HCL Sametime vs Office 365 comparison

The compared HCLSoftware and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. HCLSoftware is ranked #17 in VM , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 0.6% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #1 in CCP , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 9.6% mindshare. Additionally, 75% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

HCL Sametime

Read 5 HCL Sametime reviews

217 Views
119 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Office 365

Read 150 Office 365 reviews

2,236 Views
1,565 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

HCL Sametime

Office 365

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

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

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October 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 Sametime

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Virtual Meetings (17th)

Office 365

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

150

Ranking in other categories

Content Collaboration Platforms (1st)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. HCL Sametime is designed for Virtual Meetings and holds a mindshare of 0.6%, down 0.7% compared to last year.
Office 365, on the other hand, focuses on Content Collaboration Platforms, holds 9.6% mindshare, up 5.7% since last year.

Virtual Meetings Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HCL Sametime	0.6%
Zoom Workplace Business	15.0%
Webex	13.1%
Other	71.3%

Virtual Meetings

Content Collaboration Platforms Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Office 365	9.6%
Dropbox Business - Enterprise	10.1%
Google Workspace	9.8%
Other	70.5%

Content Collaboration Platforms

Featured Reviews

Bogdan Chechlowski

Kierownik Biura Informatyki at EIB SA

Stable product, communicate very fast and allows to see who's online in the office or work environment

It was used for communication through text messages, primarily Being able to see who was online and communicate very fast was a good feature. The security was quite good. However, when we tried to implement it for email at a high level, we had to use another solution, FortiMail Gateway. I view…

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Gary Cook

Executive at Empowered Analytics

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.

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 security was quite good."

"I can view the status and availability of colleagues or team members, which makes it easy to approach them when they are available."

"The most valuable features of Office 365 are Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Teams. Teams helped us to collaborate more through its call and document sharing features."

"OneNote is the feature I use the most. We also frequently use the Power Apps features."

"I like that it is cloud-based, wherefrom any computer I can access my documents and continue working."

"The most valuable feature of Office 365 is that it has many solutions bundled together."

"I like Office 365's usability."

"It's inexpensive to license."

"Great impact on project management and team collaboration."

"It is very easy to deploy."

More Office 365 pros

Cons

"It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or other files."

"The webinar should be integrated into Sametime for a larger number of participants."

"Microsoft Word is a little bit left behind regarding the tools it has."

"I haven't used Copilot too much because I don't have a license for that at the moment."

"In the next release, I would like to have a more intuitive tutorial."

"I would like to see better integration with Teams, and better usability with SharePoint."

"We have found that, with Teams, if you are including one more person who is not in the company ecosystem, supposedly I'm inviting them as a guest in the chat. However, when I do that, I can't share files."

"Integration with other platforms can be improved."

"Using Office 365 is not that flexible on some mobile devices, like Android."

"The security should be improved."

More Office 365 cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Most of the time, we purchase Microsoft Exchange licenses, which are less expensive and provide only an email platform and 50 gigabytes of email storage for free."

"We have a license to use this solution. We have an E3 license which covers many different solutions."

"Good reporting and good value subscriptions for international calls."

"Licensing, billing, and accounting are available from the management interface."

"The price of Office 365 is very expensive."

"I would rate the solution 3 out of 5 for the price. I think Microsoft presents a good solution concerning the price."

"The pricing is not really high, but one can get the software with the license key for free."

"The pricing is high and has actually caused us to limit the number of licenses we purchase due to budgeting."

More Office 365 pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

19%

Outsourcing Company

Performing Arts

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	62
Midsize Enterprise	29
Large Enterprise	68

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HCL Sametime?

I view it as part of HCL Notes and Domino, and my opinion is similar to those products. It lacks some features compared to modern solutions. For example, it doesn't allow sending screenshots or oth...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HCL Sametime?

It was used for communication through text messages, primarily.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering HCL Sametime?

Overall, it was quite good. I would rate it an eight out of ten. It's a better product than some others from HCL, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it, given the availability of superior alternatives.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Office 365?

I didn't inquire about the specific costs of transitioning from the previous tools. However, I was informed that the cost of using the Microsoft ecosystem is higher than the combined cost of using ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Office 365?

I don't have any ideas off the top of my head at the moment about what I would improve about Office 365. I can't think of anything that frustrates me about the tools. I mentioned that I use Copilot...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Office 365?

We use the Microsoft Office 365 suite for personal purposes. We use Teams for communications, and we use Azure DevOps for some of our workflow management. I use Office 365 for Outlook for emails. I...

See all answers

Comparisons

No data available

Google Workspace vs Office 365

Compared 56% of the time

Dropbox Business - Enterprise vs Office 365

Compared 10% of the time

Microsoft OneDrive for Business vs Office 365

Compared 6% of the time

Quip vs Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

Amazon WorkDocs vs Office 365

Compared 5% of the time

More Office 365 Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Meetings

October 2025

Download HCL Sametime product report

Buyer's Guide

Office 365

October 2025

Download Office 365 product report

Also Known As

Lotus Sametime, IBM Lotus Sametime

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

HCL Sametime. Secure Conversations Across Any Device

Your company can’t afford to take any data risks, but your teams still need to be able to interact and react quickly, wherever they are working. Sametime offers modern instant messaging, file-sharing, and online meetings with the proven security your business can trust.

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

Connect2Cloud, Superior Group, Daifuku Co. Ltd., Seaward, The City of Fort Worth, Christian Brothers Services, Berlitz, Deutsche Notes User Group, Danske Fysioterapeuter, Slumberland, La Vacanza, Rheinmetall AG

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