HCL Domino vs Microsoft Exchange comparison

The compared HCLSoftware and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. HCLSoftware is ranked #19 in RADS , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 0.5% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #3 in EA , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 11.4% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

HCL Domino

Read 21 HCL Domino reviews

896 Views
382 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Microsoft Exchange

Read 91 Microsoft Exchange reviews

3,291 Views
2,842 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

HCL Domino

Microsoft Exchange

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between HCL Domino and Microsoft Exchange based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, ServiceNow, OutSystems and others in Rapid Application Development Software.

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Rapid Application Development Software

March 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

HCL Domino

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Rapid Application Development Software (19th)

Microsoft Exchange

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Applications (3rd), Wireless Email (1st), File Archiving (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

HCL Domino and Microsoft Exchange aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. HCL Domino is designed for Rapid Application Development Software and holds a mindshare of 0.5%, up 0.5% compared to last year.
Microsoft Exchange, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 11.4% mindshare, down 12.2% since last year.

Rapid Application Development Software

Email Applications

Featured Reviews

FrederickLim

Technical Service Manager at Top Level Corporation Limited

Provides mobile email systems with solid stability and easy deployment

The initial setup is easy. You need to sign up. It depends on the scope. It will take longer if there are more than one or more applications. The project usually includes infrastructure and deployment may take anywhere from one month to six months. I rate the initial setup an eight out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Read full review

Hesham Hussain

Head Of Infrastructure at ValU

A good solution for large enterprises, but is expensive when compared to other solutions

Regarding the decision of increasing the number of users, it depends on the organization's choice, whether to opt for CapEx or OpEx. Both options involve expenses over the years. Building an in-house Exchange solution requires investing in hardware, storage, connectivity, and administrative resources. Office 365 shifts the budget solely to OpEx as a subscription service. Scalability is another factor. Starting a new company favors Office 365 due to cost efficiency. As the organization grows, the choice depends on available resources and technical expertise. An internal Exchange setup is feasible with skilled engineers, while Office 365 suits those lacking in-house resources.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The DAOS feature is the most valuable. It helps to save some of my storage."

"Overall, I would rate HCL Domino as eight out of ten. I would recommend HCL Domino and Notes applications for small and medium-sized companies since it offers a good return on investment."

"The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration."

"They offer good support and provide a roadmap."

"HCL Domino is an application development and collaboration platform with strong stability and security. Deployment of this platform is easy and takes only 10 minutes."

"For workflow applications or general applications, the rapid development capability is what we value most."

"HCL Domino is the best product from a security point of view."

"The full-text searching capabilities are great."

More HCL Domino pros

"The ability to share information, appointments, and agendas easily is the big value of Microsoft Exchange."

"One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Exchange is its security."

"The initial setup is quite a straightforward process. I don't think it is a very complicated solution. Plenty of things could be more complex, but the ordinary, general settings are quite simple."

"Exchange's interface is good. All of our engineers like it and are accustomed to using it."

"It is a product that is simple to manage, and easy to use."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Exchange is its communication capabilities."

"Exchange has helped us with encryption."

"It's pretty easy to manage."

More Microsoft Exchange pros

Cons

"Scalability is also an issue. We have problems with large databases."

"The product's user interface is one of its shortcomings since it is outdated, making it an area for improvement."

"Designing a new template could provide a refreshed visual experience for users without significant changes to the underlying functionality."

"Its performance and integration could be better. It has capabilities for large deployment with several servers, but in the latest interface, running with different servers isn't supported."

"The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved."

"From the Domino side, it should support DKIM and DMARC."

"It would be advantageous if the web server could seamlessly pick up configuration changes without the need for a complete restart."

"HCL Domino could improve by having integration with other solutions, such as Microsoft 365."

More HCL Domino cons

"Exchange can be a little finicky, sometimes, or flakey. Last week, for example, I had gone into my calendar to check on some briefings that I had established, and then went back into my inbox, and suddenly the view had changed. I had no idea what it was that I had done, and I couldn't figure out how to get that view back. I took a productivity hit as a result of that, trying to fix it, due to the fact that it just wasn't what I wanted. It wasn't what I was used to working with. Two different tech support people had to work with me in order to get the view back to what I wanted just so I could be productive."

"Microsoft Exchange needs to improve how it handles and assigns policy and security."

"Currently, its administration is too cumbersome. It's unwieldy. It's slow. It consumes too many resources. Configuration needs to be much more streamlined and administratively automated."

