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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Dropbox Business

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ADropbox Business expands on the company's cloud storage service by providing additional features, such as lost file recovery for an extended period, integration with popular office suites (e.g. Office 365), the Dropbox Paper collaboration extension, two-factor authentication (2FA) and single sign-on (SSO), tiered administrator controls and granular permission sharing, remote device wipe, API, and other features of use to larger groups and businesses.

    $15

    per month

    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
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    Editions & Modules
    Standard
    $15
    per user/per month
    Advanced
    $25
    per user/per month
    Enterprise
    Contact sales team
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    Considered Both Products
    Dropbox
    No answer on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    52 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    49 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    53 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    41 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    44 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Dropbox Business and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Dropbox Business
    9.0
    123 Ratings
    7% above category average
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Versioning9.096 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Video files9.0107 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Audio files9.1100 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Document collaboration9.0113 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Access control9.1120 Ratings6.08 Ratings
    File search8.9119 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device sync8.6117 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Advanced security features00 Ratings8.08 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Cloud Storage Security & Administration
    Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Dropbox Business and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Dropbox Business
    9.0
    122 Ratings
    4% above category average
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    User and role management9.0109 Ratings00 Ratings
    File organization9.1119 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device management9.0102 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cloud Storage Platform
    Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Dropbox Business and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Dropbox Business
    9.1
    120 Ratings
    5% above category average
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Performance9.1120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reliability9.1120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Storage Reports9.188 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Dropbox Business and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Dropbox Business
    -
    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 Dropbox Business and HCL Notes
    Feature
    Dropbox Business
    -
    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
    Best Alternatives
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    Small Businesses
    IDrive Online Backup and Object Storage e2
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Apple iCloud
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    ownCloud
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (123 ratings)
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.0
    (4 ratings)
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (19 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (15 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.4
    (27 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Dropbox BusinessHCL Notes
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Dropbox
    Everywhere as aforementioned it is well suited ... The largest and most appropriate... A business can never ever have too many locations of its data stored. This option allows my company to have our data stored in one location and everyone works it in real time whereas the updates go in "Real time" no matter who is working that file. This is the most awesome trick of the entire program not to mention that I can see everything that Bobbiesue is working on out west at the same time pull another activity report to see if indeed Peggy logged in for work from home at 2p yesterday as she stated she did. Its a check and balance for small businesses such as ours that runs on the honor system for telework employees. At this time, there just is not any less appropriate!
    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
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    Pros
    Dropbox
    • It enables us to share documents and workflow to all employees for whom access is allowed regardless of where in the world they may be located.
    • Dropbox Business provides a means to safely store our documents without having to have physical copies.
    • Dropbox also allows for easy organization of our documents in folders and such in the system.
    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
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    Cons
    Dropbox
    • I deeply dislike the navigation. I find it very clunky and hard and not intuitive. A few years ago Dropbox redesigned its navigation and I'm frequently at a loss to figure out where to access the option I need.
    • It should be quicker and easier to figure out how to send a file. I wish I could do that from the drop-down menu in my taskbar under the Dropbox logo.
    • I wish I had the option under the same drop-down menu in my taskbar under the Dropbox logo to go to where the files are on my laptop, which I find much easier to navigate.
    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).
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Dropbox
    Dropbox is very expensive and its price is not as competitive as it was. We are looking for an alternative that will enable as to subscribe more users at a more affordable cost. Also, we did not like Dropbox customer service, and felt that they should have found a way to compensate us for some of the damage they were responsible for when restoring our data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Dropbox
    Well-designed, smart, packed with functionality without being overwhelming—Dropbox knows what they are doing and they do it well. They know what users want from the service and they make sure that all the normal use cases are intuitive and at your fingertips. I have never had a hard time finding things with Dropbox and I think their usability is excellent.
    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
    Dropbox
    At least once a week the app crashes on my computer and causes files to stop syncing. It is an easy fix to re-open the app, however I have to notice the app stopped working to realize it needs to be reopened.
    Incentivized
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    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Dropbox
    The Dropbox site and tools load in a reasonable amount of time. I don't feel like their site and app performance is any better or worse than any other paid product that I've seen offered by any other large company. Compared to a competing product like Google Drive, the performance is probably about the same.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Dropbox
    I give it a nine because I haven't ever had to use the support or help. I would give it a ten but since I've never had to use them, I can't really give a full review of how their support works. I've talked to market research teams from Dropbox about new features, but have not had to get any assistance with a problem yet.
    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
    Implementation Rating
    Dropbox
    The implementation was actually very simple. Again, as stated previously, the most intriguing part of the entire exercise was the implementation of the directory structure for each account. Once you design and implement it for one, it becomes quite simple to replicate for each account you implement thereafter. You just really need to take time to ensure you implement the first perfectly and those that follow on will be likewise work efficiently and easily.
    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
    Dropbox
    Dropbox Business is dependable, adaptable, and cost-effective for our businesses. On the inside, it’s comparable to other file-sharing and storage. Also, file access and navigation are much faster. We use it to share documents and store data and files for our business purposes. And I’ve never been convinced of other tools’ integrity or dependability. Dropbox Business has good connectivity and is smooth to use.
    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
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    Scalability
    Dropbox
    We've used this when we were 2 users and when we were 20. It did not make any difference. Even when we've had to scale down and fire 10 employees, it was still easy to salvage all the material and keep it organized within Dropbox.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Dropbox
    • Improved risk mitigation - know our files are encrypted.
    • Expiring Shared Links are a must have.
    • Positive impact from Happy Customers. No more trying to send cumbersome encrypted emails that customers struggle with. Dropbox makes it easy for them to retrieve their files.
    • Collaboration makes it faster for us to complete plan documents with our customers.
    Incentivized
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    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
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