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HCL Connections vs Slack 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
7.2
Users achieved ROI from HCL Connections in nine months by encouraging daily use and eliminating redundant features like chat.
Sentiment score
7.4
Slack boosts productivity and collaboration with a 40% ROI, praised for efficiency despite some desiring lower pricing.
 

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
7.1
Slack's reliable service rarely requires support, but customer service is responsive and effective, receiving high praise overall.
We tend to focus more on Workato for support, but internally we raise service requests with the infrastructure team for any issues related to Slack.
 

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
7.6
Slack efficiently scales for teams of all sizes, though free version limitations and management of many channels can be challenging.
Slack is endlessly scalable.
Slack is not as comprehensive as Microsoft Teams in terms of scheduling and hosting meetings.
A user who engages with Slack daily and utilizes various features would provide more valuable insights.
 

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
7.7
Slack is largely praised for its stability and reliability, with occasional minor issues typically related to integrations or updates.
It integrates with various systems, allowing us to manage site reliability, availability, and reliability.
Slack's stability is a perfect 10.
Occasionally, Slack behaves unexpectedly and shuts down, which can be irritating, especially when I am in the middle of a task.
 

Room For Improvement

HCL Connections needs better document management, interface customization, third-party integration, collaboration, and cloud stability for improved usability.
Users suggest improvements in Slack's video chat, organization, integrations, interface, security, mobile capabilities, and non-developer functionalities.
We can also improve the creation of channels, particularly in terms of privacy, security, flexibility, and the addition of members to newly created channels.
Configuring chats and pinning in Teams is easier, even though Slack has these features, they are not intuitive enough to engage with.
There is a need to add a call group feature to facilitate scheduling and conducting meetings within Slack.
 

Setup Cost

HCL Connections pricing varies widely, offers discounts, flexible licensing, and competitive pricing compared to Jive or SharePoint.
Slack's free version suits small teams, while enterprises prefer paid plans for security, costing 15-20 USD per user.
 

Valuable Features

HCL Connections enhances collaboration with file sharing, tool integration, expert profiles, mobile access, and efficient content management.
Slack excels in chat functionalities, app integrations, customization, productivity tools, and offers a seamless, secure communication platform.
In my experience, Slack is a stable product for communication, and I appreciate its automation features and integration of AI capabilities for enhancing specific functions.
In managing releases via Slack channels, one major advantage over Teams is the ability to have threaded discussions, which helps in catching up on relevant discussions without the distraction of interleaved conversations.
We have created some error alerts and notification-related channels in the Workato recipe itself, where if we encounter any production issue errors or alerts, we receive error notifications with descriptions, error messages, and recipe names in a dedicated production error alerts Slack channel.
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL Connections
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (5th)
Slack
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Enterprise Social Software category, the mindshare of HCL Connections is 1.0%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Slack is 12.8%, up from 10.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Social Software
 

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.
Awais Mehmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation features and user-friendly interface support seamless communication
Slack is very supportive in terms of communication between my colleagues and clients. While working with the reimbursement feature, I found the automation capabilities on Slack to be incredibly useful, allowing me to automate messages for specific dates or times and even to greet someone on their birthday. I haven't specifically used the channel organization feature of Slack, as I am added to channels, but I use it with Airtable, which automates notifications to a specific Slack channel when a user fills out a form on our website. In my experience, Slack is a stable product for communication, and I appreciate its automation features and integration of AI capabilities for enhancing specific functions.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Educational Organization
14%
Performing Arts
11%
Media Company
8%
Educational Organization
56%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
4%
 

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.
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.
What do you like most about Slack?
Nowadays, we don't need to visit an HR portal. Our marketing and human resources teams directly share details about birthdays, upcoming events, and important dates in Slack. Whether it's a training...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Slack?
I am not aware of pricing, setup costs, or licensing, due to my company's partnership with Slack.
What needs improvement with Slack?
Sometimes Slack behaves unexpectedly and shuts down without notification or support communication. There is a need to add a call group feature to facilitate scheduling and conducting meetings withi...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Connections, Lotus Connections
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Strava, The New York Times, Spotify, Blue Bottle Coffee Company, Eventbrite, Box, Circa, Stripe
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Connections vs. Slack and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.