Board Portals & Boardroom Data Rooms

Board portals are a specialised cousin of the virtual data room. They support recurring meeting cadences (board, committees, supervisory board), distribute meeting packs under granular permissions, capture decisions in a defensible log, and meet the same controls a VDR satisfies for an M&A transaction.

European listed companies, large privately held groups, and regulated entities (banks, insurers) increasingly use dedicated board portals — most prominently Sherpany (Switzerland) and Brainloop (Germany, now Diligent) — alongside their transaction VDRs.

This page covers what a board portal is, how it differs from a transaction VDR, and which providers are typically chosen for European board use.

Last updated: May 2026.

Board Portal Features

  • Meeting lifecycle — agenda, papers, attendance, minutes, action tracking.
  • Granular permissions — per board / committee / member.
  • Annotated reading — offline-capable readers; annotations sync.
  • Decision log — searchable, defensible record of resolutions.
  • Two-factor authentication and SSO.
  • EU / Swiss data hosting — typical for European listed companies.

Board Portal vs Transaction VDR

A board portal optimizes for recurring use, single-user accessibility (each director has their own account for years), and meeting workflows. A transaction VDR optimizes for short-burst use, large reviewer groups, Q&A workflow, and per-deal permissions. Many European groups run both: a board portal for ongoing governance, a transaction VDR per deal.

Providers Used by European Boards

  • [Sherpany](/providers/sherpany) — Swiss; widely used by European listed companies.
  • [Brainloop](/providers/brainloop) — German; now part of Diligent.
  • [Admincontrol](/providers/admincontrol) — Nordic flagship; combines board portal with VDR.
  • [idgard](/providers/idgard) — for highly regulated sectors with §203 StGB sensitivity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should we use a transaction VDR or a board portal for board meetings?

A board portal. Transaction VDRs are optimized for short-burst, multi-bidder workflows; board portals are optimized for recurring meeting cadences, decision logs, and director-friendly readers.

Does Sherpany count as a virtual data room?

Sherpany combines board portal and VDR-grade document controls. For ongoing governance and meeting management, it functions as a board portal; for transaction-grade DD with multiple bidders, a dedicated VDR is the better fit.

Are board materials personal data under GDPR?

Director identities and commentary are personal data; some materials may be special-category. EU hosting and tight access controls are the baseline.

Further Reading