HCL Notes vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

HCLSoftware and Zimbra are both solutions in the Email Applications category. HCLSoftware is ranked #9 with an average rating of 6.5, while Zimbra is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. HCLSoftware holds a 3.0% mindshare in EA, compared to Zimbra’s 9.2% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Zimbra users who would recommend it.

HCL Notes

Read 15 HCL Notes reviews

1,560 Views
899 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Zimbra Collaboration

Read 29 Zimbra Collaboration reviews

3,766 Views
2,876 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HCL Notes

Zimbra Collaboration

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HCL Notes and Zimbra Collaboration based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Email Applications solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed HCL Notes vs. Zimbra Collaboration Report (Updated: December 2024).

Buyer's Guide

HCL Notes vs. Zimbra Collaboration

December 2024

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Helped 824,053 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

HCL Notes

Ranking in Email Applications

9th

Average Rating

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zimbra Collaboration

Ranking in Email Applications

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

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 Zimbra Collaboration is 9.2%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

Chiheb Charmiti

IS Manager & Consultant HCL Domino at JACOB & ASSOCIATES

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.

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Muhammad Talha Baig

Business Analyst and Associate Project Manager at SAMI Pharmaceuticals

One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs

Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 most valuable feature is the UI."

"The solution is practical, good interface, and performs well."

"The most valuable feature is security. It's very easy to manage security on records, views, and tables."

"It is easy to integrate the product with other services."

"The product is very stable and scalable."

"The software's secure communication is particularly useful when dealing with professional entities."

"The security and performance of the solution are good even though our platform is variable, except for the mail services."

More HCL Notes pros

"A lot of other products like Microsoft Exchange offer email or collaboration features, but they are not as fast as Zimbra."

"We can control all the data in my IT infrastructure."

"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."

"The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication."

"The solution is easy to implement."

"The most valuable feature of Zimbra Collaboration is the cost."

"The Zimbra Collaboration's most valuable feature is web access."

"The most valuable feature is sending messages as well as text and documents. It's a big solution for us since internal communication is a must in our organization."

More Zimbra Collaboration pros

Cons

"The only improvement that we're planning to do is that all our applications are still designed in the layout and format of Notes version 4, and our plan over the coming years is to modernize their look. One of the things they're developing or considering deploying is a program to automatically upgrade the look and feel of databases. If they deploy that, that will be revolutionary. In other words, we decide on a corporate look and feel for our database and press a button. We've probably got 50 different applications in Notes, and it would just go through the whole lot and upgrade all of them to look the same."

"One area for improvement would be making the interface more user-friendly."

"The interface could be more user-friendly. Some additional trainings could be added as well."

"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."

"There is a chat component but it does not work properly."

"It is a heavy program and uses more resources than an email client should."

"Web support is very old and needs an upgrade. We can handle a different password for the client to access the mail services, compared to the web services. We need to implement many other components to get access to the web access. There could be a feature to interpret if the web access is available from any end-user equipment."

"The loading time can be excessive."

More HCL Notes cons

"The installation is not straightforward, it can take two days for the full implementation."

"There are some security issues."

"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."

"The product must be more customizable."

"The antispam and antivirus features are hard to understand on mobile devices."

"Zimbra must improve its solution to make it easy so that the users don't have to use webmail to connect to their accounts and log in to webmail every time. This is something that is lacking in Zimbra Collaboration. They should provide a better way to easily connect email applications on the desktop to the Zimbra server. They should also try to have more functionality for storage management, like Microsoft Exchange. Currently, the management of the email data must be done manually in Zimbra Collaboration, which we are finding very difficult. They should provide a way to save emails so that you can have more space on the server and storage. Because of the lack of this functionality, we are planning to migrate to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Exchange provides a better way to manage storage than Zimbra Collaboration. You cannot have a mail solution without storage management because emails will always increase. Zimbra Collaboration also needs tools for management. More back-office tools are required to manage the whole mailbox and space. You don't only manage emails but also the documents attached to the emails. Therefore, you require tools to select and decide what do you want to save or how do you want to free up space in your infrastructure."

"It does have a few bugs."

"The solution could use more integration with third-party tools."

More Zimbra Collaboration cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The solution is expensive. There are many components or features which make the price very high."

"The price is reasonable."

"We pay licensing fees on a yearly basis."

"It was reasonably priced, but the product itself was not worth the cost."

"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 solution is competitively priced."

"We are using perpetual licenses. We have deployed it in our local data center, and we buy perpetual licenses on a per-user basis."

"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."

"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."

"When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange."

"We do not pay for licenses to use this solution."

"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."

"Zimbra Collaboration is less expensive than Microsoft Exchange. Zimbra works for small companies because it is not expensive. Zimbra Collaboration has more security tools than Microsoft Exchange. If you are choosing between Zimbra Collaboration and Microsoft Exchange, you have to take into account the cost of security tools with Microsoft Exchange. When you purchase Microsoft Exchange, you will also have to purchase tools for security, which adds to the cost. The migration from Zimbra Collaboration to another email solution is very simple and easy. Migration from Microsoft Exchange to another email solution is very difficult. Microsoft doesn't allow migration that easily. In fact, you have to pay for tools to do that. You have to buy some expensive tools to migrate."

More Zimbra Collaboration pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

10%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Zimbra Collaboration?

The most valuable feature of Zimbra for our team's productivity is its efficiency in handling email communication.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zimbra Collaboration?

The solution is competitively priced.

See all answers

Comparisons

HCL Verse vs HCL Notes

Compared 30% of the time

Microsoft Exchange vs HCL Notes

Compared 28% of the time

HCL Domino vs HCL Notes

Compared 13% of the time

Google Workspace vs HCL Notes

Compared 10% of the time

IceWarp vs HCL Notes

Compared 5% of the time

More HCL Notes Competitors

Microsoft Exchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 35% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 18% of the time

KerioConnect vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 14% of the time

IceWarp vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 9% of the time

Zarafa vs Zimbra Collaboration

Compared 2% of the time

More Zimbra Collaboration Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL Notes

December 2024

Download HCL Notes product report

Buyer's Guide

Zimbra Collaboration

November 2024

Download Zimbra Collaboration product report

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Notes, Lotus Notes

No data available

Learn More

HCLSoftware

Zimbra

Overview

HCL Notes is a secure on-premises email client that allows teams access to email, calendar, and contact management capabilities. The solution integrates other collaboration tools seamlessly along with HCL Domino business applications, into a single workspace. HCL Notes is most commonly used in corporate environments for email, but can also be used to create websites, custom applications and business workflows, discussion groups, and document libraries. In addition, the solution enhances user experiences, helps internal teams collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, and streamline communication management operations.

HCL Notes is available for Windows, Apple iOS, and Android.

HCL Notes Features

HCL Notes has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Instant Messaging with HCL Sametime.
Unified Inbox: This HCL Notes feature helps you consolidate multiple email accounts into one viewable platform.
Filters: The HCL Notes filters allow users to filter their emails by sender, date received, opened/unopened, and more.
Reminders: With the reminders feature, users are prompted with reminders to send or reply to emails.
Notifications: HCL Notes notifications feature pings users, notifying them when they receive new emails.
Task Management: HCL Notes has built-in task creation and assignment functionality.
Reporting & Statistics.

HCL Notes Benefits

Some of the benefits of using HCL Notes include:

Mobility and accessibility: HCL Notes provides users with access to their mail and calendar wherever and whenever they are doing work.

Easy integration: With HCL Notes, you can interact with files directly from your email messages — preview, download, follow, comment, or share them with your team.

Better access capabilities: HCL Notes makes it possible for you to access profiles, roles, skill sets, and areas of responsibility for all your contacts. It also allows you to view related blogs and collaboration histories of shared work.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by HCL Notes users.

An Administration & Technical Director at a tech services company says, "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."

PeerSpot user Bogdan C., Kierownik Biura Informatyki at an insurance company, mentions, “The most valuable feature is the access that it provides to documents. This offers us an easy way to make changes.”

Marcos S., Diretor at MASTERDOM, comments, “The solution is practical, good interface, and performs well. The usability of the old applications to the new version of the client is very good. The migration is very good for some legacy applications.”

Zimbra Collaboration provides administrators and their end users innovative features that solve the challenges faced by organizations using today's legacy communications infrastructure.

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

NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC

Buyer's Guide

HCL Notes vs. Zimbra Collaboration

December 2024

Free Report: HCL Notes vs. Zimbra Collaboration

Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Notes vs. Zimbra Collaboration and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.

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