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This article appeared on the website of ABA Bank Directors Briefing newsletter, www.bdbonline.biz, and was posted in July 2007. Copyright 2007 Simmons Boardman Publishing Corp.
Questions To Ask
When Shopping For A Board Portal
Format Issues
Is the software available solely as an “ASP” (a hosted internet-based application service provider)? Or can the software be purchased or licensed to run on the bank’s own systems?
Functionality Issues
Does the product permit creation of documents such as board agendas within its own software, or does it require importation of text or documents from other software, such as Microsoft Word?
If the system turns all documents into PDF files, how user-friendly is the conversion process within the product? Is the conversion to PDF form automated?
If the system turns all documents into HTML files, how user-friendly is the conversion process within the product? Is the conversion to HTML form automated?
Does the product permit board members to make electronic notes, bookmarks, etc., on their copies of documents?
Does the product permit directors to search across all board books and all board-related documents stored on the secure website?
Will the product support online polling and voting?
For directors who aren’t ready for online access to board books and related documents, staff will have to print out what they need. How easily can entire board books be printed out? How easily can portions of the board books be printed, rather than the entire book?
Does the product provide the capability of sending e-mail alerts outside of itself to let directors know that new materials have been posted and are awaiting their reading and review within the portal?
Does the product permit the bank to structure and run internal surveys, such as board self-evaluations, board evaluations of management, etc.? Will the program also produce analyses of survey responses?
Will the product support virtual conferences, or permit virtual meetings within and through the bank’s board site?
Does the product provide a secure “board discussion or “board blogging” space within the bank’s site?
Does the system permit the bank to upload articles, training materials, and other aides for board knowledge?
Access Issues
Can directors access the bank’s site using this product from any computer anywhere? Or must they access the site from a designated computer at their home or office, or through a company-provided laptop?
Can dialup access be used to communicate with the site, at a practical level, or is high-speed access required to use the product?
How straightforward are commands and other means of using the product’s essential functions?
Does the vendor provide 24-hour support for both board members and banks’ administrative personnel?
Does the vendor provide redundant processing for the product, so that downtime is avoided or effectively eliminated?
Security Issues
Is the portal maintained on an encrypted server? That is, are all institutions’ files on the portal server encrypted such that no one—including the staff of the software vendor—can read the bank’s board’s files unless they have the passwords and other information or keys with which to log into the system as recognized, authorized users?
Does the product permit multi-factor authentication (ex. “something you have” and “something you know”) rather than only single-factor authentication?
Will the product accommodate usage of “fobs” or other physical security tokens used as part of an identity authentication system?
Does the system permit levels of security? Does the system prevent directors from viewing materials dealing with committees that they do not sit on, or other materials that for some reason should not be open to all members of the board?
If the product has a search function built in, will it respect security and confidentiality issues?
Does the product permit the user to print out the entire board book? Does the system allow the electronic version of the board book to be downloaded or saved as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file? If files can be downloaded or saved as PDFs, can they be stored as open documents or can they only be stored as encrypted files that require some form of authentication for the user to open them? If files can be downloaded onto a director’s computer, can they be stored to any folder, or can they only be stored to a protected, encrypted folder that requires authentication for access? Regarding all these questions, what functions are optional and which are mandatory?
What steps has the vendor taken to secure and safeguard the server where the bank’s board site resides? For example, do the physical and data security standards for the server’s location meet industry standards?
Administrative Issues
What tools does the product make available to the corporate secretary and other administrative officers for preparing board packages and handling other functions?
Can the product support “one-button updates,” to support revisions of links within the site when documents have been replaced or revised?
Can the product support different options regarding each document within the system? Options might include permitting forwarding or not; permitting amendments or not; and allowing downloading in some cases, not in others?
What provisions for backup and business continuity does the vendor make, considering that much key information about the board will be archived on the portal?
E-Discovery Issues
Does the package provide secure e-mail within its own sphere, that is, e-mail that is contained only within the bank’s board site and not within its own institutional e-mail system?
Does the package enable the bank to uniformly maintain and enforce its e-mail policies within the site? Does it enable the bank to provide both for destruction of e-mail records within the site in accord with the bank’s e-mail policies and procedures? Does the system enable the bank to also put a “litigation hold” on destruction of e-mails should a legal matter, or an anticipated legal matter, make destruction of such records undesirable?
Similarly, if the package permits document sharing within the site from one director to another, does it also permit management of those documents in accord with the bank’s record retention and destruction policies and procedures? Again, can litigation holds be accommodated?
Regarding all deleted data, are they always completely purged from the servers and backup storage media used by the bank’s site?
Can document destruction automatically reach out to downloaded files on directors’ laptops or other computers used to access board documents and records maintained using the vendor’s product?
Pricing Issues
Does the company charge a flat rate for its software or does it charge by the user? Or does the company blend the two pricing approaches?
Does the price quoted include setup fees? Any special tailoring required for the bank’s requests?
Does the price quoted include usage by the bank’s administrator, corporate secretary, etc.?
Can any features of the package be unbundled to bring the price down?
Companies offering board portals and similar products• BoardVantage, BoardVantage, Inc.,
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BoardWorks, Datacare Software Group,
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Diligent Boardbooks, Diligent Board Member Services,
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Directors Desk, Directors Desk, Inc.,
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Directors Office, part of the Performance Center service, BVS Performance Systems,
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Leaders4, 80-20 Software,
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Thomson BoardLink, Thomson Financial,
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BJ
This article appeared on the website of ABA Bank Directors Briefing newsletter, www.bdbonline.biz, and was posted in July 2007. Copyright 2007 Simmons Boardman Publishing Corp.
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