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HCL Connections vs Slack Business - Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 9, 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
3.9
Slack Business boosts productivity and communication, offering 40% ROI, though users desire pricing improvements; generally rated seven out of ten.
 

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
6.0
Slack Business - Enterprise support is praised for responsiveness and helpfulness, with strong documentation and positive user experiences.
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.
Integration Engineer
When I connected to Slack Business - Enterprise API, tutorials and documentation were available online.
Da at hanasoft
If something was beyond their hands, then it would only be escalated to the external Slack team.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
 

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
7.3
Slack Business - Enterprise is scalable for small to large teams, though large user bases may require more resources.
Slack is endlessly scalable.
Application Security Manager at Interact Intranet
Slack Business - Enterprise is a scalable product fitting for small businesses as well as enterprises, with no limitations on the number of users.
Da at hanasoft
Slack is not as comprehensive as Microsoft Teams in terms of scheduling and hosting meetings.
Data Engineer at BlazeClan Technologies
 

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
7.8
Slack Enterprise is stable and dependable, with occasional lag and rare outages mostly due to updates or network issues.
It integrates with various systems, allowing us to manage site reliability, availability, and reliability.
Application Security Manager at Interact Intranet
Slack's stability is a perfect 10.
Webflow Developer at Qureos
I do not see glitches, latency issues, or downtime.
Da at hanasoft
 

Room For Improvement

HCL Connections needs better document management, interface customization, third-party integration, collaboration, and cloud stability for improved usability.
Slack Business Enterprise seeks improved video calls, scheduling, integration, security, mobile functionality, and enhanced AI and collaboration features.
We can also improve the creation of channels, particularly in terms of privacy, security, flexibility, and the addition of members to newly created channels.
Integration Engineer
There are a lot of integrations and custom integrations available, but I believe there are opportunities to make those integrations much easier and faster, particularly for business or non-technical people.
Co Founder at a tech consulting company with 11-50 employees
I would rate it a ten if it comes with some AI features, particularly using generative AI to produce summarization and other kinds of insights from communication in a more secure, data-secure way.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

HCL Connections pricing varies widely, offers discounts, flexible licensing, and competitive pricing compared to Jive or SharePoint.
Enterprise users generally find Slack's pricing reasonable, though some consider it expensive compared to free options for small teams.
 

Valuable Features

HCL Connections enhances collaboration with file sharing, tool integration, expert profiles, mobile access, and efficient content management.
Slack Business - Enterprise boosts productivity through seamless integration, intuitive interface, and efficient communication with customizable features and automation.
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.
Webflow Developer at Qureos
Slack Business - Enterprise is beneficial for us primarily because the API was very beneficial, and that is the main one;
Da at hanasoft
We use the incoming webhook to push end results of automation, which makes our life easier by allowing us to easily check the status of our automation jobs through our corporate phone while in Slack itself.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

HCL Connections
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Corporate Portals (Enterprise Information Portals) (6th)
Slack Business - Enterprise
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Social Software category, the mindshare of HCL Connections is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Slack Business - Enterprise is 11.5%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Social Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Slack Business - Enterprise11.5%
HCL Connections1.9%
Other86.6%
Enterprise Social Software
 

Featured Reviews

Hasnain Zahid - PeerSpot reviewer
Talent acquisition & development specialist at Software Productivity Strategists, Inc. (SPS)
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.
Akhil Viswam - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Threaded collaboration has transformed how our team tracks tickets and monitors automation updates
One suggestion I would make for improving Slack Business - Enterprise is the support of multimedia such as images and videos that we can easily share through Slack. That would be great. Additionally, another thing is AI integration; if Slack has some AI capabilities to get insights about conversations or summarization, that would be a great feature. If Slack has an AI feature that can summarize a particular Slack thread and provide a summary of that, that would be a great feature for us. I would rate it a ten if it comes with some AI features, particularly using generative AI to produce summarization and other kinds of insights from communication in a more secure, data-secure way.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Wholesaler/Distributor
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Performing Arts
20%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise26
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

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?
Slack Business - Enterprise keeps on adding a lot of features, but I would not comment from the feature point of view. Rather, I would comment on the ease of integration point of view. There is som...
 

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 Business - Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.