For many corporate, government agency, and not-for-profit boards, portal software is an essential tool that directors use every day to read board documents, stay on top of board business, and communicate with their fellow board members.
And while all board portals provide essentially the same service — connecting board members electronically to make sharing documents easier — individual portal software providers can vary wildly in terms of the quality and pricing of their products.
If you are not happy with your current board portal software provider and want to know if there are better, more intuitive, and more affordable options available, here are four reasons to consider making the switch to a new provider today:
User Features
User features are at the heart of what makes portal software effective, and frustrations with portal functionality often boil down to bad feature design. The latest versions of portal software give admins control over adding and deleting board members, offer expense-tracking tools, and allow you to save notes across document versions.
Pricing
Pricing is always an important question when it comes to making a software upgrade, but the real question is about value: what are you getting for your money? It is common for board portal software providers to offer different packages at different prices, which means that many of the best features are often only available to premium subscribers.
On the other hand, software from industry leaders like Aprio gives you all the features you want at a single rate, which means you don’t need to pay more to get the best version of the software.
Support
As with any other frequently used software tool, there will be times when problems arise with your board portal. In such cases, the difference between good portal software and bad portal software often comes down to support. The best providers offer 24/7 email, chat, and phone support to help you solve the problem and get your portal operating as effectively as possible, as soon as possible.
Security
One of the key reasons any organization uses board portal software is to ensure that sensitive, confidential information stays safe. In a world where data breaches and hacking scandals plague even the largest corporations, it is important to make sure your board communications are protected.
Look for a portal software provider that offers world-class encryption, and gives you options as to which national or international servers you want your information to be stored on.
It is natural for board members who are trying out a board portal for the first time to assume that the functionality they are getting from their portal software provider is standard — without a comparison point, it is easy to assume that the problems you are having with your software are just a normal feature of board portals.
This is why you should explore the alternatives available if you are unsatisfied with your current provider. Board portals offer an exciting range of tools and options that can make board communications frictionless and easy. With companies like Aprio constantly updating the functionality of their product, you may find that changing your provider is the best way to improve your overall experience with board portal software.
