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Adobe Experience Manager vs HCL Connections comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Adobe Experience Manager offers efficient management and seamless updates, leading to substantial returns and justified investment due to its features.
Sentiment score
7.2
Users achieved ROI from HCL Connections in nine months by encouraging daily use and eliminating redundant features like chat.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Adobe Experience Manager support is praised for quality but critiqued for slow responses and challenges in complex or regional issues.
Sentiment score
6.5
HCL Connections' customer service varies, with mixed reviews on support responsiveness and challenges in reaching knowledgeable staff.
They are attentive to big companies but tend to be negligent towards mid-sized companies.
There are Adobe engineers, sales representatives, and engineers assigned to Sephora North America.
They are always supportive.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Adobe Experience Manager is scalable, customizable, and ideal for large enterprises, though cloud transitions may present challenges.
Sentiment score
7.6
HCL Connections offers high scalability with effective IBM WebSphere support, despite Solr search limitations and manageable storage challenges.
You cannot simply add more servers without purchasing the license.
The scalability of Adobe Experience Manager is pretty good because we have so many engineers that are knowledgeable about and have experience in altering the Adobe Experience Manager system.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
Adobe Experience Manager is stable with high performance, but custom code and integrations can cause occasional issues and memory leaks.
Sentiment score
7.3
HCL Connections is stable on WebSphere but needs tuning for performance; IBM support addresses occasional instability effectively.
Since they are enterprise and have significant digital business coming through the digital medium, the stability of the product is very important.
 

Room For Improvement

Adobe Experience Manager users face challenges with documentation, integration, cost, complexity, support, and inefficient development and deployment processes.
HCL Connections needs better document management, interface customization, third-party integration, collaboration, and cloud stability for improved usability.
Technical support could be improved, especially for smaller companies.
Many people complain about the price as it's one of the most expensive tools.
There is a feature missing where if content is created on the UAT environment and needs to be transferred or synced to the production environment, there is no direct way of doing the sync.
 

Setup Cost

Adobe Experience Manager is costly but valuable for large enterprises, offering a trial and flexible licensing for scalability.
HCL Connections pricing varies widely, offers discounts, flexible licensing, and competitive pricing compared to Jive or SharePoint.
Adobe Experience Manager is expensive compared to competitors.
For large enterprises, the cost is often comparable with other major CMSs.
 

Valuable Features

Adobe Experience Manager excels in Digital Asset Management, integration, AI metadata, intuitive GUI, and fast web page delivery.
HCL Connections enhances collaboration with file sharing, tool integration, expert profiles, mobile access, and efficient content management.
Feature-wise, I believe the dispatcher module is the best aspect of Adobe Experience Manager.
The integration of customer behavior and website setup is impressive.
 

Categories and Ranking

Adobe Experience Manager
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Content Management (8th), Web Content Management (2nd), Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) (1st)
HCL Connections
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Enterprise Social Software category, the mindshare of Adobe Experience Manager is 3.0%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HCL Connections is 1.5%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Social Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Adobe Experience Manager3.0%
HCL Connections1.5%
Other95.5%
Enterprise Social Software
 

Featured Reviews

Thomas Becker - PeerSpot reviewer
Impressive integration of customer behavior with an easy setup and okay support
I've worked with all major content management systems. Currently, I work with the leaders such as Adobe Experience Manager, Sitecore, and Acquia Working with big companies, I help them either consider setting up a new content management system or address issues they might have with their existing…
Hasnain Zahid - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable tool useful to manage marketing-related activities
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. Sometimes, the portal hangs because I find that if I am on a web page, I have to log out, and then I have to log in to the portal again. Since I see that the portal hangs at times, I have to move from one side of the portal to the next, making me feel that some things are scattered in the product. I attended a meeting with IBM recently, and they are improving a few of the things, in my opinion. The concerns that I have related to the product are being improved since I think many other users have reported issues similar to the ones I faced.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
7%
Performing Arts
21%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Media Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Adobe Experience Manager?
It is easy to learn. You don't need to be an advanced Java developer.
What needs improvement with Adobe Experience Manager?
Improvements could be made, though it's difficult to pinpoint because Adobe Experience Manager has been part of my world for the past several years. Many people complain about the price as it's one...
What is your primary use case for Adobe Experience Manager?
I am on the Digital Asset Management team and we coordinate projects through Workfront, tracking assets through Workfront and with Adobe Experience Manager. My use cases involve migration within Di...
What do you like most about HCL Connections?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
What needs improvement with HCL Connections?
The support is an area where the product can improve. My company faces some support-related issues because whenever we create or generate a ticket, it takes two days for the product's support team ...
What is your primary use case for HCL Connections?
I use HCL Connections for marketing purposes. The IBM product in our company already provides us with direct links to the marketing and HR sides.
 

Also Known As

Adobe Day CQ5, Ektron Social Marketing, Episerver Content Cloud, Adobe CQ5
IBM Connections, Lotus Connections
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Metra
Yamato Financial Co. Ltd., University of Zurich, Gwinnett County Public Schools, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., Telus, Rabobank, Christian Brothers Services, Grupo Financiero Banorte, The Loft Group, Dow Water & Process Solutions, JGC Corporation, College of Medicine, Swansea University, solvito GmbH, Loft Group, Hamm-Reno Group GmbH, Geno SA
Find out what your peers are saying about Adobe Experience Manager vs. HCL Connections and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.