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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Diligent Boards

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AToday’s directors need fast, informed decision-making and seamless governance workflows. Diligent Boards automates board and committee meeting creation, streamlines preparation and enhances collaboration with secure, integrated tools. More broadly, Diligent solutions provide a growth trajectory on the path to good governance and bundle capabilities that support the evolution of forward-looking boards and leadership teams. Save time by digitizing meeting materials and…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
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsDiligent Board Plans include... Essential: Built for organizations looking to embrace governance best practices and digital transformation Pro: Built for organizations that are looking to embrace end-to-end security around key governance processes like board meeting preparation, communication, and questionnaires. Enterprise: For high performing boards looking to maximize effectiveness of committees and prepare for proxy season.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Considered Both Products
    Diligent Corporation
    No answer on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    108 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    83 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    110 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    73 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    79 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Diligent Boards and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Diligent Boards
    -
    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 Diligent Boards and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Diligent Boards
    -
    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 Diligent Boards and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Diligent Boards
    -
    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
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
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    User Ratings
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (112 ratings)
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.8
    (10 ratings)
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (42 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.3
    (78 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.1
    (6 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Diligent BoardsHCL Notes
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Diligent Corporation
    We had a meeting and after the meeting, additional information was added to the book and it was easy to navigate just the information that was update. This made it efficient when we had a follow-up meeting to discuss the updates and be able to reference the updated information. This allowed us to have an effective meeting with a purpose.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Pros
    Diligent Corporation
    • The confidential sandbox is a must, and Diligent Boards provides that environment. Most of the info we put on the diligent board is not downloadable and printable.
    • It is very easy to make notes, highlights important info and bookmark pages. I used these functions all the time.
    • Its excellent organization features.
    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
    Diligent Corporation
    • not so easy to handle access when we have to arrange a specific, non-standard set up of access: sometimes we have to limit the access to one or few of the members of a particular book
    • calendar function will be useful, but it is an additional cost
    • flexible view options: vertical vs. horizontal
    Incentivized
    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).
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Diligent Corporation
    We find the Boards portal to be an effective tool for our board meeting documents. It is user friendly and allows for amendments, additions as needed without compromising documents that have already been uploaded. Additionally, our Board members are comfortable with the platform and confident in their ability to navigate it.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Diligent Corporation
    Again, it is a very easy program to use. What would I change… There’s some features in the agenda that I would like to have. The ability to add different bullets underneath items. the ability to do an AYE vote. Because sometimes they don’t individually vote, my superintendent or School Board chair will say I’ll say hi or I’ll say, and it would be really nice to have a button that automatically fills for that.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Reliability and Availability
    Diligent Corporation
    Diligent helpdesk (Team Topaz) is a click away, their response is very quick
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Diligent Corporation
    Quick service, specially on loading.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Diligent Corporation
    The turnaround time is great, and the customer support team usually resolves queries in one go. However, customer support can improve by suggesting additional helpful activities to improve user experience, rather than limiting it to the specific requests made. Overall, it has been a positive experience with the customer support team.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Online Training
    Diligent Corporation
    Comprehensive. I didn’t feel like I was confused or didn’t have the knowledge to begin using Diligent Boards immediately
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Diligent Corporation
    easy implementation process
    Incentivized
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    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
    Diligent Corporation
    Diligent Entities is already great, as I used it before Diligent Boards, and it was very helpful and very cost-effective as a product provided to my previous team that used it. So I can only vouch for the platform and note that Diligent Boards is also fantastic. It certainly is.
    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
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Diligent Corporation
    the pricing is quite steep and if you under-utilise some products it becomes a loss to you as the user.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Diligent Corporation
    It is really worth it.
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    Diligent Corporation
    Diligent's professional services have been reliable
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Diligent Corporation
    • Ease of dissmeniation and administration of packages (errors can be easily corrected)
    • Directors can read packages from anywhere in the world at any time. It makes prep for Dircetors a lot easier
    • Keeping records of meetings, doing searches for information has become easier and less time consuming
    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

    Diligent Boards Screenshots

    Screenshot of collaboration on sensitive documents across the organisation in preparation for the board meeting, while safeguarding information in Diligent’s secure ecosystem.Screenshot of an additional layer of security to known processes with key integrations like Microsoft 365. Documents can be shared and users can collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders.Screenshot of the centralized platform where users can take, record, review and share minutes.Screenshot of board evaluations and questionnaires.Screenshot of D&O questionnaire requirements, which are managed in a single application experience.Screenshot of communication with leadership teams. This occurs in real-time on an encrypted, uncluttered channel to signify importance and urgency.