In 2023, companies direct up to 27% of their IT budgets into digital transformation to enhance communications, production, and customer experience. Also, more companies pay significant attention to improving employee communications based on the RSM US LLP and Corporate Board Member survey.
However, businesses face significant challenges while implementing digital strategies. For example, according to the RSM survey, 55% of board directors say talent has been a barrier.
Based on the MIT Center of Information Systems Research, only 34% of businesses have digitally-savvy board members.
Selecting reliable board software is another challenge since only 27% of purchased software meets business expectations. More corporate and nonprofit boards want to improve digital awareness and implement cutting-edge technology at the same time.
At Board-room.org, we help executives achieve both. Our team enhances boards’ digital transformation efforts with the following:
- Board software market research. We keep tabs on the board software market and regularly inspect software trends, top providers, pricing structures, etc.
- In-depth board software reviews. Our research team evaluates board portals based on multiple criteria.
- Board management resources. Board-room.org provides readers with free templates, market analyses, and the best board management practices.
You can learn more about the Board-room.org team and benefits on the About Us page. Now, keep reading to discover our review process.
Our review process
Board-room.org applies comprehensive software review methods based on the latest research findings. Our software review process involves the following steps:
- Board portal research. We collect data on the board portal, including marketing insights, user reviews, and technology info.
- Technology assessments. Our quality assessment (QA) team tests the board portal under review, including its technology, user experience, and customer support.
- Content production. Our content production team delivers board software reviews based on our research findings and QA results.
- Content approval and distribution. Our content validation team checks board software reviews for relevance, accuracy, and expertise. Approved reviews get published on the Board-room.org website.
Board-room.org conducts research and QA tests based on the following criteria.
Provider data
We collect and analyze the following data on board software providers under review:
- Market profile. We assess customer base, industries, product lines, partners, and affiliated businesses.
- Operating history. Our team inspects financial performance, including market capitalization, revenue growth, acquisitions, mergers, and bankruptcy data.
- Online reputation. We measure case studies, online testimonials, incidents, and legal proceedings.
Software features
We review and measure the following software features and characteristics, including but not limited to:
- Security — Data encryption, user verification methods and permissions, infrastructure security, and security compliance
- Collaboration — Data storage, in-app messaging, file-sharing, agenda building, meeting minutes management, and event planning
- Customization — Branding, language management, look and feel, audit trail, app integrations
- User interface — Notifications, ease of use, consistency, and responsiveness
Customer service
We inspect and evaluate the following aspects of customer service:
- Customer support — Communication channels, availability, response time, and support quality
- Technical support — Response time, customer data access, communication channels, and quality
- Onboarding — Admin training, board-room assistance, exclusive support, dedicated project managers
- Resources — Help center, documentation, learning materials, and blog articles
Pricing
We collect and evaluate the following financial aspects of a board portal under review:
- Pricing plans — Quality-price ratio, flexibility, discounts, and billing methods
- Free trial — Duration, software features, and commitment upon expiry
Customer feedback
Our team collects user feedback from independent sources, including GetApp, Capterra, G2, Software Advice, smaller review platforms, review websites, forums, and others. We inspect the following characteristics of user reviews:
- Age
- Quantity
- Tone (positive/negative)
- Frequency over a period of time
- Affiliation with the business under review
Board-room.org review methodology
Board-room.org dedicates significant time to testing board portal software firsthand. Software testing is the backbone of our reviews and the biggest source of information for our readers.
Our QA team shares a proprietary methodology and applies test scripts to achieve consistent and quality results with each board portal software review. It uses black box testing techniques and dedicated testing environments to perform the following assessments:
- Performance testing — Request processing speed, storage usage, data transfer speed, and system errors
- System integration testing — Interoperability performance, response time, data integrity, data transfer speed, and errors
- Usability testing — Navigation flows on different devices, task completion time, and design consistency
Board-room.org research findings
Board-room.org developed a comprehensive market guide for board portals encompassing 90+ board software developers. It contains valuable insights on the following:
- Board software market overview and forecast.
- Board software market segmentation by business model, deployment type, user, and region.
- Market drivers and market leaders’ data
You can learn more about the Board-room.org board software market guide by downloading the whitepaper below.
Best board software solutions
If you struggle to choose a board portal, check the top four board software providers carefully tested and selected by our review methodologies.
iDeals Board
iDeals Board is a board portal developed by iDeals, one of the leading virtual data room (VDR) providers serving over 175,000 organizations.
iDeals Board combines intuitive design and zero-trust security principles with innovative features, robust functionality, and affordable pricing.
✅ Best industries: Financial, investment, renewable and energy, nonprofits, life sciences and biopharma, healthcare, technology, etc.
✅ Best features:
- Interactive agenda builder and meeting minutes tracker
- Real-time voting combined with powerful Q&A workflows
- Action items, deadlines, and event calendars
- ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliant data centers
- Guaranteed 99.9% uptime powered by Tier 3 (2N) redundancy infrastructure
- Eight levels of granular user permissions
- Remote document destruction on all devices
Diligent Boards
Diligent Boards provides over 25,000 organizations with simple and effective board portals. It combines robust security, rich functionality, and around-the-clock assistance.
✅ Best industries: Financial, nonprofits, legal, healthcare, retail, energy, government
✅ Best features:
- Real-time agenda and meeting minutes builder
- Q&A workflows
- ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified data centers
- Fully redundant infrastructure with 99.5% average uptime
- Four levels of user permissions
Nasdaq Boardvantage
Nasdaq Boardvantage powers over 4,400 organizations and companies across the globe. It offers robust even-tracking features paired with a user-friendly interface.
✅ Best industries: Financial, technology and science, pharmaceuticals, consumer retail
✅ Best features:
- Digital agenda and meeting minutes templates
- Task workflows with action items and event tracking
- Zoom integration
- SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications
- Four levels of user permissions
✅ Worth attention: Download our Comprehensive Guide for Board Portals to help select the best board software and streamline board communications.
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