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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

    Oracle APEX

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AOracle APEX (or Oracle Application Express) is an online low-code application builder that allows users to develop a database-drive application, customize the application's UI, and then give their users access to the application via URL. Oracle APEX includes a suite of pre-built productivity applications and examples, such as a Survey Builder, Bug Tracking, P-Track project management, etc

    $0.32

    OCPU per hour

    Pricing
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Oracle APEX Application Development
    $0.32
    OCPU per hour
    Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing - Exadata Storage
    $118.40
    Terabyte storage capacity per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Oracle
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Would buy again
    10 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and Oracle APEX
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Oracle APEX
    -
    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 Oracle APEX
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Oracle APEX
    -
    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 Oracle APEX
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Oracle APEX
    -
    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
    Low-Code Development
    Comparison of Low-Code Development features of HCL Notes and Oracle APEX
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Oracle APEX
    8.5
    27 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Visual Modeling00 Ratings7.726 Ratings
    Drag-and-drop Interfaces00 Ratings8.427 Ratings
    Platform Security00 Ratings8.827 Ratings
    Platform User Management00 Ratings8.326 Ratings
    Reusability00 Ratings9.027 Ratings
    Platform Scalability00 Ratings8.927 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
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    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Zoho Creator
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    AppSheet
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Mendix
    Score7.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    9.5
    (44 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesOracle APEX
    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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    Oracle
    If you need to develop an application very quickly, without unnecessary lengthy specifications or business requirements, something you need right away, while utilizing all the capabilities of the Oracle database, APEX is the right choice. Thanks to the many components you use from the vast Oracle APEX library, working with this tool is exceptionally pleasant, fast, and effective.
    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
    Oracle
    • Easy upgrade path from Forms, allowing reuse of code and a low learning curve for Forms developers.
    • Very quick to develop in. Ideal for prototyping or iterative development which is how we usually work.
    • Comes with cross browser and mobile compatibility out of the box.
    • Easy to incorporate other web technologies.
    • Development environment runs straight from a browser. This has proved to be a life saver when issues crop up on a weekend.
    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
    Oracle
    • Can't think of any - the Application Express development team does a fantastic job adopting and supporting emerging trends with each new release.
    • Requires Oracle RDBMS; i.e., is not portable to other RDBMS platforms. On the surface this may seem like a con but it is as it should be - Oracle database is best RDBMS available and tight integration with Oracle RDBMS promotes creation of reliable performant apps.
    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
    Oracle
    I felt very comfortable using Oracle Application Express from the start. I designed my data model and quickly developed the basic CRUD pages for master tables. Then I designed the main functionality and was able to test and deploy it in a couple of days work. I will probably share the app with other members of the team and continue adding some features in the short term.
    Incentivized
    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
    Oracle
    Oracle APEX is an ultra flexible, low code platform having a great easy of use, superior customization capabilities, scalable and provides a very good application and data security. It also has lot of AI capabilities as well as modern features such as GeoLocation maps, Automation capabilities, Workflow approval features and Mobile application capabilities using PWA like features.
    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
    Oracle
    Very active and knowledgeable community support includes quick and helpful responses from the Oracle employees on the product development team. I've never had to raise an official support request - everything is dealt with via forums and user groups - or via direct emails. The supposrt commuinty is one of the great things about Apex.
    Incentivized
    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
    Oracle
    Using it on the cloud is really simple, the entire process of configuring and provisioning an Oracle Database takes only a few minutes (less than 10) and then Oracle APEX is already deployed on the database, so you just have to start using it. I would strongly recommend using APEX on Oracle Cloud Free Tier.
    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
    Oracle
    Oracle APEX has delivered a strong positive ROI by significantly reducing development time, lowering costs, and improving operational efficiency through automation and real-time reporting. While there are some limitations around frontend flexibility and DevOps, the overall business value—especially in data-driven enterprise applications—has been substantial.
    Incentivized
    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
    Oracle
    • In the mid-size organization, we had a BI tool that had a significant license cost involved. With Oracle back-end we were able to switch to APEX and move all reporting at literally zero cost.
    • For Oracle PL/SQL users the learning curve is very quick and easy, there are ready templates that you can start with and eventually create complex reports.
    • You can track authorization and authentication on data editing and usage. High performance as it is native oracle sql codes.
    • Centralized data capturing, makes your datawarehouse writable for lookup tables or reference tables.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots