating a straightforward user experience.

Once a user has logged in, they are able to see all the host company’s files at the click of a button, providing the project manager(s) with instant access to unparalleled investor insights.

And because the best virtual data rooms can be accessed from a range of devices, users aren’t tied to their desks, but can seek out this information wherever they are.

Not all virtual data rooms deliver the same experience – so you need to choose wisely. The best are highly intuitive, with good navigability and clear folder structures, enabling users to access documents quickly and easily.

User-friendly dashboards give investors and administrators instant data snapshots, with the ability to dig deeper for more detail if required.

However intuitive the solution, there will be times when users have questions or need help. Market-leading IR data rooms come fully supported, with round-the-clock help available for investors, ensuring they have all the information they need at their fingertips.

All of which enables you, the company providing investor information, free to focus on honing your messaging and service, rather than providing technical support to your clients.

You can find out more about Engage, Perivan’s market-leading data room, which delivers a user-friendly, highly secure  and cost-effective experience for investors, on our website.

Read more about how Engage can provide the solution to your 21^st century investor relations challenges.

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