.webp&w=384&q=75){kind=logo}
.webp&w=256&q=75){kind=logo}
Convene
By Azeus Group of Companies.
The typical implementation process for Convene software:
Initial Assessment and Planning: Identify requirements, existing workflows, and integration needs; schedule kickoff meeting with Convene onboarding team.
Deployment and Setup: Configure Convene environment, set up workspace, security settings, user accounts, and roles; import or integrate documents as required.
Training Sessions: Provide rapid orientation for administrators and directors; cover main workflows such as meeting creation, document sharing, and collaboration tools.
Integration with Other Solutions: If necessary, connect Convene with existing platforms (Microsoft, calendars, SSO, etc.) to streamline processes and ensure all workflows operate in one place.
Convene can be customized to fit specific business needs through multiple features, integrations, and administrative controls, though there are a few limits to deep customization for document-centric workflows.
Configurable Dashboard and Workspaces: Organizations can tailor the dashboard to show critical matters relevant to their workflows and set up workspaces for different committees, projects, or business units.
Role-Based Permissions and Full-System Ownership: Admins control group structure, manage users, assign granular permissions, and set safeguarding for sensitive materials, without needing external change requests—supporting complex org structures or compliance frameworks.
Integration Flexibility: Supports integration with enterprise tools like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, LDAP, and Active Directory to align with existing IT stacks and enable unified board processes.
Customizable RSVP, Signatures, and Templates: Meeting attendance can be customized using RSVP tools; e-signature workflows offer local provider integration and signatures/initial placeholders. Agenda templates and annual planning dashboards can be adapted to company norms or governance cycles.
Document Control, Review Rooms, and Voting Workflows: Granular document access, review, annotation, and voting features can be tailored by meeting type, user role, or governance requirements, plus options for publishing documents and minutes to public or internal channels.
Mobile and Device Options: Convene works natively across web, desktop, iOS, Android, and Mac/Windows, allowing organizations to meet device preferences and support remote or hybrid work.
Security Customization: Configure security protocols, multi-factor authentication, document protection, remote data wipe, watermarking, audit trail, and retrieval/log functions as needed for regulatory compliance or internal policy.
Survey Customization: Document reviews indicate limited customization specifically for custom survey workflows within meetings, which some competitors may feature.
API and Deep Integration: While supporting major enterprise integrations, Convene does not offer a public API, which restricts some types of deep customizations and automated workflows for IT/engineering teams.
Document Hyperlinking/Library: Some users seek richer document cross-referencing or hyperlinking options—currently, document linking is less flexible than advanced DMS platforms.
Convene provides training and dedicated support for new users, designed to ensure rapid adoption and seamless onboarding for administrators and directors.
Live Onboarding Sessions: Convene delivers interactive training sessions during deployment, guiding administrators and board members through core workflows, setup tasks, and best practices for board meeting management.
Role-Based Guidance: Tailored guidance is offered for both administrators and directors, with quick-start walkthroughs and focused orientation that enables most users to grasp key features within 30–60 minutes.
Resource Library and Product Documentation: New users benefit from accessible product documentation, video walkthroughs, and a resource portal containing guides on key workflows—meeting setup, document sharing, vote management, annotations, and more.
Dedicated Onboarding Support: Each client receives hands-on rollout assistance, including responsive support throughout deployment, user provisioning, integration, and initial board cycle.
Multi-Channel Helpdesk: Ongoing support is provided via phone, email, chat, and in-app messaging, allowing users to resolve issues quickly and get answers from product specialists.
Continuous Customer Success: Convene maintains dedicated customer success managers for ongoing relationship-building, troubleshooting, and strategic guidance on maximizing board performance and platform engagement.
Convene implements a set of security measures to ensure the protection of sensitive board and organizational data.
AES-256 Encryption: Documents and data are encrypted using AES-256, one of the highest commercially available standards, ensuring stored and transmitted information remains secure.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA is required for system access, adding an additional verification layer beyond basic passwords.
On-the-Fly Decryption Model: Documents are decrypted only when accessed by an authorized user, minimizing the window of vulnerability.
Granular Access Control: Fine-grained permission settings allow administrators to restrict data and feature access by user, group, or role, guarding against unauthorized exposure.
Automatic Device Purge: If a device is reported lost or compromised, data can be remotely purged from that endpoint to prevent unauthorized data access.
Audit Trail and Logging: All user activities, access events, and document actions are logged for full audit traceability to support compliance and investigations.
Password and Identity Policies: Strong, enforceable password policies are in place, with administrative options for forced resets, session expiration, and account lockout after repeated failures.
Convene releases major software updates regularly—large releases often occur annually or semi-annually, with version 9.0 launching in July 2025 and bringing notable improvements in security, AI workflows, and third-party integrations. Minor enhancements, security patches, and feature refinements are delivered more frequently throughout the year, as part of an ongoing commitment to security and user experience.
Thorough Testing Before Release: All updates are tested in a separate staging environment. Approved changes go through vulnerability scans and QA review before production rollout.
Scheduled and Communicated Rollouts: Major and minor updates are scheduled at least a week in advance, with notifications sent to clients regarding the timing and new features.