"The management of .pst files and archiving need improvement."

"When an update wants to come, it should just come maybe once or twice rather than having us deal with constant updating."

"Sometimes we don't get support quickly enough - for example, if there's some global hacker attack, we don't get served as quickly. The skills of the technical staff can also vary, and Microsoft could perhaps improve their training."

"I would like to see Microsoft Exchange improve their documentation."

"One thing for improvement would be to have an offline version of Exchange available for use if our connection goes down."

More Microsoft Exchange cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is individually determined. For us, in our current deployment, we pay $12.50 Canadian per month per user."

"I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of price."

"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."

"We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."

"It is less expensive compared to other vendors."

"Customers have to pay for a license for the Notes Client, not for the Domino database. There is a quarter license that we use."

"While I don't have precise pricing information at hand, my understanding is that it tends to be on the higher end."

"HCL Domino is costly, but it still depends on how your organization views it price-wise."

More HCL Domino pricing and cost advice

"The product is quite cheap."

"Microsoft's licensing structure is too complex, but its prices are affordable, though not cheap."

"There is an annual cost to use Microsoft Exchange, and the price could be less expensive."

"I don't have enough information about the licensing costs of Microsoft Exchange, but I do know that you need two types of licenses to run it. You need the product key and the client access key to activate Microsoft Exchange. This means that apart from the standard Microsoft Exchange licensing fees, you have to pay additional costs."

"It's working very well. There is no problem, but the price is not the best."

"The price of Microsoft Exchange is reasonable."

"Licensing fees are paid monthly."

"Microsoft doesn't have a unit price, it's based on the quantity, and they offer great discounts."

More Microsoft Exchange pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HCL Domino?

The most valuable features of the solution are security and integration.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HCL Domino?

The Notes client is very expensive, costing around $105 per client. Overall, HCL Domino is a costly product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HCL Domino?

The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved. Many people are not very happy with its speed. Additionally, in-line editing of documents and a document viewer are functionalities ...

See all answers

How does Zimbra Collaboration compare with Microsoft Exchange?

Zimbra is a free, open source collaborative software suite. The features I like best are the ease of integration and the email, calendar, and collaboration server with web interface. In addition, I...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange?

The initial setup was straightforward and fast.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Exchange?

The licensing and pricing are quite costly, which can demotivate customers from opting for features and upgrades. However, the solution provides value for money if one is well-acquainted with Excha...

See all answers

Comparisons

HCL Notes vs HCL Domino

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs HCL Domino

Compared 10% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs HCL Domino

Compared 9% of the time

Zimbra Collaboration vs HCL Domino

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs HCL Domino

Compared 7% of the time

More HCL Domino Competitors

Zimbra Collaboration vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 19% of the time

KerioConnect vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 18% of the time

Open-Xchange vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 13% of the time

HCL Notes vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 9% of the time

Google Workspace vs Microsoft Exchange

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Exchange Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HCL Domino

April 2025

Download HCL Domino product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Exchange

April 2025

Download Microsoft Exchange product report

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino

Exchange, MS Exchange

Overview

HCL Domino (formerly IBM Domino) is a secure, enterprise-grade, application development platform. From IT to business, HCL Domino is the only low to pro-code application development platform that allows your business to build robust applications to solve workflow and process challenges fast. HCL Domino powers businesses around the world with 15,000 customers and 10 million apps built on our platform. HCL Domino has always been a secure, rock-solid, and proven solution.

Low cost of ownership - minimizing administration needs through automated installations, policies and monitoring helps staff focus on higher value tasks.
Minimized infrastructure - reducing costs by using less power, memory, data storage, network bandwidth and servers.
Rich application environment - supporting workflow-driven and people-oriented applications that help a wide variety of business operations deliver enhanced results.
Security-rich - helping protect your critical business assets. You can control information access, protect information and guarantee document authenticity.
High availability - featuring advanced clustering, replication, server fault recovery and automated diagnostic tools.

HCLSoftware

Built to deliver the enterprise-grade security and reliability that businesses require, Microsoft Exchange provides email, calendar and contacts on your PC, phone and web browser.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

A1 Telekom, Acubiz, Afrisam, E. A. Juffali & Brothers, Fiducia & GAD, and Pakistan State Oil

Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Scitec Nutrition, British Airways, InnoGames, Osteology Foundation, Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, NTC Contracting

Buyer's Guide

Rapid Application Development Software

March 2025

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