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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Kantata PSA

    Score9 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Kantata Cloud (formerly Mavenlink + Kimble) provides project management and collaboration software for small to mid-sized professional services companies. Features include resource management, project dependencies, time and expense tracking, file sharing, versatile user permissions, private messaging, planning and reporting.N/A
    Pricing
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Premier
    Contact Sales Team
    per month per seat
    Enterprise
    Contact Sales Team
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Would buy again
    17 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    16 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    12 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and Kantata PSA
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Task Management7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Gantt Charts6.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scheduling8.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow Automation5.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Access8.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Search6.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Visual planning tools8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of HCL Notes and Kantata PSA
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Chat6.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Notifications9.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Discussions9.57 Ratings00 Ratings
    Surveys9.14 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase10.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook10.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of HCL Notes and Kantata PSA
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Kantata PSA
    -
    Ratings
    Versioning9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Video files6.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Audio files6.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Document collaboration8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access control6.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Advanced security features8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device sync8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Workday Professional Services Automation
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Planview AdaptiveWork
    Score8.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    9.1
    (50 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    9.0
    (8 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesKantata PSA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    It is appropriate and even exceeds expectations 90% of the time. It makes project tracking very easy and visually accessible for most cases. The only occasion where Mavenlink came slightly short was for a special project that required more interaction options among project members. I am certain there are ways to work around that issue, but we did not find them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    • With Mavenlink when starting to assign tasks to people, set deadlines and milestones, and add files to our projects we can look at it all from a variety of perspectives, including a task tracker view and a Gantt chart view
    • Through Mavenlink each project also includes an activity stream where we can view all project details as they come up, as well as an activity feed for all the projects it is linked to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    • The Gantt chart does not allow for baselines to be stored
    • There is no means to upload an excel task tracker and build a plan using an upload
    • The schedule does not allow for planning of holidays
    • The status report functionality needs to be improved
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Although the company I currently work for does not use the product I have recommended that we do switch to Mavenlink. We will be opening some new sites internationally this year and I can see that Mavenlink would be a great product for us to use
    Read full review
    Usability
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    I think Kantata is one of the most robust and best project management tools out there for an organization like ours. However, some of our staff feel like it isn't as user-friendly as it could be. From a Director point of view or a Project Manager point of view, Kantata is exceptional. From the point of view of a task-doer, it could be more visually appealing. Also, the mobile version isn't great.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Mavenlink gives advance notice for system upgrades, and they're not during our business day. Mavenlink has always been available when we needed it.
    Read full review
    Performance
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Very good integration with Google apps. Some complexity is called however in the synchronization between Google Tasks and Maven links tasks. This can sometimes lead to duplicate records in Google Tasks. It has been dissolvable that becomes cumbersome if not properly curated.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Kantata support is fantastic! Any issues that arise are always handled quickly and efficiently. Granted, we haven't had many issues to report. Typically, my team tends to only reach out to support if they need assistance remembering how to do something or asking about an improvement. We had Kantata build an integration when we first started using the software, and the support team worked hard to listen and improve the integration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    We prepared questions in advance, and our trainer was an expert in what Mavenlink was and wasn't able to do. We were able to have multiple people trained at once.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    The training was very well-organized. We were able to send questions in advance so the instructor knew what to cover, and the brought up related topics to maximize the usefulness of what they were teaching us.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    Dedicate as much internal time to the implementation effort as possible, even if you're using a 3rd party or Mavenlink services. Your team knows your processes the best
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    We have since switched over to JIRA and let me tell you, it was probably the best decision we have made as a company. We chose Mavenlink based on promises from the sales team about future roadmap work that really never happened. We thought Mavenlink would easily integrate with our billing software but we couldn't have been more wrong. We ended up never utilizing Mavenlink invoices as they don't even allow you to fully customize your invoices that go out to clients!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    It's very easy to add users and contractors into Mavenlink. There's also an option that let's you manage access for teams in multiple locations.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Kantata (Kimble + Mavenlink)
    • Manvenlink is perfect for showing expenses and income over time and across people.
    • Manvenlink is adaptable for the integration and automation of the processes of each of our projects in order to optimize resources and improve operational performance.
    • Mavenlink allows us to determine if our projects are profitable or not, as well as save significant time by automating components such as recurring tasks and having templates, among other things.
    • Manvenlink is advantageous for our operations due to its simple portfolio management of our projects: manage several projects at once and receive a complete perspective of the development of each one at a glance.
    • Manvenlink kindly provides us with robust discussion threads, access restrictions, and built-in document management, allowing us to contextualize communications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Kantata PSA Screenshots

    Screenshot of real-time project status tracking.Screenshot of visualizations that help track resources with confidence.Screenshot of at a glance capacity and staffing monitoring.Screenshot of financials and project margin monitoring.Screenshot of revenue tracking, to scale a business with confidence.