Automated and Managed Deployment: Updates are automatically deployed to cloud instances and managed environments. No client-side maintenance is required, ensuring instant access to the latest functionality and security protections.
Change Tracking and Audit Trail: Every change and update is tracked with unique IDs in an electronic ticketing system, supporting robust audit and compliance needs.
Convene’s policy on data ownership and portability grants organizations full ownership and control over their data, while also supporting secure data export and retrieval at contract end.
The organization—not the vendor—retains complete ownership of board materials, documents, records, and personal data uploaded into Convene.
Administrators are empowered with total control over user management, permissions, and system settings, ensuring that clients maintain stewardship of all business-critical information.
Convene commits not to sell client data to third parties; information is only shared as required by legal obligations or with client consent.
Data export is available at contract end, with the ability to extract documents and records in common formats such as PDF and CSV for transfer to alternative systems.
Upon termination, clients receive a termination notice with instructions for data retrieval; data is retained securely for 30 days after contract expiration to allow ample time for export requests.
If no export request is received after 30 days, Convene performs irreversible cryptographic deletion of all client data and associated keys, ensuring it cannot be recovered.
Data exports may incur a service charge, especially when engineering support is needed for large-volume transfers or system uploads; costs are typically based on the amount of data or duration of export labor.
Convene offers scalable licensing and flexible terms to support organizations as their user counts, document volumes, or governance needs expand or contract over time.
On-Demand User Addition: Organizations can add users, committees, or teams as needed during the contract period; pricing adjusts on a per-user, per-year basis with new licenses prorated to the existing contract term.
High Scalability Architecture: Convene’s infrastructure and features (e.g., Workspaces, Document Library, Enterprise Search) accommodate large volumes—thousands of users and documents—with no slow loading or performance degradation, making it suitable for rapid scaling in large enterprises.
No Major Disruption: Expansion does not require platform migration or downtime; admins configure new accounts and permissions directly, with help from onboarding and support teams.
License Reduction: If fewer users or teams are needed, clients can request a license "downgrade" at contract renewal, with pricing adjusted based on the updated user count for the next billing cycle.
Flexible Group and Role Management: Admins may deactivate or reassign user roles, remove committee workspaces, and streamline document access per real organizational needs without penalty.
No Hidden Fees: Changes related to user reduction are made cleanly at renewal, and there are no hidden fees, add-ons, or punitive charges for reducing service during these scheduled reviews.
Changes to user/service levels mid-contract (e.g., sudden expansions for mergers, temporary committee increases) may be processed by submitting requests to Convene support; terms and costs for mid-term scaling are defined in the client’s master service agreement.
Large document or user volume upgrades may require a brief infrastructure review, but are supported by existing architecture and documented onboarding processes.
Convene offers flexible terms for contract renewal and cancellation, with options tailored to standard annual subscriptions and multi-year enterprise agreements.
Automatic Renewal for Annual Terms: Most standard subscriptions auto-renew at the end of the contract term unless notice of cancellation is given prior to the next billing cycle.
Multi-Year Renewal Options: Enterprise clients often have multi-year (e.g., 36-month) agreements with clear annual renewal periods and options to renegotiate line items or license terms.
Renewal Notices: Written renewal notices are generally required. Clients are reminded in advance about the end of term to prevent accidental lapses or renewals.
Pricing Schedule: Renewal pricing follows the terms in the original bid or proposal unless renegotiated; price changes or tier downgrades may be requested during renewal.
Cancellation Flexibility: Users may cancel their membership or subscription at any time before the renewal/billing cycle, usually without incurring additional penalties; for enterprise clients, cancellation typically requires written notice—often 30 days prior to renewal date.
Notice Requirement: Written notice (such as a termination request sent via email or portal) must be provided by the client, with the contract specifying the advance notice period—commonly 30 days.
Data Retrieval: Upon cancellation, clients receive instructions to export or retrieve data before deletion, with a 30-day grace period for data retrieval.
Irrevocable Data Wipe: Data is securely deleted after the grace period unless otherwise contracted, aligning with privacy and compliance standards.
Refunds: Refund policies vary: typically, no refunds for unused portions of annual contracts, but exceptions may apply if cancellation occurs before service delivery. Service charges for engineering support or expedited retrieval can apply, especially for bulk/system data exports.
Project Close-Out: For multi-year renewals/cancellations, a detailed project implementation plan is expected, including user training, data ingestion, testing, and feedback/reporting for seamless transition or offboarding.
Reference Requirement: Clients may need to provide reference letters for renewal or bid purposes in larger tenders.
Convene aligns with major international compliance standards to support secure, lawful, and auditable board operations across global client organizations.
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): Supports full compliance with European data privacy requirements, offering data subject rights such as access, correction, deletion, and export of personal information.
CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): Includes features for data privacy management, access reporting, and consumer rights in line with U.S. California state law.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act): Provides controls to help clients meet HIPAA obligations around data encryption, audit trails, and restricted access when processing sensitive health-related board documents.
SOC 2: Maintains controls for security, availability, confidentiality, and privacy under the SOC 2 framework for cloud-based SaaS governance.
