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HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange Online 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 Online
Ranking in Email Applications
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
88
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Online is 15.5%, up from 13.9% 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.
Babatunde-Olugbode - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good user interface and seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft services
I like its user interface. I don't struggle or face any challenges while using it. The design interface is simple. I haven't had any trouble managing it for a long time. Even if I encounter a challenge or two, I can always reach out to Microsoft for help. So, overall, it's been a very positive experience. Having everything under one account was valuable. I just had to go through cybersecurity for licensing and download everything. With one account, you can download Office and use Online features directly from your Exchange. There are security solutions in place, and we take customer data very seriously. For example, if I accidentally create a forwarding rule or send an email with an image attached, I get a notification immediately. Compliance-wise, it's quite good online. We can do many things. Even if I can't click on something or upload a specific file type, it'll still be stored for compliance or investigation purposes. So, subscribing to these features. The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track communication and see user activity. Those are the key points that have proven to be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services."
"Notes is a perfectly adequate front end. It's clear and straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is security. It's very easy to manage security on records, views, and tables."
"The initial setup was easy for me."
"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."
"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."
"The solution provides great security."
"The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities."
"The online version is faster, as it is a cloud instance. We can have massive mailbox capacity: 100 GB per user, which is huge. We can't provision such capacity internally, as the company would get burnt out paying for mailbox storage."
"Microsoft Exchange Online is very simple and easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange Online are spam filtering, 50 GB of email storage, good integration with Outlook, and ease of management."
"One of the important features is the collaboration tool used in Office 365. The security and DLP mechanisms are also quite good."
"We have found the solution to be stable."
"Microsoft has many consultants who can provide support."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy to configure."
"It is for emails, and it seems to work okay."
 

Cons

"One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly."
"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."
"The performance was terrible because we have a very large database with around three million records, including attachments and scanned comments. It was slow, and integrating new technologies or designs was also slow."
"I love this product. I have used it for many years, and I have been a developer for it. If anything, it can be faster in the client version. The client version is a little bit hard. It is not fast. This is the only problem I see. Otherwise, it is a very good product."
"The loading time can be excessive."
"It is a heavy program and uses more resources than an email client should."
"We had trouble connecting this solution to the database from Microsoft. We have done it, although it can be easier."
"Some people complain that they want something more modern and jazzy."
"There is an annual enterprise subscription could improve by having more features."
"The stability of the solution has room for improvement."
"Microsoft needs to lower the price of the extra production add-ins for Exchange Online."
"I don't like it in general. It sort of has that Microsoft flavor to it, which is just the style they use and the way they color things and lay them out."
"The integration could be better if it could integrate well with other products and software."
"Technical support can be improved by shortening the response time and increasing their knowledge."
"The price could be cheaper."
"I would like to have the option to have my electronic signature posted on my emails by default. I am able to add it manually but cannot get it by default."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."
"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."
"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."
"The price is reasonable."
"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."
"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."
"The product is very cheap."
"I find it reasonably priced."
"The price is a bit high. It is especially expensive in the Indian market."
"They have raised their prices, and obviously, it hits our customers. Some of them are deciding to step back from Office 365. For customers who have bought the annual subscription, they are moving to the monthly subscription."
"It is a cluster solution."
"The licensing cost increased at least 15 to 20 percent recently and it would be helpful for them to be reduced."
"The price of the license depends on a lot of factors, such as the number of licenses and company specifics."
"The price of Microsoft Exchange Online security could improve. The overall price of the solution is reasonable."
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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
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

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 ...
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online?
The benefits are widespread and effective communication. We use Microsoft Teams for meetings within and outside our organization. Additionally, Teams can be used for chat, allowing us to track comm...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange Online?
The pricing for Microsoft Exchange Online is quite reasonable, in my opinion. Many licensing options are available so that we can choose based on the customer's needs. For example, if a customer on...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online?
In terms of areas for improvement, I think Microsoft could enhance security. Right now, there are limited options for security within Exchange Online, and much of it relies on third-party security ...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes
Exchange Online, Exchange Online Plan 1, Exchange Online Plan 2, MS Exchange Online
 

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
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Blue Star Infotech, Scitec Nutrition, Resolution Films, British Airways, Empire Cinemas, InnoGames
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. Microsoft Exchange Online and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.