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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Conceptboard

    Score7.6 out of 10
    N/AConceptboard is a collaboration software built for teams of any size. Its primary features are project management, team whiteboards, integration into business workflows, and real-time collaboration.N/A

    HCL Notes

    Score3.5 out of 10
    N/ANotes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A
    Pricing
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Considered Both Products
    Conceptboard
    No answer on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    81%
    Would buy again
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    18 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    18 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    16 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    14 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Conceptboard and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Conceptboard
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Task Management00 Ratings7.09 Ratings
    Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
    Scheduling00 Ratings8.09 Ratings
    Workflow Automation00 Ratings5.06 Ratings
    Mobile Access00 Ratings8.010 Ratings
    Search00 Ratings6.09 Ratings
    Visual planning tools00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Conceptboard and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Conceptboard
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Chat00 Ratings6.010 Ratings
    Notifications00 Ratings9.010 Ratings
    Discussions00 Ratings9.57 Ratings
    Surveys00 Ratings9.14 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Conceptboard and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Conceptboard
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Versioning00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Video files00 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Audio files00 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Document collaboration00 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Access control00 Ratings6.08 Ratings
    Advanced security features00 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Device sync00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Small Businesses
    Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
    Score9 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite
    Score9 out of 10
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Miro
    Score9 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Likelihood to Recommend
    2.6
    (21 ratings)
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    ConceptboardHCL Notes
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Conceptboard
    Well suited - 1. Whiteboarding, brainstorming, designing, workshops, etc. 2. Templates - Pretty good repository of ready-to-use templates esp for project management, agile, etc. Less appropriate - 1. Anything that requires integration with existing enterprising software - limitations like no integration with Jira, Asana, etc. 2. Embedding anything related to images, videos, etc. The embed is not very smooth, it lags, and sometimes straight out doesn't work 3. Image search - Many competitors provide this feature and hence Conceptboard lacks here
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Conceptboard
    • Great user interface that's very intuitive and easy to use. This is an important aspect of collaboration, brainstorming sessions often involve a lot of people coming from different functions who may not be too familiar with these tools
    • Allows users to see real-time changes and actions done by others from sticky notes/comments down to their cursor movements
    • Lets users add/attach files and annotate/comment on each directly on the board which skips the hassle of having to look at files using different programs/platforms and referencing on the board
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    • 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$).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Conceptboard
    • The sticky note tool glitches and behaves as if it were moving on a grid.
    • PDF upload tool does not work fast. Maybe a PDF merge algorithm could be added.
    • The selection area is not visible when dragging the eraser tool.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    • 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
    Likelihood to Renew
    Conceptboard
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Usability
    Conceptboard
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Support Rating
    Conceptboard
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Implementation Rating
    Conceptboard
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    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
    Alternatives Considered
    Conceptboard
    Miro is a superior product with more capabilities and better suited for advanced users. We selected Conceptboard as a short-term solution that was low-cost compared to Miro but allowed users to create boards. Once users are versed in Conceptboard, they are better off using Miro which has more integration, better capabilities, and is overall a more complete product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Conceptboard
    • I can say that this tool is unique since its impact on our work team has been one of the best we have ever had since it allows us to exchange ideas in one place through boards, which is more fun with the video call function
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots