Merrill Corporation
RSA SecurID® authentication helps win over customers for an innovative virtual deal room service
“The benefits of using Merrill Corporation’s virtual deal room service are very compelling— allowing us to shave days or weeks off major transactions and achieve significant savings on due diligence. However, we would not have used a virtual service unless we felt very confident about security. Merrill’s use of RSA SecurID® authentication as part of a multi-level security strategy assured us that our most proprietary corporate documents are well protected.”
Rick Beach, Assistant Secretary and Senior Counsel, Cinergy Corporation
ABOUT MERRILL CORPORATION
Merrill Corporation is a leading global provider of technology-enabled service solutions for the financial, legal, real estate and other corporate markets. Merrill combines deep industry expertise with superior service and infrastructure to deliver world-class document, brand marketing, print, fulfillment, language and e-business solutions.
For organizations undertaking large transactions—acquisitions, divestitures and financing deals— paper-based “deal rooms” have long been a part of the due-diligence process. In the simplest terms, a deal room is a secure location with controlled access, where corporate documents relating to a transaction can be viewed by interested parties, whether they are buyers, sellers, bankers, lawyers or regulators. In recent years, as requirements for due diligence have increased, the costs and time demands associated with paper-based deal rooms have risen sharply. A single deal may require that thousands of documents be assembled and hosted at a neutral location, such as a law firm or hotel business suite—or at several locations in different cities. It may then take weeks for the documents to be examined by teams of high-priced experts, whose hourly fees and travel expenses typically are borne by the parties to the transaction.
OFFERING A BETTER WAY
The high cost and cumbersome nature of these paper-based processes has created a demand for highly secure “virtual deal room” services that streamline the due diligence process while protecting sensitive corporate documents from unauthorized access. Merrill Corporation has emerged as a leader in this field by leveraging the company’s state-of-the-art infrastructure and expertise in delivering technology-enabled document services, such as the printing and electronic filing of financial reporting documents. Partnering with RSA Security, Merrill has created a solution that meets users’ requirements for convenience, costs savings and security. The result has been impressive growth.
SECURITY HELPS CLOSE THE SALE
With nearly 7,000 corporate customers and 62,000 current users, Merrill DataSite is experiencing growth rates of 3% to 4% per week, both in terms of users and revenues. RSA SecurID authentication has been instrumental to this record of success. “We’ve done hundreds of presentations for our virtual deal room service and have consistently found that security is most people’s top concern,” said Ed Bifulk, DataSite President, Merrill Corporation. “Companies easily grasp the tremendous cost and time savings that can result from handling due diligence online. But if they are not persuaded about the security of the environment, they simply won’t commit to a virtual solution. Our partnership with RSA Security enhances our credibility in this regard.” To earn the trust of DataSite customers, Merrill has implemented a multi-level security strategy that includes encryption of user account information, tight control of users’ access to sensitive documents and an audit and reporting system that captures and time-stamps all access activities—down to the level of individual pages.
AUTHENTICATION ENHANCES ACCOUNTABILITY
Cinergy Services Inc., a subsidiary of Cinergy Corporation, one of the largest diversified energy companies in the United States, used the combined solution to facilitate and securely host thousands of corporate documents required for due-diligence work. “Merrill hosted some of our most proprietary documents—such as contracts, financial and employee information, as well as information on intellectual property,” said Rick Beach, assistant secretary and senior counsel, Cinergy Corp. “For this reason, we decided to go ‘above and beyond’ in terms of security. RSA SecurID twofactor authentication gives us that extra level of protection that normal security routines don’t provide.”
SAVING TIME MEANS SAVING MONEY
Cinergy and other companies using Merrill DataSite benefit in two significant ways. By moving due diligence processes online, they can save up to $100,000 or more per deal on document handling, hosting and travel costs. More significantly, by reducing the time it takes to complete a transaction, all parties realize the financial benefits of that transaction much sooner. For example, it is estimated that shaving 30 days off a $100,000,000 transaction yields more than $500,000 in financial benefits for the parties involved. “Organizations must make more and more documents available in a due diligence process, particularly as many cultures and ways of doing business come together in a global economy,” said Ed Bifulk, DataSite President, Merrill Corporation. “By transferring documents online and implementing sophisticated security measures, corporations can streamline what is commonly a labor-intensive and costly process while retaining full control and visibility over the deal room. RSA SecurID strong authentication is helping us serve our customers’ needs even more completely.”
For customers who want the highest level of protection, Merrill offers RSA SecurID authentication as an added option. Each user is issued an electronic token that displays a unique, 6-digit access code which changes every 60 seconds. To gain access to documents in Merrill DataSite, the user must prove his or her identity by entering the code that is currently displayed on the token, along with a confidential PIN. Through auditing, all access activities can be tied back to a specific token, greatly increasing accountability.
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