Control

Control Matrix

The Control Matrix maps all users against all assets. It doesn't matter if that's a document, message, discussion post, or other asset. With that model the use cases typical of board process can be readily captured. For example, today a Corporate Secretary might print and assemble multiple versions of the boardbook and send unique versions to the different recipients. BoardVantage handles that, not by constructing multiple versions, but by creating a single version that aggregates all the content. Then, relying on selective access we 'black out' particular sections depending on the viewing rights of the recipient. Or maybe, having sent out the boardbook, the earnings report has a last-minute change. With paper that would require that an updated version of the entire boardbook has to be resent. In BoardVantage that is handled with a one-click replacement of the section in question. The boardbook then updates automatically and the task is finished by sending an alert to the members of the committee. Finally, when the meeting is adjourned, you may follow practice of collecting the boardbooks and shredding its contents along with the directors' notes. BoardVantage tackles this challenge with the briefcase, which functions, so that any content can be centrally deleted after the meeting.

Content Segregation

It's not just corporate boards that require a combination of online access and control over their content. It's also fund trustees, subsidiary boards and leadership teams in a wide range of industries. In these scenarios it's common to encounter overlapping board structures. It's for that purpose that BoardVantage built a multi-board architecture which segregates content in communication focal points. It lets directors switch back and forth between different portals seamlessly, each one configurable with their own functionality and customizable with branding that correspond to the board's identity. Since every portal is ring-fenced with our 4-1-1 security, directors only have access to those portals for which they are explicitly authorized.

Self-Sufficiency

BoardVantage combines the control present in the paper process with the efficiency that is the mark of great technology. The creation and distribution of a paper books is a case in point. Depending on scope, the process can occupy a staff of several administrators for well over a week, sometimes longer. Capturing this process online immediately collapses elapsed time from weeks to days or from days to hours—an order of magnitude improvement. Since BoardVantage gives the Corporate Secretary staff desktop drag-and-drop, right-click, a folder tree structure and the ability to edit documents in native and save them directly into the online repository, working in the portal is a familiar experience with a short learning curve. A similar approach is used in systems administration. Users may be added or removed on short notice, perhaps a new director joins or a lawyer is added into the review process. Whether creating the team experience (e.g. TeamSpace formation), administering users (e.g. provisioning), managing content (e.g. remote purge) or delivering service (e.g. password resets), the administrator has the self-sufficiency to make any changes without assistance from IT or third party.

To gain meaningful efficiencies, boards have to go paperless but that can't happen without control that exists in paper-based approaches. That process needs to be captured and controls put in place before the shift to paperless can be made. At the same time, control only works if it exists at the required level and if the tools to exert control are straightforward and powerful enough to make administrators self-sufficient.