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HCL Connections vs Office 365 comparison

The compared HCLSoftware and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. HCLSoftware is ranked #5 in CP , with an average rating of 9.0, and holds a 3.6% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #2 in CCP , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 6.9% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
HCL Connections
Read 55 HCL Connections reviews
  • 559 Views
  • 151 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
Office 365
Read 143 Office 365 reviews
  • 2,360 Views
  • 1,440 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between HCL Connections and Office 365 based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Atlassian, Liferay and others in Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals).

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Buyer's Guide
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals)
June 2025
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Helped 862,499 peers since 2012

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
7.2
Users achieved ROI from HCL Connections in nine months by encouraging daily use and eliminating redundant features like chat.
Sentiment score
7.3
Organizations benefited from Office 365 with cost savings, productivity enhancements, flexibility, integration, improved security, and valuable Microsoft support.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
HCL Connections' customer service varies, with mixed reviews on support responsiveness and challenges in reaching knowledgeable staff.
Sentiment score
4.2
Office 365 customer service is highly rated for responsiveness, but some users prefer internal IT or community resources.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
HCL Connections offers high scalability with effective IBM WebSphere support, despite Solr search limitations and manageable storage challenges.
Sentiment score
7.8
Office 365 efficiently scales to accommodate organizational growth, handling thousands of users with high adaptability and licensing flexibility.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
HCL Connections is stable on WebSphere but needs tuning for performance; IBM support addresses occasional instability effectively.
Sentiment score
7.4
Users find Office 365 reliable, appreciating improvements and support, despite minor issues with Excel macros and Teams connectivity.
 

Room For Improvement

HCL Connections needs better document management, interface customization, third-party integration, collaboration, and cloud stability for improved usability.
Office 365 faces challenges with platform compatibility, performance, costs, integration, and requires enhancements in user-friendliness and documentation.
 

Setup Cost

HCL Connections pricing varies widely, offers discounts, flexible licensing, and competitive pricing compared to Jive or SharePoint.
Office 365 provides scalable licensing plans offering good value and flexible pricing, although setup can be complex for larger enterprises.
 

Valuable Features

HCL Connections enhances collaboration with file sharing, tool integration, expert profiles, mobile access, and efficient content management.
Office 365 enhances productivity with strong integration, collaboration tools, AI features, scalability, cloud storage, and comprehensive app support.
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL Connections
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (5th), Enterprise Social Software (12th)
Office 365
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. HCL Connections is designed for Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) and holds a mindshare of 3.6%, up 3.1% compared to last year.
Office 365, on the other hand, focuses on Content Collaboration Platforms, holds 6.9% mindshare, up 5.9% since last year.
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals)
Content Collaboration Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

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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Gary Cook - PeerSpot reviewer
Access to advanced features boosts productivity despite pricing concerns in developing regions
I need to do maintenance for Office 365 very seldom, once a year. In the maintenance process for Office 365, we have about 12 people involved. For the maintenance side of Office 365, only one person is involved. Looking at Office 365's pricing, I would give it a 4 on a scale from 1 to 10. My overall rating for Office 365 is an 8 out of 10, but for the product itself, I would give it a 10. I would definitely recommend Office 365 to other businesses, probably a 9 out of 10 for recommendation. This is only because of its price and the fact that they do not take into account developing countries such as South Africa, where they should give us more favorable prices or local prices. We do not have a partnership with Microsoft, which is a sore point for us. We have reached out to Microsoft South Africa, and they are very hard to contact and largely uncooperative. We are a B-Level 2 and a B-Level 1, which are local affirmative action ratings that companies get. Level 1 is the highest, and Level 8 is the lowest. We hold amongst the highest BEE ratings, but we have not found Microsoft South Africa to be forthcoming or very open. We should have a partnership with them, and we run Power BI as we are a Power BI shop now. I strongly would want to see a box within Office 365 for our team to have ChatGPT through OpenAI as well. We use Excel as a data source for many tasks and find that it integrates really well with Python. We write a lot of Python code and use Excel as a data sheet many times, and we operate through SQL and other zero elements as well. From an Office 365 viewpoint, we find that with Copilot and Python and Excel's provision for Python, it is very useful.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Performing Arts
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
21%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
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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 ...
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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.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Office 365?
For pricing, I think it's fairly priced, I would rate it 8.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Office 365?
The areas of Office 365 that have room for improvement are what should be better in this solution.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Office 365?
A typical use case for Office 365 is how I primarily use this solution.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time
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Compared 7% of the time
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Compared 6% of the time
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
HCL Connections
July 2025
HCL Connections reportDownload HCL Connections product report
Buyer's Guide
Office 365
July 2025
Office 365 reportDownload Office 365 product report
 

Also Known As

IBM Connections, Lotus Connections
Microsoft Office 365, Office 365 Enterprise, Office 365 Enterprise E1, Office 365 Enterprise E3, Office 365 Enterprise E5, Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Business, Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business Premium, Office 365 F1
 

Overview

IBM Connections™ is a leading unified collaboration and social networking solution that helps you filter out the noise to get work done. Connections empowers your teams and organization to engage with the right experts, accelerate innovation, and deliver results. All the collaboration tools you need to be productive are united under a single sign-on so you can reduce time spent switching between disparate tools and focus on the people and work that matters most. Experience a security-rich and business-compliant environment sanctioned by IT. Confidently share knowledge within your teams and your organization, and extend collaboration beyond traditional boundaries. Connections can enable you to improve decision-making, increase productivity, and accelerate time-to-market. Shift from being merely productive, to truly effective with Connections today.

IBM Connections can help you: Engage experts. People-centric platform enables you to easily locate the expertise you need, right now. Accelerate innovation. Illuminate and promote new ideas within a thriving social network of teams and communities. Empower teams. Get work done together and take action; anywhere—from any device. Deliver results. Leverage cognitive insights to prioritize results and arrive at better outcomes. Extend collaboration. Safely collaborate with customers and partners, bringing them into the conversation.

HCLSoftware

Office 365 is more than just Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It provides powerful services like business-class email, online storage, and teamwork solutions that you can access from anywhere. Bring teams and resources together with solutions like Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business that make working together more productive and enjoyable regardless of where participants are located. Easily implement security and privacy controls to help protect business data and devices against malicious threats and help you meet your compliance obligations. Automatic updates ensure your employees will always have the latest features and security updates.

Microsoft
 

Sample Customers

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
Me & the Bees Lemonade
Buyer's Guide
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals)
June 2025
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We monitor all Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.