The Hidden Drawbacks of Low-Cost Board Management Solutions
Board management solutions are now beyond the debut stage. With many options to choose from, cost is just one of the many factors that boards should be considering when choosing a board management solution. Be mindful that your board management solution is an investment in your organization. It’s a resource that boards and managers will come to rely on for years to come. That being the case, your board will want to choose a system that provides the best value for your investment.
An investment in a quality board management solution is also an investment in the board’s performance. A quality board performance leads to profitability and sustainability. A quality board management system can only be provided by an industry leader in governance software products that continues to innovate for the future of good governance.
Before considering a low-cost or no-cost board management system, consider the hidden drawbacks that could cost your organization in financial cost, as well as your reputation.
Considering Hidden Costs for Full-Featured Board Management Solutions
Regardless of what a company’s promotional materials suggest, a quality board management system isn’t going to be free or at a very low cost. On a positive note, in learning more about board portals, if cost is a factor, your board can budget for the right system and plan for it in the future.
You can expect to pay certain costs to implement and maintain a board management digital solution. For example, you can expect to pay an annual subscription cost for the service. You’ll want to make sure that you’re getting your money’s worth with the subscription cost. You may also expect to have to pay some extra costs for upgrades, add-ons, and extra features. Your board will also want to plan for the costs of resources that you’ll need to administer the system.
The Cost of Producing Board Books Is a Major Expense
One of the biggest expenses for many organizations is planning and preparing for board meetings and the biggest expense associated with that is creating board books. If you haven’t done so before, take some time to calculate your annual cost of creating and distributing board books.
To figure how much your board is now spending on creating board books for meetings, figure out the number of hours that someone spends gathering, printing, collating, assembling, and binding documents for a board book for just one meeting. This cost alone may surprise you. Then multiply the number of hours that person spent on one book by their hourly wage to get the amount that it costs to produce one board book. Multiply that cost times the number of board books that you produce for each board meeting. Take that cost and multiply it by the number of board meetings in a typical year. Finally, add in the costs to distribute the board books to the meeting attendees.
This cost will likely strike you as surprisingly high. But you’re not done yet! If someone needs to make a last-minute change, you may end up scratching the work that’s already been done and starting completely over.
If your board’s goal is to lower the cost of board meetings, consider that a board management solution is a tool that your board administrator can use to build your board books completely online and distribute them using a highly secure board portal system. You will soon see that by implementing a good quality board management solution, your organization actually saves money.
Features Your Board Can’t Live Without
Security is a major concern for boards because of the frequency and pervasiveness of cyberattacks and data breaches. Just one incident could cost you your entire business or organization. If you manage to survive the financial end of it, it could cost you your reputation. In some cases, board directors could be held legally responsible for failing to address security concerns.
There’s no need to take that chance when BoardEffect offers a full-featured, highly secure, cost-effective option for your board management software solution.
BoardEffect offers state-of-the-art security features that meet the industry standards of today. The high level of security that BoardEffect provides will help boards to avoid the risks of lawsuits and poor risk management.
BoardEffect’s program not only includes the capacity to create and assemble board books online, it also offers other collaboration tools, analytical tools, and secure document storage, file-sharing applications, and orientation tools.
Personal email account systems and file-sharing systems lack the necessary security for board business which could put your clients, customers, or members at risk. It’s difficult to forget that over 3 billion email accounts were compromised in the 2014 Yahoo data breach. Without a secure communications platform or a secure file-sharing application, there is the risk of your board business mingling with your personal business and your board emails may become lost or overlooked.
Be mindful that digital security requires the work of qualified IT professionals with experience. Their expertise isn’t free or low-cost. Poor security features equal no protection at all. A board management system by BoardEffect actually improves security.
Hidden Costs in Getting a Full-Featured Portal
In considering your total costs for board management solutions, take note that too many add-ons end up costing more than one, carefully designed, full-featured system. Getting the bare minimum will cost you because it doesn’t provide the functions and features you need most.
Be aware that free trials may limit the number of users you can have on the system. As you expand, you may have to switch to a new system that no one is familiar with which will also cost you time and money.
In addition, low-cost board management solutions usually only provide you with limited data storage capabilities. A BoardEffect board management solution offers unlimited cloud-based storage.
Also, consider that there is an expense to customer service. Any board management system you choose is worth nothing if it doesn’t work when you need it to. It’s vital to select a board management solution provider that is available for your board members around the clock.
In conclusion, the idea of cost is relative. There’s no amount of money that can replace your lost reputation. Your board will simply not be served well by choosing a low-cost board management solution. A low-cost board management software solution can’t begin to compete with a company like BoardEffect that truly understands the importance of having the right tools to support good governance.
Discover what the BoardEffect board management solution can offer your organization.
