Why Helvetia switched to Sherpany: the advantages of a dedicated meeting management software

In order to simplify cooperation on confidential documents and go paperless, the board of directors of the Swiss insurance company Helvetia used a board portal from 2013 onwards. This allowed the directors to access their documents digitally and to dispense with physical meeting folders. However, soon this solution no longer met their requirements: the board portal they used focused at that time on file management and provided only limited support to solve the major challenges associated with the organisation of board meetings. Helvetia realised that they needed a more complete solution.

That is why Christophe Niquille, then secretary of the board of directors, was looking for a better solution and came across Sherpany's meeting management software. Some directors had already worked with Sherpany on other mandates and recommended the software as particularly user-friendly. At the beginning of 2018, the board of directors switched completely to Sherpany within a very short time. Let us see what has changed for Helvetia.

Easy switch without affecting existing IT infrastructure

‘I am very happy with the switch to Sherpany’, says Christophe Niquille. Due to the experiences made with the previous system and the fact that Sherpany - just like the previously used software - is a SaaS cloud solution, the switch was carried out very easily without affecting Helvetia's existing IT infrastructure. Niquille, who describes himself as ‘relatively adept at IT issues’, was even able to switch to Sherpany almost without help.

Solutions such as Sherpany facilitate the work of the secretary a lot. Meeting preparation can be changed to electronic for the most part. Important documents can be stored under each item on the agenda and distributed in a digital, fast, and recipient-specific manner. Compared to the previous provider, Sherpany offers specific advantages in the organisation of meetings. ‘In particular, creating the agenda, including time management, has become much easier’, says Niquille.

More efficient meeting preparation and better corporate governance

The directors quickly got used to the new solution. Sherpany's modern design allowed for a very intuitive use: ‘The switch to Sherpany was smooth and did not require any special training. Sherpany was well-received by the directors’, says Christophe Niquille. Moreover, Sherpany was always quick in providing technical support to every user and answer their questions.

Sherpany helped Helvetia's board of directors to make their entire meeting management more efficient. Christophe Niquille highlights the three biggest advantages:

• Formalised preparation and structuring of meetings
• Speed of information distribution
• Security of communication/storage of documents

The secure and rapid dissemination of documents has made it much easier for the directors to prepare for their meetings. Sherpany also allows for the selective distribution of documents to users and groups that require specific documents. The entire meeting process is now much more structured than before, says Niquille. Archiving documents (such as meeting minutes), for example, has become significantly easier. This allows directors to track previous decisions at any time and review their impact. ‘This also offers a significant advantage from corporate governance and compliance perspective’, says Niquille. This is one of the reasons why Helvetia eventually also adopted Sherpany for its executive committee, proving that Sherpany is adaptable to the needs of all leaders.

This case study shows the clear advantages of Sherpany for corporate bodies. Even if you might already use a data management software to handle confidential documents, it is worth switching to a dedicated meeting solution. Thanks to the intuitive and modern design, the switch is smooth and fast, just like at Helvetia. This allows you to guarantee more efficient meetings and improve corporate governance.