A board portal is collaborative software

Collaborative software

Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...

 that allows board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 to securely access board documents and collaborate with other board members electronically.

History

The passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 , also known as the 'Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act' and 'Corporate and Auditing Accountability and Responsibility Act' and commonly called Sarbanes–Oxley, Sarbox or SOX, is a United States federal law enacted on July 30, 2002, which...

 has placed significant legal and financial responsibility on the board of directors to ensure that they fulfill their fiduciary duty to stockholders and has driven many companies to increase the number of outside, independent directors on the board. Consequently, this has led to more frequent meetings, increased information review, and increased communications between meetings. The purpose of a board portal is to securely support board communications and board workflows. The "Read Receipt" of documents by the directors is often a legal record that external auditors require.

Features of a Board Portal

A board portal can be a custom-built, in-house application, an off-the-shelf, commercial application that is deployed by IT, or a subscription-based, software as a service

Software as a Service

Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...

. Board portals provide the following features:

• Strict security: Due to the sensitive nature of board information, security and confidentiality is critical. Sometimes, board portals will use two-factor authentication
  Two-factor authentication
  Two-factor authentication is an approach to authentication which requires the presentation of two different kinds of evidence that someone is who they say they are. It is a part of the broader family of multi-factor authentication, which is a defense in depth approach to security...
  
   for user logins, role-based access control
  Role-Based Access Control
  In computer systems security, role-based access control is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users. It is used by the majority of enterprises with more than 500 employees, and can be implemented via mandatory access control or discretionary access control...
  
   to information, and full encryption
  Encryption
  In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
  
  of stored information and communications between members.
• Online accessibility: Board members can review documents or communicate with other members at any time, even when they are on the road.
• Offline accessibility: Board members can download documents to their computer for offline review. However, board portals ensure that downloaded documents still support the same strict level of security.
• Board packet creation, modification, and distribution: Corporate secretaries can use the board portal to create board materials and disseminate them online. Edits or deletion of documents can be done and the changes are immediately distributed. This saves the hassles associated with printing and handling changes after board packets have been printed. Board packets are often quite thick, with 600 pages on the low-end to as many as 2,000+ pages.
• Dashboard of Key Performance Indicators: to allow directors a quick view of the KPI of the organization's performance, a flexible dashboard is often an integral part of Board Portal packages
• Online collaboration support allows documents and board packets to allow for directors to record their comments and save a record of the same while reviewing such information.
• Data Retention Policy Support: To mitigate company liability, board portals enforce data retention policies on documents, as well as board member communications.
• Read Receipt of announcements, policy documents and any other legal documents is recorded and maintained by board portals.
• Displays mergers and acquisitions activity.
• Online debate and forums

Benefits of a Board Portal

• Reduce paper usage and waste
• Faster board book creation and distribution
• Better source control of documents and security of information
• More timely communications with board members
• Access to information by board members from any place and at any time
• Searching capability of archived board packets
• Dashboard of organization's Key Performance Indicators
• One location for all important Announcements and documents which require a "Read Receipt"
• Improved broader Governance strategy
• Better collaboration between directors
• More directors collaboration before meetings

External links

• "Great Boards", Newsletter Winter 2009, Winter 2009
• "Western Independent Banker", Lose Paper Gain Audit Trails, Oct 2008
• Wall Street Journal, Goodbye Briefing Books, October 23, 2006
• Nina Locker and Laura Grant, The Case for Board Portals: A Litigator's View, June 2006
• Business Week, Corporate Boards Get Busy Online, August 14, 2007
• Community Banker, Meet Me Online, December, 2006