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HCL Digital Experience vs. HCL Notes vs. Microsoft Viva Engage

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    HCL Digital Experience

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/AHCL Digital Experience is based on the former IBM Web Content Manager and IBM WebSphere Portal products, acquired by HCL Technologies from IBM in late 2018. The product allows the user to create, manage and deliver engaging omnichannel digital experiences to audiences with responsive content, targeted offers, seamlessly integrated applications and consistent branding across channels (web, mobile, and hybrid mobile/web applications and more).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

    Microsoft Viva Engage

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Viva Engage, formerly Yammer, is used for private communication within organizations or between organizational members and pre-designated groups.

    $24

    per year per user

    Pricing
    HCL Digital ExperienceHCL NotesMicrosoft Viva Engage
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft Viva Employee Communications and Communities
    $24
    per year per user
    Microsoft Viva Suite
    $144
    per year per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL Digital ExperienceHCL NotesMicrosoft Viva Engage
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——Microsoft Viva Engage is also available in some Microsoft 365 packages.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL Digital ExperienceHCL NotesMicrosoft Viva Engage
    Considered Multiple Products
    HCLSoftware
    Chose HCL Digital Experience
    IBM Web Content Manager comes with IBM WebSphere Portal. Both [have been] leaders in the portals and content management space for a long time with proven capabilities. Our clients also have other products from the IBM stack and they fit along nicely.
    Incentivized
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Viva Engage
    Microsoft Yammer far exceeded expectations when the company I work for switched from SharePoint. There was a limited learning curve, and a bit of training need, but generally the transition was smooth. SharePoint, while it proved to be useful company-wide, we have found that …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    17 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    21 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    10 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    Features
    HCL Digital ExperienceHCL NotesMicrosoft Viva Engage
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    5.0
    5 Ratings
    47% below category average
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions5.05 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    4.1
    5 Ratings
    64% below category average
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    -
    Ratings
    API4.14 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language4.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    2.9
    5 Ratings
    84% below category average
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    -
    Ratings
    WYSIWYG editor7.04 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness3.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Admin section3.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page templates1.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Library of website themes1.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design4.04 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publishing workflow1.14 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Form generator3.02 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    1.9
    5 Ratings
    111% below category average
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    -
    Ratings
    Content taxonomy1.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO support2.15 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bulk management2.13 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions2.14 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Community / comment management2.13 Ratings00 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    8.7
    46 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Task Management00 Ratings7.09 Ratings9.128 Ratings
    Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.03 Ratings8.815 Ratings
    Scheduling00 Ratings8.09 Ratings8.423 Ratings
    Workflow Automation00 Ratings5.06 Ratings8.623 Ratings
    Mobile Access00 Ratings8.010 Ratings8.843 Ratings
    Search00 Ratings6.09 Ratings8.343 Ratings
    Visual planning tools00 Ratings8.03 Ratings8.926 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    8.6
    49 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Chat00 Ratings6.010 Ratings9.444 Ratings
    Notifications00 Ratings9.010 Ratings8.349 Ratings
    Discussions00 Ratings9.57 Ratings9.748 Ratings
    Surveys00 Ratings9.14 Ratings9.638 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings10.06 Ratings9.338 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings10.03 Ratings7.314 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings10.02 Ratings6.713 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings10.05 Ratings8.632 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of HCL Digital Experience and HCL Notes and Microsoft Viva Engage
    Feature
    HCL Digital Experience
    -
    Ratings
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    9.1
    42 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Versioning00 Ratings9.04 Ratings9.728 Ratings
    Video files00 Ratings6.05 Ratings9.436 Ratings
    Audio files00 Ratings6.05 Ratings9.334 Ratings
    Document collaboration00 Ratings8.08 Ratings9.135 Ratings
    Access control00 Ratings6.08 Ratings9.035 Ratings
    Advanced security features00 Ratings8.08 Ratings8.433 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings10.02 Ratings8.014 Ratings
    Device sync00 Ratings8.05 Ratings9.528 Ratings
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    User Ratings
    HCL Digital ExperienceHCL NotesMicrosoft Viva Engage
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (11 ratings)
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    8.9
    (59 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    5.7
    (6 ratings)
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (11 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.9
    (9 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.0
    (12 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL Digital ExperienceHCL NotesMicrosoft Viva Engage
    Likelihood to Recommend
    HCLSoftware
    HCL DX does really well at managing and maintaining the site. It allows the business to basically maintain the site while IT spent time developing new and enhanced functions. The main issue I currently have with HCL DX is not directly with the product but it does play a role. It is difficult finding skilled resources to support HCL DX in my experience.
    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
    Microsoft
    Yammer is great when you have a company culture that encourages friendly collaboration and communication. It can be a great supplement (but certainly not a substitute) for bonding and sharing ideas and thoughts. Certain channels can be really successful, too, like a channel where people can post dog pictures or something fun like that!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    HCLSoftware
    • With Version 8.5, IBM Web Content Manager introduced in place editing capabilities which allow authors to make content edits on sections of the page instead of going to the content itself. This feature allows authors to make changes in context of the page and preview changes within the actual look and feel of a live page.
