Sharefile virtual data room software:
the complete guide

ShareFile virtual data room is a secure cloud-based solution for file storage and sharing. It allows for the secure distribution of sensitive files and effective collaboration among multiple third parties.

ShareFile data room software has first seen the world in 2005. The company is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.

Since 2011, ShareFile is owned by Citrix Systems — an American multinational cloud-computing and virtualization company.

The ShareFile data room has already served more than 65,000 corporate clients and 22 million users worldwide. ShareFile is mostly used in such industries as accounting, healthcare, finance, legal, manufacturing, real estate, and insurance. Some of the most known clients of ShareFile include SCL Health, Hawsons Chartered Accountants, Warren Averett, and the Insurance Services Group of the Southeast.    

Apart from a virtual data room, ShareFile has also two other products — Podio and Right Signature.

Pros and cons

Below are the main advantages and disadvantages of the ShareFile virtual data room.

Pricing

ShareFile data room provider offers a subscription-based pricing model. It has three subscription plans that differ in the range of features offered, and thus, in price. 

• Standard – $55/month
• Advanced – $88/month 
• Premium – $138/month

All plans include:

• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited client users
• 5 employee users
• Two-step verification
• Custom branding
• Mobile apps

Security features

ShareFile customers often indicate that what they like most about the product is security. 

Let’s shortly see what security features ShareFiles offers in three main areas: security compliance and certifications, document security, and secure user management.

ShareFile offers the following security compliance and certifications:

• HIPAA. This is a federal law that caters to the privacy and security of sensitive patient health information. 

• SOC 1, 2. These are the frameworks for reporting on the internal controls within the organization. These reports ensure that a service provider properly and securely manages customers’ private information.
• ISO 27001. This is an international standard for managing information security. It makes sure that information assets that a vendor holds are kept secure and confidential.

Document security features address the security of the files shared within the VDR. These are some of the security features the ShareFile virtual data room provider offers: 

• Digital watermarks. This feature enables digital watermarks to appear on top of every document when it’s viewed, downloaded, or printed. ShareFile allows custom watermarks, they can include such information as the user’s email, first name, last name, company address, IP address, date, and time. 
• View-only sharing and access. This feature allows setting view-only rights for particular documents, This way, users can only view that file, but not download, edit, or print.
• Secure mobile data wipe. This feature allows administrators for wiping certain sensitive data from a lost or stolen mobile device. 
• Two-step authentication. Every user should verify themselves when accessing the data room by proving an SMS code. 
• User access expiration. Administrators can set certain time frames for users’ access. After the deadline, users can’t access a file.
• Different access user roles. Administrators can set certain access permissions for every user based on their area of responsibility in a particular project. ShareFile offers seven levels of granular access controls.