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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

    Microsoft Project

    Score7.6 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Project is a project management software. It provides core PM functionality, including agile workflow support and resource management. Project can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.

    $120

    per year per user

    Pricing
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Project Server
    $0
    Planner Plan 1
    $10
    per month per user
    Planner and Project Plan 3
    $30
    per month per user
    Planner and Project Plan 5
    $55
    per month per user
    Project Standard 2024
    $679.99
    one-time fee per installation
    Project Professional 2024
    $1,129.99
    one-time fee per installation
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Plans are billed annually.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    87%
    Would buy again
    41 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    42 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    34 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    34 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and Microsoft Project
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Microsoft Project
    8.0
    111 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Task Management7.09 Ratings8.2110 Ratings
    Gantt Charts6.03 Ratings9.0107 Ratings
    Scheduling8.09 Ratings8.5109 Ratings
    Workflow Automation5.06 Ratings10.083 Ratings
    Mobile Access8.010 Ratings10.067 Ratings
    Search6.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Visual planning tools8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Resource Management00 Ratings7.7107 Ratings
    Team Collaboration00 Ratings7.298 Ratings
    Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings4.483 Ratings
    Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings7.783 Ratings
    Document Management00 Ratings9.077 Ratings
    Email integration00 Ratings5.082 Ratings
    Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings10.073 Ratings
    Change request and Case Management00 Ratings7.364 Ratings
    Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings7.486 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of HCL Notes and Microsoft Project
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Microsoft Project
    -
    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 Microsoft Project
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Microsoft Project
    -
    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
    Professional Services Automation
    Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of HCL Notes and Microsoft Project
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Project
    8.6
    79 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Quotes/estimates00 Ratings7.355 Ratings
    Invoicing00 Ratings10.045 Ratings
    Project & financial reporting00 Ratings7.276 Ratings
    Integration with accounting software00 Ratings10.050 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
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    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Microsoft To Do
    Score7.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    8.2
    (111 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.7
    (9 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (34 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesMicrosoft Project
    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
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    Microsoft
    Microsoft Project Online is suited to Turnkey Projects where more Collaboration is required in Project Progress monitoring, risk assessment and conveying, issue recording and tracking. It is less appropriate when ERP Suites other than MS Dynamics are used, i.e when Enterprises need to integrate Finance / Accounting with It and having straight project management workflow
    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
    Microsoft
    • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data. by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
    • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
    • The alert system for the fulfillment and delay of assignments is perfect. Microsoft Project allows me to configure the task system, I can assign the necessary tasks to fulfill the project, and the software alerts me immediately if the managers are fulfilling the assignments.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Microsoft
    • Seems overly complicated for users sometimes in using Project and its functionalities
    • Hard to share files for those folks who do not have MS Project, and then have to print out for them
    • Can be confusing since it looks and feels like MS Excel
    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
    Microsoft
    I like using Microsoft Project. It simplifies building a schedule
    Incentivized
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    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
    Microsoft
    Microsoft
    Project is easy to operate because data could be inserted, changed and
    deleted like you are in an Excel timesheet. Besides, it provides a great
    level of automation beween his fields allowing few data changes. Also, its
    funcionalities are well defined and grouped in upper menus, so you can find a
    funcionality quickly
    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
    Microsoft
    Microsoft in recent years has transformed itself and gives a positive feeling when one interacts with the company. The company is focusing on its customers and willing to go extra mile to make customers happy.The company continues to invest in its products and bringing new features from time to time. Overall it is a positive feeling to be associated with such an iconic company.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Microsoft
    I wasn't part of it so I don't know
    Incentivized
    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
    Microsoft
    While many of the above tools are extremely well-versed, Microsoft Project's largest advantage comes from it being related to the largest business productivity company in the world. Project does have its sharing limitations - but regardless, offers one of the most robust tools in the market today. Microsoft Project is built with large-scale projects in mind but is more than up to the task for smaller projects as well. However, there are options available (especially cloud-based options) that may be more fitting for higher-level projects that do not require going into the weeds.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Microsoft
    • Project saved me, as the project manager, countless hours of digging through tickets and schedules to plan everything out. It also saved me time in adjusting the project triangle as needed, since it does so much automatically.
    • It is costly, and since it requires extensive training to master, it's not just the high licensing cost that you need to take into account.
    • The reporting features - even just printing out Gantt charts - makes it far easier to communicate with stakeholders. That means less time for PMs doing all of this manually, and it means less follow-up questions and delays moving forward.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots