BoardVantage - Taking Enterprise 2.0 into the Boardroom
by Bill Ives
Here is a company with a great idea and one that is helping all of us by demonstrating the power of enterprise 2.0 at the top of the organization. One of the first examples that got me excited about the possibilities of enterprise 2.0 was the use of a blog platform in 2004 to help a group of senior executives, doctors in this case, develop a strategic plan. The control transparency facilitated ongoing communication between meetings, provided an accessible, searchable archive of everything they did, making the process both more efficient and effective. I am excited to see a company that has taken this concept many steps further.
Recently, I spoke with Joe Ruck, CEO at BoardVantage. Their Board Portal centralizes documents, processes and communication in a secure but user-friendly Web portal, designed for boards of directors. Each component of this previous sentence is key as Joe explained. First, there has been a gradual transition from paper-based to electronic documentation for board meetings. It used to be that the general counsel’s office would put together a 500 - 2,000 page paper binder for board meetings. It also used to be that board meetings were more ceremonial than they are now. However, the fall out from Enron and other related events, as well as the quickening of the pace of boardwork largely driven by global competition combined to place a greater emphasis on the active and ongoing involvement of boards .
The general movement toward more electronic documentation accelerated this transition and in turn ratcheted up the need for security. If managed right, electronic communication can be more secure that binders that can be left in hotels or cabs and are difficult to lug around; or faxes that go to the wrong place or, at best, are seen by too many support staff; or email where control goes out the window when you hit the send button.
However, many board members are not that technical so ease of use is a premium to gain initial acceptance and ensure actual use by the board members, themselves. Also, the people who put the materials together are often not technical, themselves, so the administration part also needs to be easy. Lastly, the system needs to support more than documents as the need for greater involvement between meetings brings forward the need for process and communication, not just document storage and sharing.
To meet these objectives BoardVantage incorporates a toolkit for creating and distributing board materials for use in meetings and managing all processes that take place in between meetings. BoardVantage is offered as a hosted service that meets or exceeds the standards of security-conscious IT departments, including those of major financial institutions.
The meeting-based features for board members includes: secure on-line and offline access, a searchable repository, the ability to annotate documents, email and voice alerts when new materials are available, and role-based content filtering. The features for corporate secretaries and support staff include: drag and drop uploading of documents, automated pdf conversion, automation of much of the board book creation process, auto-updates to board books, notification, and role-based distribution.
The features to support communication between meetings for board members include: easy to use consents, conferencing, secure messaging, a central address book, board calendar, and point and click evaluations and surveys. The corresponding set of similar features is available for corporate secretaries and support staff.
Joe said the concept and BoardVantage has really taken off recently as the benefits of electronic communication and collaboration have risen to the top levels of organizations. They are introducing the concept and benefits of controlled transparency, a basic premise of enterprise 2.0, at the top of an increasing number of large corporations. BoardVantage generally actively sells to the people who support boards. Because of the interlocking nature of many board populations, there is also increasing viral marketing of what they can offer. They strike a balance in their offering and promotion between what they refer to as “traditionals” who need to be convinced of the new ways of doing things and the “progressives” who understand the new space and want advanced features. Here is an on-line demonstration of what BoardVantage offers that goes into a bit more detail.
I think BoardVantage is doing all of us a service by demonstrating the power of controlled transparency to the decision makers in large organizations. Now that BoardVantage has a secure place at the top, they are planning to expand their product to other parts of the enterprise. I think they are well positioned to take this next step.
