Not all data rooms were created equal. Some data rooms will be jam-packed with features while others will only give you the bare minimum. This is why it is important to shop around to compare prices, but also to actually try out the data room for yourself. Many data room providers offer free trial periods so you can get input your own data and play around inside the data room so you can get a feel for it before deciding if the price they charge is worth paying. In this article we will discuss all of the factors that are calculated into the pricing and whether or not it makes sense to pay for it.
All of the Factors that are Included in the VDR Costs
When you are shopping around for a virtual data room, you might encounter some prices that are higher than the market average. In order to help you avoid the sticker shock, let’s take a look at some of the things that are factored into the data room pricing.
- Amount of Storage – The amount of storage that you need will affect the price because the more you use the more you pay. When you are first starting the process of searching for a data room, it is important to have at least some understanding of the scope of your project, which includes the number of documents you will be uploading into the data room. For example, some of the cheaper pricing options will give you 1 GB of storage which is good for about 1,000 and 10,000 pages.
- Amount of Projects – You may be working on many projects simultaneously and it is always a good idea to use a single data room provider for all of them. This will avoid a lot of confusion and it will be much easier to keep track of everything.
- Number of Participants – If your project involves a lot of users then you will end up paying more. Some pricing plans will allow you to add additional participants as the project moves on, but such plans will be more expensive. Having said this, it is important to give yourself some flexibility in this regard since complex deals such as M&A transactions might require additional members and you do not want to have to start changing plans in the middle of the deal.
- Brand name – Some data room providers have been around for a long time and have built up quite a reputation. This does not necessarily mean that they are the best, but just like dinner at the Waldorf Astoria will cost more than at Denny’s, such data room providers will charge more simply because they are big brand name and have a lot of prestigious clients. Needless to say, it is not worth overpaying for such data rooms, therefore be sure to do your homework, shop around and compare prices, to decide if a certain data room fits your needs.
- Level of Customer Support – If you have never used a virtual data room before, you might get stuck at some point and require help from customer service. However, if you would like this support to be available whenever you need it, then you will have to pay for such a level of service. Furthermore, if you would like a person to help you, instead of a machine and for support to be available in languages other than English, this will also cost extra. However, it is worth spending money on a higher level of support since you need problems to be resolved quickly and it is easier to resolve problems if you call in about as soon as they happen instead of having to wait for the next day to call in during regular business hours.
- Additional Bells and Whistles – When you compare all of the pricing plans that the service provider offers, you will notice that the more expensive plans offer the most features. If you know that will be difficult or even impossible to complete your project without the features offered in the more expensive plans, then certainly it is worth shelling out more in order to get comfortable working conditions.
Before you get to compare all of the data rooms out there, make sure to discuss the scope of the project and the tools necessary to work on the project. You may find that you only need a minimum amount of storage without any complicated features. However, it is always a good idea to know what you are looking for as you are shopping. This brings us to what we mentioned in the very beginning: how important it is to try out a data room before deciding to buy.