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HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL Notes
Ranking in Email Applications
9th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Exchange
Ranking in Email Applications
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Email Applications category, the mindshare of HCL Notes is 3.0%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange is 11.4%, down from 14.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

Chiheb Charmiti - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessible from any device, good support, and works very well for emails, document sharing, and workflows
What I like about this solution is that you can use it for mailing, as a client for email, and you can also use it for workflows. So, you can easily develop applications. Even people who haven't got great IT skills can develop some basic applications to use in the company, especially a workflow application. So, it is for mailing and for applications, which is a great thing about HCL Notes. It is very good for managing and sharing documents on the network or inside the company. It works very well for sharing documents. It is one of the best products in the world for workflow applications. It works very well for workflows or decisional processes where a task needs to be first approved by someone. After that, the task moves to the next or final stage where another person approves it with some notes or attached documents. People who are on the move outside the company but need to interact with the database of the company can do some tasks in the HCL Notes application offline. When they have connectivity, the information is updated or replicated in real-time. They can install the application on different devices. They can use it on mobile phones or iPad.
Dean Della Pella - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers great reliability and good mobile access features
In my company, the product takes care of email communications as it handles all the emails and scheduling emails. Within the tool, the calendars are used extensively by our company and its customers. The tool has improved the areas revolving around calendars and scheduling tasks since it has helped in the unification of everyone working in the company under the same system. The most beneficial features of email management stem from the tool's ability to let its users combine the tasks and the calendar while also being able to organize emails. The security and compliance features have impacted our organization, and it has been extremely helpful since such functionalities are needed for compliance purposes. For the customers and my company, being secure and having control of the handling of emails is extremely important. The integration capabilities do not have a direct impact on the email portion of the product, but it does have the ability to set up meetings with the help of Microsoft Teams. The mobile access feature provided by the product helps our company in the area of productivity. I recommend the product to others who plan to use it. Based on the features and functionalities of the product, it would be beneficial to rule for any company where it is chosen. The product offers good functionalities and reliability. I rate the overall a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the access that it provides to documents. This offers us an easy way to make changes."
"The solution is practical, good interface, and performs well."
"Its security is absolutely stratospheric. In an application, you can lock down to field-level security. For example, I could log in and see a field in an HR database with salaries. When you log in, you see exactly the same database, but the field with the salary just isn't there. So, you can literally have field-level security on it, and you can also have secure encryption. For example, I could give you that database allowing you to see the salary, but a calculation that shows how much they get per month in another field is encrypted. So, you won't be able to see that because you don't have the encryption key. You can implement high-level security very simply."
"The solution provides great security."
"It is one of the best products in the world for workflow applications. It works very well for workflows or decisional processes where a task needs to be first approved by someone. After that, the task moves to the next or final stage where another person approves it with some notes or attached documents."
"Notes is a perfectly adequate front end. It's clear and straightforward."
"HCL Notes has fantastic built-in security. The email and personal communication components are excellent, but they are some applications provided by HCL that Notes previously provided when it was under IBM and Lotus. Everyone wants email, so that's just part of the product. However, more savvy users can build their own solutions for managing information, and that's the great thing about it."
"HCL Notes is stable most of the time."
"It's user-friendly."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It's an excellent product from Microsoft. It provides more flexibility to the end-users. As it's connected with Teams, it also enables collaboration."
"The initial setup is quite a straightforward process. I don't think it is a very complicated solution. Plenty of things could be more complex, but the ordinary, general settings are quite simple."
"Customers can benefit from this new pricing model because it's expensive and now with the subscription they can budget for this."
"It is stable."
"I like the logistics and the Microsoft protocol of reaching Outlook anywhere."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange is the email storage is on the cloud. We don't have to delete emails often."
 

Cons

"Notes needs a major upgrade for the UI."
"The interface could be more user-friendly. Some additional trainings could be added as well."
"One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly."
"It is a heavy program and uses more resources than an email client should."
"The solution could improve by adding some more features."
"We had trouble connecting this solution to the database from Microsoft. We have done it, although it can be easier."
"I would like to HCL update Notes' development tool and make it more attractive like Microsoft Visual Studio and similar products. For example, there's a programming language that I used for my product Woodpecker called LotusScript. LotusScript has been available since around 1995. When LotusScript was released, it was like the original Visual Basic, but it has improved since then."
"GUI and replication can be improved."
"The management of .pst files and archiving need improvement."
"The product or service could be improved in terms of Microsoft Outlook client compatibility."
"Nothing is perfect, that's why I am giving Microsoft Exchange a nine."
"I think it could be more scalable."
"They could offer simultaneous features for Exchange Online and on-premises versions. Specific features such as litigation hold and audit setups should be available on-premises."
"The solution could be more user-friendly."
"From a security perspective, Microsft Exchange can be improved. All that needs to be added is security, but that's an internal hierarchical problem from the product itself and not the end-users."
"The main problem with Microsoft products is that we're constantly required to install patches and fixes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"We pay annually for the use of the solution."
"I don't remember how much we paid when we first bought the Domino license, but now, we pay only for the passport. For 30 client licenses, we pay about $1,500 per year, and we don't consider it very expensive for the quality of the product. In our case, we need 30 client licenses. So, we buy 30 client licenses independently of the server. It is very easy for us to choose and maintain this kind of license and get the passport advantage."
"It is far cheaper to license. It is a third of the cost of our Microsoft license for 10 times the amount of usage. Developing applications cost a fraction of anything else. There are two reasons for that. First of all, applications are very fast to build. All the security is already built into the platform, so you don't have to worry about security at all. The other thing is that because fewer people use it than, for example, Microsoft SharePoint, the salary commanded by programmers is slightly lower. So, it is not only faster; you also get cheaper programmers. So, you really win-win-win on it."
"The price is reasonable."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"The product is quite cheap."
"I rate Microsoft Exchange a four out of ten for pricing because it is quite cheap, and many companies use the solution."
"Licensing fees are paid monthly."
"Microsoft Exchange is a very well-priced solution."
"There are different prices depending on the customer's use cases and amount of users. The price of the solution could improve."
"We are currently using enterprise licenses for the solution. They are different pricing models available. There are individual, cloud-based, and enterprise licenses all with different pricing models. The larger the number of users, the lesser the price. For small to medium companies like us, we feel it is expensive."
"Its price is fair."
"It is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL Notes?
The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services.
What needs improvement with HCL Notes?
One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly. Compared to other competitors, HCL Notes could enhance its GUI. While I am capable of using it, others who are less famili...
What is your primary use case for HCL Notes?
I only use HCL Notes for email services. When dealing with businesses, particularly professional entities such as ministries or other companies that provide military-related items, using HCL Notes ...
How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?
Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?
The initial setup was straightforward and fast.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?
The licensing and pricing are quite costly, which can demotivate customers from opting for features and upgrades. However, the solution provides value for money if one is well-acquainted with Excha...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
Exchange, MS Exchange
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Connect2Cloud, Hansgrohe, Sauk County, Blue Water Shipping, FDBR, ibml, Multivac, Aarhus University Hospital, Hendricks Regional Health, Asian Paints, Integra Legal, Sunplus Technology, S¾SS, The Moroccan Ministry of Youth and Sports, Nicrometal, Doncasters Group, Practice Plan, Barr, RACV, Neotechnik, Deutsche Notes User Group
Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. Microsoft Exchange and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,145 professionals have used our research since 2012.