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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

    SAP Business Network

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ASAP Business Network is a comprehensive B2B collaboration platform that connects people, processes, and systems across multiple enterprises, digitizing transactions, and creating transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains.N/A
    Pricing
    HCL NotesSAP Business Network
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesSAP Business Network
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesSAP Business Network
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    SAP
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Would buy again
    51 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    47 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    84%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    32 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    35 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesSAP Business Network
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and SAP Business Network
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    SAP Business Network
    -
    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 SAP Business Network
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    SAP Business Network
    -
    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 SAP Business Network
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    SAP Business Network
    -
    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 NotesSAP Business Network
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL NotesSAP Business Network
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    8.3
    (52 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.7
    (25 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesSAP Business Network
    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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    SAP
    SAP Business Network provides an end-to-end experience to connect and be transparent with suppliers from across the globe. There is no other product that can be compared to this and that has a wide range of offerings such as SAP Business Network. Although it is versatile and supports many business use cases the learning curve is deep and it will be difficult for new suppliers to get used to the platform. If you are suppliers with whom you just have one transaction and need to maintain the track record for those details, it's better not to use SAP Business Network because the suppliers will not be willing to learn to use the platform to submit the invoices just for one purchase order. But there is a solution for this as well you can ask the suppliers to submit the invoices to you through email and send paper invoices from SAP buying and invoicing. The PO and invoice will be sent to a private supplier account. Your supplier doesn't have to login but you still get to maintain the details on SAP Business Network. Even in these cases, SAP Business Network has a solution in the form of a private account.
    Incentivized
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    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
    SAP
    • Real-time order tracking: When a purchase order is created, suppliers can confirm it directly in the system. We can then see the status immediately without having to chase them via email.
    • Supplier interaction: Vendors can upload shipping details, update delivery dates, or report issues directly on the platform.
    • Analytics and insights: Aystem provides dashboards that show spend by category, supplier performance, and payment cycle.
    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).
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    SAP
    • It takes new users some time to go through the interface, especially if they have not dealt with similar software before.
    • It may still appear that customization options are somewhat restricted compared with other websites.
    • In addition, small businesses or start-ups could face higher subscription costs and, in full force, limit themselves to the quality of the social network.
    Incentivized
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    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.
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    SAP
    I will give it a 9, one is deducted for business inspection and improvement i feel that they are in the right direction and streamlined our flow of business agility also helped us get the R.o.i and helped with more sales and visibility over business and its metrics.
    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
    SAP
    There is still a ton of flexability on the customer's end of the platform, which makes standard onboarding for suppliers a challenge. Customers are allowed to ask for things, or customize certain things that are not standard for us, so we have to have special rules set up to complete an integration. There are also some limitations to automate invoice rejections that happen on the platform when a customer rejects an invoice
    Incentivized
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    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
    SAP
    Support by errors of static ecats are not really helpfull
    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
    SAP
    Good performance from SAP as key deployment partner; collaboration and deployment with additional business partner for data provision and business partner onboarding was rather difficult, slowing down the project progress and overall success perception
    Incentivized
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    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
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    SAP
    SAP Business Network stands out compared to all other platforms like Oracle SCM, Ariba, and Coupa due to its comprehensive visibility, robust collaboration tools, and extensive supplier network. Unlike Oracle SCM, which is optimized for its own -heavy supply chains, SAP Business Network provides a more versatile, end-to-end solution, enabling transparency and responsiveness across diverse industries. Compared to Ariba.
    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
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    SAP
    • SAP Business Network's streamlined supply chain and procurement processes have significantly reduced operational costs and improved resource allocation, leading to enhanced overall efficiency.
    • The platform's robust analytics have provided valuable insights, facilitating data-driven decision-making and enabling us to make more informed strategic choices, ultimately contributing to improved business performance.
    • Implementing and integrating the SAP Business Network initially required a substantial financial investment, impacting short-term cash flow and potentially delaying other critical business initiatives.
    Incentivized
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