Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Box
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Box is an online Intelligent Content Management solution that caters to individual users as well as businesses.
$21
per month 3 users (minimum)
HCL Notes
Score 3.5 out of 10
N/A
Notes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A
Microsoft Teams
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Teams combines video conferencing software with team collaboration tools. The communications platform allows MS Office users to conduct conference calls and share files via SharePoint, and join or initiate a group chat.
$4.80
per month per user
Pricing
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Editions & Modules
Business Starter
$7
per month per user (3 minimum)
Business
$20
per month per user (3 minimum)
Business Plus
$33
per month per user (3 minimum)
Enterprise
$47
per month per user (3 minimum)
Enterprise Plus
$50
per month (billed annually) per user (3 minimum)
Enterprise Advanced
Contact us
per month per user (35 minimum)
No answers on this topic
Microsoft Teams Essentials
$4.80
per month per user
Microsoft Teams Enterprise
$5.25
per month (paid yearly) per user
Microsoft Teams Enterprise
$5.25
per month per user
Microsoft 365 Business Basic
$7.20
per month per user
Microsoft 365 Business Standard
$15
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Free Trial
YesNoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA discount is available for annual pricing.Discounts are available for non profit organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Considered Multiple Products
Box
Chose Box
Box is more professional when comparing other alternatives
Chose Box
Our university previously used a private VPN, and we've used Google Drive as well before. At a previous university, I had experience with Dropbox. While I was unhappy about the switch to Box at first (change is always hard), Box seems superior in ease of use and collaboration …
Chose Box
Simply put, having unlimited file storage is a clear differentiator. Furthermore, the number of integrations offered by Box is simply unmatched. If you are looking for pure document and file sharing, I don't think there is a better product on the market. The benefits from …
Chose Box
Box is infinitely more reliable and easy to use, without the sometimes days-at-a-time delay when the site was down, nor the data loss we experienced when our content was housed in SharePoint. Our day to day workflow has been hugely positively impacted by the switch to Box.
Chose Box
I prefer Box over Dropbox. I found the online interface more intuitive and user-friendly. In addition, Box is integrated with more software than Dropbox, and it is also easier to share files of any size using Box. Finally, Box comes with slightly more enhanced security features …
Chose Box
Box is agnostic, so it makes it a little easier to sell to MAC and Windows users alike. We also enjoy the 1TB of space per user available in Enterprise. Box seems to have pinned down all the options that are important to corporate/enterprise customers as opposed to One Drive, …
Chose Box
My organization selected Box because it's a product that many organizations use, so it was easy to get users up to speed and collaborating together. The interface is very user friendly and intuitive. This has saved us time and effort in allowing users to become proficient in …
Chose Box
OneDrive is also being used in tandem since our licensure is through Microsoft. While one is not trying to replace the other, we just utilize both for redundancy and integration purposes. They can have files moved between the two manually by the end users to ensure they're …
HCL Notes

No answer on this topic

Microsoft Teams
Chose Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams edges above the conferencing competition by allowing file collaboration and ongoing group chats with coworkers. We selected Microsoft Teams for all our video & audio conference calls for it's ability to integrate with our Outlook client and make it easy for …
Chose Microsoft Teams
We moved most of our tech to Microsoft, which is why we made the switch from Slack to Microsoft Teams. The interface is pretty similar and we are able to complete all our tasks within this program. No downfalls - I would like to see a basic user video or demo of some sort to …
Features
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Enterprise Content Management
Comparison of Enterprise Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Box
7.6
26 Ratings
6% below category average
HCL Notes
-
Ratings
Microsoft Teams
-
Ratings
Content capture & imaging8.119 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
File sync, storage & archiving9.725 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Document management8.424 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Records management7.020 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Content search & retrieval8.224 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise content collaboration8.021 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Content publishing & creation5.015 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Security, risk management & information governance8.226 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract lifecycle management8.912 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated workflows8.914 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Artificial intelligence2.011 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile support6.723 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration9.623 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Box
-
Ratings
HCL Notes
6.9
10 Ratings
12% below category average
Microsoft Teams
7.9
235 Ratings
2% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings7.09 Ratings7.9174 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.03 Ratings7.791 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings8.09 Ratings8.0202 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings5.06 Ratings8.1121 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings8.010 Ratings8.1223 Ratings
Search00 Ratings6.09 Ratings7.4206 Ratings
Visual planning tools00 Ratings8.03 Ratings8.4138 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Box
-
Ratings
HCL Notes
9.2
10 Ratings
14% above category average
Microsoft Teams
8.0
244 Ratings
0% below category average
Chat00 Ratings6.010 Ratings9.0243 Ratings
Notifications00 Ratings9.010 Ratings8.3242 Ratings
Discussions00 Ratings9.57 Ratings8.6229 Ratings
Surveys00 Ratings9.14 Ratings8.1140 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings10.06 Ratings8.5152 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings10.03 Ratings6.547 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings10.02 Ratings5.743 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings10.05 Ratings9.1155 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Box
-
Ratings
HCL Notes
7.6
9 Ratings
5% below category average
Microsoft Teams
8.1
229 Ratings
1% above category average
Versioning00 Ratings9.04 Ratings8.4161 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings6.05 Ratings8.3196 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings6.05 Ratings8.6195 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings8.08 Ratings8.8209 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings6.08 Ratings8.5191 Ratings
Advanced security features00 Ratings8.08 Ratings8.4151 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings10.02 Ratings5.353 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings8.05 Ratings8.5165 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MediaValet
MediaValet
Score 9.0 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
MediaValet
MediaValet
Score 9.0 out of 10
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(154 ratings)
7.0
(16 ratings)
8.4
(281 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(12 ratings)
1.7
(5 ratings)
3.7
(9 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(21 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.7
(67 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(12 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(29 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
8.3
(113 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(3 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(6 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
6.3
(7 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(7 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BoxHCL NotesMicrosoft Teams
Likelihood to Recommend
Box
I think Box is great for research teams or anyone that has a large number of files that need to be securely stored. Particularly in the case of social science research, where it is important to protect identifying data, Box is a great option. In cases where teams need a more reliable means for real-time collaboration, I would probably consider a different alternative
Read full review
HCL Technologies
I often work with teams from other country and regions, hence HCL Notes is a very useful platform for internal company management operations. It standardized organisational work standards in most of the offices worldwide. HCL Notes also enables chat with other team around the world that I find very helpful when initiating conversation or just want to have a quick update rather than sending emails and waiting for replies. However, HCL Notes is not very efficient in web browsing and user still need to use other internet service providers.
Read full review
Microsoft
It's amazing as a daily driver for team communication, and document search/store. Also, if you're doing a lot of LONG meetings and have trouble remembering details, the AI summarization is amazing and convenient. It just works. I'm not saying I always do this, of course, but if I need to 'skim' instead of really digging into every detail from a meeting, the AI-generated summary is generally good enough that I can get away with it.
Read full review
Pros
Box
  • The main feature that I like the most in Box is that it makes collaboration seamless, workers can easily check the documents any time and make changes according to the needs.
  • Box manages and backs up all of your files on its cloud servers, and provides a very nice interface for creating, viewing, editing, and collaborating on the most commonly used file types (PDF, XLS, DOC, etc.).
  • Over the past few years, Box has built on top of its basic cloud storage management with a host of other tools, such as workflows, AI, monitoring, and analytics.
  • It is helping us to make good connections with clients and our workers themselves as to its syncing and viewing feature to all is very much helpful and easy to go.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
  • It has a really strong and robust database that's extremely scalable and holds up well to thousands of users and many different environments.
  • It has a really good enterprise-grade framework for development custom database applications
  • All of the custom database applications along with the email all have a nice uniform look and feel so their easy-to-use.
  • I really like how it's developed and supported on every client OS (Windows, OSX, Linux)! The competitors definitely do NOT offer this (M$).
Read full review
Microsoft
  • All in one communication for Teams.
  • High quality and reliable both audio and video meetings.
  • Well organized and clear instant chat.
  • Excellent security features.
  • Beautiful integration with 3rd party tools and systems.
  • Perfect compatibility with windows ,android and iOS.
  • Allow meetings recordings for later us or sharing with teams that missed the live.
Read full review
Cons
Box
  • The graphic design of the dashboard should be simpler and more tangible that can be changed to the liking of the Admin.
  • Sometimes there are some syncing issues in the background.
  • The product has very limited functionality in some areas which could be a bit frustrating at times.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
  • Notes' backwards compatibility sometimes gets in the way. Menus are cluttered with extraneous, outdated options and features that modern users will never use, and Preferences are often difficult to navigate for those coming from Gmail or Outlook. We have greatly simplified this via Policies, but users still find it daunting to go through all the options that are available.
  • The IBM Notes client for Windows & Mac is essentially the Eclipse Java development platform...so it is HUGE. Performance initially was very slow but IBM has done a good job of speeding things up. As IBM moves more toward cloud-delivered applications, this will not be as much of a problem.
  • Notes and Domino can be complex to manage for administrators who are more accustomed to ActiveDirectory, Group Policy, etc. Editing a notes.ini file to add a feature, or working with XML files by hand to create a SmartUpgrade kit can be daunting to those coming from more modern administrative roles.
  • Some users claim to "hate" Notes mail. While I have heard this less and less over the past 10 years, we have had 3rd party software offer plugins to Outlook and it's rare to see any for Notes.
  • The client update process should be automated more. I would like to see the Notes client update quietly and quickly more like an Adobe software update. If an update fails it should automatically try again without prompting the user over and over.
  • Notes multiple language spell checking is a downloaded add-on Java-based resource that has to be deployed in a convoluted way that is difficult for users to grasp. Therefore any foreign language spell check updates must be done individually per Notes client by IT, which is unfortunate. I would prefer to see that be a "live download" update option for users to get directly from IBM (don't make me download it and put it on my network).
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The webinars feature has some missing functionally such as the ability for all users to use the Q&A feature (only those with a Microsoft Teams account can use it now), the ability to upload documents for attendees to easily access and download, and the ability for presenters and organizers to easily chat amongst themselves throughout the webinar.
  • The "Channels" organization hierarchy could be more clear. If you have several channels set up, it can get clunky and hard to find the specific channel you are looking for.
  • The MS Planner tool lacks functionality and organization. You cannot assign more than one person to a task and it's confusing when you try to share tasks with people - it would be nice if they were automatically added to someone's calendar.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Box
I like the security features and I like the website. It's easy to use and create and move things around as needed. The main reason for a lower rating is because the Box Sync app is just not a good program. It's a memory hog, it's slow, transfer speeds are slow, and it's not the most efficient route. If you have a large Box account and you need to get a computer up to speed on a large amount of data within Box, you are in for the long haul. Last time I had to do this, it took 3 days to sync all of the files and we are talking around 100 GB worth of data
Read full review
HCL Technologies
I've been in IT business and as a Programmer/Developer for 20+ years with too many programming languages experiences/back ground (C/C++/Visual Basic/Basic Program/Unix/COBOL/Java). Also with 18+ years with Lotus Notes/IBM Domino, I am still and always think Lotus Notes is the best RAD platform available!. When the time where resource is very limited and the expectation is very high and the turn around is too short, IBM Domino/Notes is the platform to use and it's the only choice available.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Teams is included with our Office 365 subscription and we have no intention of migrating off of Office 365 and Microsoft products. Since Microsoft Teams is included for free with our Office 365 subscription, and since we enjoy all the features, benefits, and functionality, there is no question that our team will continue to use the product
Read full review
Usability
Box
Everything with Box is seamless. It can be integrated into virtually any other software or application. You can even get the app for your phone or tablet to work on the go. File syncing is so quick. The only reason I gave it a 9 is the issue I discussed earlier about the local file application rebooting and not continuing to sync files. Other than that, it's great!
Read full review
HCL Technologies
Easy to use for the user, most of the apps we developed, there is not much need for user training. Most of the times, we just do a demo to the users group and they can pick up from there.
Read full review
Microsoft
If you have the full Microsoft Office suite, it works really well because it's integrated well within its ecosystem, but if not, it can be annoying because it tries to open a shared file in the web versions of the file equivalents. The web version is also a bit slow, and the login is very difficult to handle if you have multiple Microsoft or Outlook accounts.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Box
Yeah, it's always worked, I've never had any kind of connection issues, the only issues I've had it I've been on our end when the Internet hasn't worked.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Rare, but outages do happen
Read full review
Performance
Box
The general operation and management of Box is very efficient, both when accessing the account, and when adding files, downloading or modifying any document directly. The web platform, mobile and desktop versions work really well and quickly, making all the work and process flow smoothly and without setbacks. So far I have not been able to observe any inconvenience
Read full review
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Sometimes about once a week I get a message that says "Sorry, there seems to be something wrong". But it goes away in a few minutes.
Read full review
Support Rating
Box
I found their support community lacking in clarity when I experienced a login issue. The error messaging was poor on my Box Sync application. I did not reach out to support staff for help, instead, I reasoned that I should try downloading the Box Sync application again and reinstall it. That fixed my issue, thankfully. I think a less computer-savvy user would've been much more frustrated.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
I've been using the production for a very long time and very happy with it. Also, all the online resources and forums for notes is very friendly and easy/quick for getting help. I found out that compared to Microsoft or Oracle or any other platforms, IBM Notes online forum is the best I have seen.
Read full review
Microsoft
The overall support provided by Microsoft for Microsoft Teams has been quite good but there is still some room for improvements. Microsoft needs to proactively work on fixing the open bugs in order to provide a seamless experience to the users. But over the service and experience provided by the Microsoft team have been quite satisfactory.
Read full review
In-Person Training
Box
The in person training was done in house and I helped with the training, people seem to respond well.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Box
The documentation is good. Since Box is a popular service, there were also a number of YouTube videos and other sources that were helpful as we were considering the product and planning for deployment. Also, the ability to try the free version helped to prepare us.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Box
Be careful with settings. It is easy to get overwhelmed with updates. For example, you don’t want to be updated when doing historical data uploads. I recommend taking off notifications initially and then turn on post you have done your historical data upload.
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HCL Technologies
Implementation is easy and smooth if the requirement is well gathered/documented. Notes is a RAD platform, all projects in Notes is simple in the implementation step.
Read full review
Microsoft
I find everything I need for my day-to-day work.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Box
They are kind of the same. And both of them do their job as promised. But for company and project wise I think that Box slightly wins for some points. Which [makes him] win over Google Drive (don't forget that Google Drive is very easy to use and has a lot [of] nice features too).
Read full review
HCL Technologies
Outlook has been considered for years as a replacement platform. Pricing and support staff made it prohibitive. Our long-time use of Microsoft Office productivity suite naturally led us to consider the adoption of Office365. A recent investigation told us that Azure Cloud services propel an O365 solution to the forefront. Early adopters in international divisions have paved the way for Azure and O365.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Teams offers a much more integrated experience between their chat and video call function compared to Google Chat and Slack. Both other tools are much better for internal communications are they have simpler UI without other features. Whereas Microsoft Teams can be used for more critical conversations, particularly between external companies, and has been very useful in sales conversations which is what we chose it for when speaking to companies that work exclusively through Microsoft.
Read full review
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Box
No answers on this topic
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Honestly, this tool is worth every penny. Yes, it's not free and you pay for the quality of services and the license. But the ROI and the benefits are all there. Also, the renewal, negotiation, and contract terms are all very well explained by our Microsoft account manager, and she's a charm.
Read full review
Scalability
Box
It's great, as we put more files on there it's done very well.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It does not appear to have a limit to how many teams and employees we can have using it
Read full review
Professional Services
Box
No answers on this topic
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
I used Skype for Business to take calls, hold conferences, and provide remote assistance to users. Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is superior to Skype for Business in my opinion. My job entails a lot of screen sharing.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Box
  • Box has been an only positive experience. It provides a seamless way for me and my team to collaborate on documents in such a way where we're not sending the document back/forth via email. It's a huge timesaver.
  • Box reduces the risk of sharing a sensitive document to the wrong person via email.
  • Box has provided a platform where my team can share notes in meetings - this has helped streamline and organize our meetings. Our meetings are more productive and actionable.
Read full review
HCL Technologies
  • Over the years, we have lost countless hours of productivity from the thousands of crashes we have experienced.
  • One benefit of IBM Notes is that it is very simple to train a new user on. Many people prefer and are familiar with Google tools, but those that use IBM Notes have very little trouble acclimating themselves.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Personally, I would say that by using Microsoft Teams, it upped my collaboration with my colleagues by around 50% or around more than half of what I usually did prior to using it.
  • I had 100% show rate and attendance on all of my meetings in the past 6 months.
  • If I may add, I also have been chattier & collaborative towards my colleagues in past 3 months particularly the month of December when we had huge traffic at work. I would estimate this behavior to have been increased by around 60% than what I usually incur during normal operating days.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Box Screenshots

Screenshot of an overview of Box's intelligent content management platform. It provides a unified, AI-powered approach to managing and securing your unstructured data, or content. ICM provides organizations with collaboration, AI, security, compliance, and workflow tools, interoperable and customizable, to get the most from their content.Screenshot of how with Box AI, AI can be accessed right where enterprise content exists. While that work can reside within Microsoft, Google, Apple, and other productivity suites, Box helps users to tap the full potential of AI for unstructured data.Screenshot of how Box creates a central workspace to edit, review, and assign tasks. Users can automate business processes and centralize content workflows in Box, including a configurable content submission, unlimited e-signatures, user-drive no-code workflow, and task assignment to power approvals.Screenshot of how Box secures content from threats, including malware and ransomware, and recover from attacks if they happen. This helps to maintain a zero trust architecture to ensure proper usage of corporate data, and prevent data theft.Screenshot of how Box can connect to any productivity suite, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple. This extends any existing security investments with integrations into key DLP, SIEM, and network security tools. Thus, seamless experiences can be built for users in any system they use, whether that’s a business tool like Salesforce or ServiceNow, or communications engines like Zoom and Slack.Screenshot of an overview describing Box's scalability. With unlimited storage capabilities Box has an exabyte (1,000PB) of customer data plus 1 gigabit per second upload and download speed. At its core, Box is a multi-tenant global SaaS platform with enterprise-grade reliability and end-to-end encryption to secure content.