The Complete Guide to Board Portal Definition and Use Cases

In this day and age, organizations are always on the hunt for powerful software solutions that can streamline their operations and maximize efficiency.

One of these solutions is board portal software. Board portals are meant to make scheduling meetings and sharing documents easier.

In this guide, we’ll explore the board portal definition & use cases, as well as their benefits.  

What is a board portal?

A board portal or virtual boardroom is a cloud-based or on-premise software that provides a secure environment for board directors, administrators, and secretaries to schedule and prepare for meetings. It’s also used for communication and carrying out governance tasks.

 

Board management software is often divided into two tools. One tool is designed for board members responsible for key decision-making, while the other is intended for administrators that handle things behind the scenes.

 

Typically, virtual board software can streamline meeting management as follows.

Before the meeting

Before the meeting, you can use the board portal to schedule meetings, create agendas easily, and share these agendas with involved people. 

 

You can also export agendas in PDF format, as well as utilize collaboration tools like task tracking and messaging. In addition, board portals enable admins to create digital board packs and share them with directors.

 

Each director receives notifications before the meeting. These include reminders, new document alerts, and reschedule alerts. 

During the meeting

In the meeting, a board portal ensures that directors are fully aware of everything about the meeting before it begins so that when the meeting starts, there are zero surprises. 

 

With a single tap of a button, directors are able to jump from one section to the other seamlessly to keep the meeting focused. 

 

Throughout the meeting, directors can create and share polls for voting, sign documents, assign tasks, and set deadlines. 

After the meeting

It’s important for directors to follow up with the attendees after the meeting to achieve its goals. 

 

With a board portal, the meeting host can prepare meeting minutes and share them with all board members to remind them of all key points discussed in the meeting. 

 

Moreover, board portals are capable of generating automated post-meeting reports that combine the agenda, all the decisions made throughout the meeting, and the future plan in one place. 

Benefits of board portals

There are various perks of using board portals for businesses and enterprises, because it provides:

 

  • A paperless meeting solution reducing paper waste
  • Efficient board book distribution
  • Seamless communication across all directors and board members
  • Higher level of control over sensitive data
  • Remote access to information regardless of location, time, or device type
  • Centralized access to important announcements and events
  • KPI viewing and tracking in a single pane of glass
  • Searchable archived board packets
  • Enhanced collaboration before, during, and after the offline or online board meeting
  • Seamless execution of governance tasks 

Board portal use cases

Company secretaries and board administrators

In most organizations, the secretary is assigned to be the administrator of a board portal. In some cases, the admin can be a legal counsel or other executives. 

 

Company secretaries utilize board portals in scheduling meetings, sharing documents, sending reminders, and controlling access permissions.

Board directors

Board directors are responsible for data security and partner relationship management. Board portals are capable of providing this at a high level of privacy.

IT teams

Board portals help IT teams protect the company’s sensitive data and maintain compliance and access to information. 

Board portal deployment options

There are two deployment options for board portals: 

  1. Cloud-based. Cloud-based board portals rely on cloud technology to ensure location-independent access to information without any physical limitations. Cloud-based board portals are subscription-based, and the data is stored on the provider’s dedicated servers with a high level of security.

    Furthermore, cloud-based board portals often integrate additional features like chat, file storage, and attendance marking. On the other hand, on-premise board portals are deployed to your organization’s site. Organizations that prefer on-premise document storage use this option instead of cloud-based solutions.

  2. On-premise board portals. Deploying on-premise board portals can be much more expensive than a subscription-based option. However, on-premise solutions are easier to customize. The organization can simply ask for certain features to be implemented.

 

To recap, cloud-based board portals are more secure and practical. They’re also cost-efficient compared to on-premise solutions. However, on-premise board portals provide directors with more freedom and customizability.

Conclusion

So that was a quick overview of what board portals are, who uses them, and their benefits. 

 

Board portal software enhances collaboration and communication, ensuring that key decision-making is unobstructed by routine and tedious tasks.

 

Many modern businesses have implemented cloud-based or on-premise board portal solutions into their systems, and this appears to be the trend for the upcoming years.

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