    • Projects provide a collaborative atmosphere for the author community so that authors can interact and work as a team to manage inter-dependent content changes under one project and publish all changes at once, instead of working separately on individual content changes. This brings awareness across authors in an organization and easy knowledge share.
    • IBM Digital Data Connector is a cool feature that allows [users] to integrate external content sources onto the portal using IBM Web Content Manager presentation components. This allows UI/UX designers to present integrated external data in any manner they want, manage UI changes with an underlying approval process and leverage syndication to push changes live immediately.
    • IBM Web Content Manager offers a targeted content feature that allows business users to deliver personalized content to customers based on customer demographic information, browsing history and other transaction related information. Any rules created follow the publishing process thereby making it just a configurable item resulting in less turn around to turn on the feature on a website.
    • IBM Web Content Manager offers 'multi lingual solution' out of the box which allows content creation for almost all popular languages.
    • Syndication feature has improved a lot and it now provides a detailed views comprising of 'failed items', 'items that have syndicated successfully, 'items in queue'. Failed items view provides detailed and clear cut information of what resulted in failure helping IT to troubleshoot problems easily.
    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
    Microsoft
    • Providing a platform for social news in the company where "bottom up" topics can percolate freely across department
    • Social networking across the company where folks can divide their work into topics instead of teams
    • Basic collaboration within a group including document sharing with ability to pin documents to a team
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    HCLSoftware
    • IBM Web Content Manager should provide some easily usable connectors through a GUI to connect to bring content from custom data sources including connecting to Salesforce and custom databases.
    • Should further optimize and enhance creation of rich and responsive content driven UIs on various digital channels.
    • Should further optimize and enhance content personalization features.
    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
    Microsoft
    • Although the social enterprise network works very well, there is room for some slight improvement - such as the ability to attract users. By being part of the Microsoft Office Suite, it is offered as an "add-on" and many overlook it and see it as unnecessary at first. It would be smart for Microsoft to sell it as its own product so it could gather more popularity as a "social network".
    • Giving an option to filter results could be better as well as giving an option to turn off the "recent activity" bar on the home page.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    HCLSoftware
    IBM products always moves forward to adapt to new requirements and technologies. I have used versions 6, 6.1, 7 and 8 of IBM WCM, and I know IBM is ready to revamp the tool based on emerging needs, and still provide the capabilities to migrate your old system to the newer versions.
    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
    Microsoft
    Microsoft is dedicated to continual improvement on Yammer. They realize the value that Yammer brings to the table with their clients. In the short time that we have had Yammer implemented, we are just now beginning to see the strong impact it has on becoming more effective and efficient around collaboration.
    Read full review
    Usability
    HCLSoftware
    New versions has increased user experience facilitating usability.
    Read full review
    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
    Microsoft
    Overall easy to use and intuitive, although limited in the possibility to personalize layout and look & feel of a site. Some functionalities are not easy to use, like document editing, but some others are quick and effective (posts and tagging above all). Performance and responsiveness of the Yammer site is typically acceptable, in my experience.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Very available
    Read full review
    Performance
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It's a simple product but it does provide value.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    HCLSoftware
    We had some issues related with performing and the support was suitable and sucessful.
    Read full review
    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
    Microsoft
    We have never had to use the support for Yammer. The tool works well and we have not come across any bugs. User Interface is simple and easy to use, similar to other forum type products, thereby removing the need for any extensive training. Team members are invited in and immediately are able to start using the tool.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    The training that Microsoft provides is very generic training for Yammer. I like the fact the training is short and easy to understand
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    HCLSoftware
    Implementation was successful due to Websphere application server used.
    Read full review
    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
    Microsoft
    We organically implemented the product
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    HCLSoftware
    Magento and Prestashop are E-commerce CMS platforms. They are used in a different scale of application than WCM.
    Concerning Joomla, it's a useful CMS forsmaller website. Once again this is an other scale of application than WCM Liveray can compete WCM 7 concerning the : ¤ specific development ¤ security ¤ responsive
    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
    Microsoft
    Our team briefly used Salesforce.com's Chatter product before switching over to Yammer in 2012. While Chatter is essentially the same product as Yammer, it left much to be desired. Chatter's design was (and remains) clunky and difficult to navigate. Yammer is a simple, easy-to-use product that offers similar functionality as Salesforce's Chatter.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    HCLSoftware
    • Negative: Very complex architecture for on-premise deployments (too many servers to installed)
    • Positive: Easy customization
    • Negative: Architecture limited to cloud solutions
    • WCM is an old product and needs an update
    • Blog, and community are not integrated in Digital Manager for discussion
    • Templates are not available to integrate basic services (FileNet, more complex BPM , e-commerce)
    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
    Microsoft
    • My company is pleased with the positive impact Yammer has created departmentally and on an individual basis with work flow efficiency.
    • Adversely, most old and new employees are more familiar with SharePoint, causing the company to pay for training for all current and incoming employees.
    • As Yammer becomes more widely used, the need for training may diminish, which is where we will see our return on investment, as the product clearly provides a more effective form of file sharing and communication between employees and their department.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots