eXo Platform vs. HCL Notes

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
eXo Platform
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
eXo Platform is an open-source, social-collaboration software designed for enterprises. Some key features include: Enterprise Social Network, Enterprise Content Management and Social Collaboration.
$5
engaged user/month
HCL Notes
Score 6.6 out of 10
N/A
Notes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A
Pricing
eXo PlatformHCL Notes
Editions & Modules
Enterprise
5$
engaged user/month
Professional Edition
5$
engaged user/month
Enterprise Unlimited
9$
engaged user/month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
eXo PlatformHCL Notes
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup Fee$5 per engaged userNo setup fee
Additional DetailsProfessional: Starting at 100 users// Enterprise: Starting at 300 users// Enterprise Unlimited: Starting at 500 users—
More Pricing Information
Features
eXo PlatformHCL Notes
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
eXo Platform
9.2
5 Ratings
16% above category average
HCL Notes
6.9
10 Ratings
13% below category average
Task Management10.05 Ratings7.09 Ratings
Gantt Charts8.02 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Scheduling10.04 Ratings8.09 Ratings
Workflow Automation8.33 Ratings5.06 Ratings
Mobile Access10.05 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Search10.05 Ratings6.09 Ratings
Visual planning tools8.03 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
eXo Platform
9.5
4 Ratings
17% above category average
HCL Notes
9.2
10 Ratings
14% above category average
Chat10.04 Ratings6.010 Ratings
Notifications10.04 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Discussions10.04 Ratings9.57 Ratings
Surveys7.13 Ratings9.14 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase10.04 Ratings10.06 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting9.01 Ratings10.03 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts10.02 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook10.03 Ratings10.05 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
eXo Platform
9.1
5 Ratings
11% above category average
HCL Notes
7.6
9 Ratings
7% below category average
Versioning8.64 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Video files9.03 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Audio files7.03 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Document collaboration10.05 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Access control10.05 Ratings6.08 Ratings
Advanced security features8.13 Ratings8.08 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive10.04 Ratings10.02 Ratings
Device sync10.03 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Best Alternatives
eXo PlatformHCL Notes
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Stackby
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Score 9.8 out of 10
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Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.7 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
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 alternatives
User Ratings
eXo PlatformHCL Notes
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(16 ratings)
7.0
(16 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(2 ratings)
1.7
(5 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(2 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
eXo PlatformHCL Notes
Likelihood to Recommend
eXo Platform
It is especially suitable for working together remotely or from disconnected locations, allowing them to access collaborative work and tools to facilitate communication. Internal and cloud options also seem to offer a flexible adoption roadmap. It addresses the problems of efficient collaboration and effective communication between employees, particularly with regard to working and completing projects
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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.
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Pros
eXo Platform
  • I personally love the user-friendly interface. Often you find software which is difficult to learn, and not utilized as often as it should be because of this. With eXo Platform, the interface is easy to understand, and is not particularly challenging to new users and non-tech savvy individuals.
  • It allows you to get work done, without feeling like using the platform is part of the actual work. It feels more like a natural system you would use in your leisure time to connect with friends and family, rather than a social intranet designed to facilitate employee communication and help you meet project deadlines.
  • The cloud platform allows users to easily share information and files, and collaborate on project work. Another benefit to this is it makes mobile collaboration possible.
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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$).
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Cons
eXo Platform
  • As the platform appears to be packed with features and functionality it may be a bit daunting at first to get used to it.
  • The initial adoption in a corporate setting would involve a number of questions, such as integration with other applications, data migration and security and the optimum adoption road map in order to maximise the benefit from the platform.
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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).
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Likelihood to Renew
eXo Platform
It is a stable platform that has uniquely solved my issues.
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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.
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Usability
eXo Platform
This platform has a pleasant user interface, is very easy to use, and offers a lot of useful accessories and add-ons. At first it can be a little intimidating, but it doesn't take long to get used to it. It is considerably reliable and safe. Facilitates connection and collaboration with coworkers. It provides tools that allow you to capture, organize and act according to the internal knowledge of your team.
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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.
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Support Rating
eXo Platform
The eXo platform offers a high quality support, which satisfies the requirements of our company, especially when the platform begins to be used, due to the amount of tools that can be overwhelming. Support responses are made in a short period of time.
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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.
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Implementation Rating
eXo Platform
No answers on this topic
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.
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Alternatives Considered
eXo Platform
We selected this product firstly because it's easy to use for end-users, even if it's not so simple to configure from an administrative point of view. Managing and tracking overall activities is quite easy and it's also possible to have an immediate vision of everything that is done on the platform. Users feel confident and are encouraged to share resources.
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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.
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Return on Investment
eXo Platform
  • The eXo platform is a great agile tool for concentrating internal human capital.
  • It is excellent for improving communication and collaboration between the company and group members.
  • It generates an effective collaborative work and maximizes productivity with the improvement of teamwork.
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.
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ScreenShots

eXo Platform Screenshots

Screenshot of CalendarScreenshot of A Space HomeScreenshot of DocumentsScreenshot of spacesScreenshot of activity streamScreenshot of gamification