TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    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

    Progress ShareFile

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AShareFile is a cloud-based file sharing and storage service built for business. The product was acquired by Citrix Systems in 2011, and is now offered by Progress Software.

    $54.45

    per month 3 users (minimum)

    Pricing
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Advanced
    $18.15
    per month per user (minimum 3 users)
    Premium
    $28.59
    per month per user (minimum 3 users)
    Industry Advantage
    $45.83
    per month per user (minimum 3 users)
    Virtual Data Room
    $77.00
    per month per user (minimum 5 users)
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Discount available for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Progress ShareFile
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Would buy again
    59 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    59 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    40 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    43 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and Progress ShareFile
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Progress ShareFile
    -
    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 Progress ShareFile
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Progress ShareFile
    -
    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 Progress ShareFile
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Progress ShareFile
    9.0
    94 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Versioning9.04 Ratings9.077 Ratings
    Video files6.05 Ratings8.857 Ratings
    Audio files6.05 Ratings9.153 Ratings
    Document collaboration8.08 Ratings9.082 Ratings
    Access control6.08 Ratings9.589 Ratings
    Advanced security features8.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive10.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Device sync8.05 Ratings9.575 Ratings
    File search00 Ratings8.090 Ratings
    Cloud Storage Security & Administration
    Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of HCL Notes and Progress ShareFile
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Progress ShareFile
    9.4
    89 Ratings
    8% above category average
    User and role management00 Ratings9.484 Ratings
    File organization00 Ratings9.490 Ratings
    Device management00 Ratings9.571 Ratings
    Cloud Storage Platform
    Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of HCL Notes and Progress ShareFile
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    -
    Ratings
    Progress ShareFile
    8.8
    90 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Performance00 Ratings9.287 Ratings
    Reliability00 Ratings8.990 Ratings
    Storage Reports00 Ratings8.373 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    IDrive Online Backup and Object Storage e2
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Apple iCloud
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    ownCloud
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    8.8
    (119 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    9.1
    (8 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.6
    (33 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (14 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    1.0
    (14 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.6
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesProgress ShareFile
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    When we have a particularly large ad or job printing file that would "clog up" the email process, using ShareFile is very helpful. It's also useful for particular photographers we work with to upload a batch of photos all at once. Where it doesn't work as well for us is when trying to get clients to make use of a login to access folders. We find them reluctant to take on the learning curve. It works best for us when we just send them a clickable download link, and at most just require a tracking name and email address.
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    • Secure File Storage and Sharing.
    • Workflows to get customer/affiliate responses to comments on documents.
    • I used to have the signature feature initially, but it was removed from the original plan, so I could only use it if I chose to select the higher plan price.
    • I love the upload notifications and reports on user activity.
    • The document storage versions are fantastic. I am the only user with Delete privileges, and I love that I can make those selections.
    • Integrations with Microsoft 365 - FANTASTIC - thank you.
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    • The web console is not the most user friendly site to use to get to, and send my files.
    • We have had users that have not liked the change in workflow to get files from Progress ShareFile when they were used to just clicking on files on an email.
    • That management of the tools are not the most user friendly. There have been some improvements but keeping up with certs and setting up new users can be more work than expected.
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    It's a highly effective and secure storage system, has robust workarounds for serving the various equipment limits of our users, meets high security requirements of HIPAA standards, significantly reduces our needs for producing paper trails.
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    ShareFile is so easy to use I was able to download all of my projects files and have them set up to sync before my supervisor could even come over to explain the process to me. It is a neatly organized and intuitive software that allows even the less tech-savvy to become power users.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Progress ShareFile
    The software has never been down when I needed to use it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Progress ShareFile
    Easy to use, easy to integrate with Outlook. I only gave it a 9 because I have found that sometimes it does not play nicely with Outlook and can slow it down. But, when that happens (not frequent), I restart Outlook and all is well again
    Incentivized
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    Citrix was generally responsive and helpful in solving technical issues. Like any cloud based SaaS product there is a danger that it may go down. This was a rare occurrence over my three years of using the product. The more common issue we encountered was clients forgetting their login which was easily managed through a forgot password functionality.
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    Good documentation for the API. With a little help from RS tech staff, any competent programmer should be able to integrate RightSignature with an existing system in a week or three. That help is easy to get as well
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    ShareFile is easier and does what you need. I have moved a few organizations from SharePoint to ShareFile. Just easier. You can setup different areas for different departments, setup their permissions and it is easy enough for them to do what they want in their zones. The mobile app works great as well. So you can all the features you really use from SP, but just easier to setup and use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    HCLSoftware
    No answers on this topic
    Progress ShareFile
    I am a one person office. I have no idea how this software would scale to a larger office.
    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
    Progress ShareFile
    • All of our clients and consulting engineers find ShareFile easy to use, thus complementing our business.
    • Our staff also find ShareFile intuitive, accessible, and easy to use, making it an ideal, everyday indispensable desktop tool for everyone in our company.
    • ShareFile can be linked to our firm's primary website as a placed for private use. We haven't found need for this yet, but might in the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Progress ShareFile Screenshots

    Screenshot of the ShareFile dashboardScreenshot of ShareFile's Outlook PluginScreenshot of the Projects interfaceScreenshot of ShareFile's link sharing optionsScreenshot of ShareFile's e-signature