HCL Verse vs Office 365 comparison

The compared HCLSoftware and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. HCLSoftware is ranked #13 in EA , and holds a 1.7% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #1 in CCP , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 10.1% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

HCL Verse

Read 3 HCL Verse reviews

668 Views
387 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Office 365

Read 150 Office 365 reviews

2,440 Views
1,732 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

HCL Verse

Office 365

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Executive Summary

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

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Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

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 Verse

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Applications (13th)

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 Verse is designed for Email Applications and holds a mindshare of 1.7%, up 1.2% compared to last year.
Office 365, on the other hand, focuses on Content Collaboration Platforms, holds 10.1% mindshare, up 5.4% since last year.

Email Applications Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HCL Verse	1.7%
Google Workspace	18.9%
Microsoft Exchange Online	12.1%
Other	67.30000000000001%

Email Applications

Content Collaboration Platforms Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Office 365	10.1%
Google Workspace	10.2%
Dropbox Business - Enterprise	9.9%
Other	69.80000000000001%

Content Collaboration Platforms

Featured Reviews

Marcos Roberto Silva

Diretor at MASTERDOM

Stable, scalable, and good interface

HCL Verse has a nice interface and it is a practical email solution. There are a diverse set of features, such as the search bar on top of the screens. The usability from the old applications to the new version has been very good. It was great that we were able to migrate applications from the older version to the new one.

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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

"HCL Verse has a nice interface and it is a practical email solution. There are a diverse set of features, such as the search bar on top of the screens."

"The most valuable feature is the mail server."

"The products are quite simple for the end-users to use, the up-time is very good, the product is practically maintenance-free, and the multi-layer security is excellent from the security standpoint."

"The most innovative feature of Office 365 is the Power Apps, which allows us to automate literally everything that we want automated. For example, sending attachments to specific folders on SharePoint, adding people's SharePoint when certain apps are performed, or emailing certain people at certain instances, such as when you've done a follow-up with the CRM and you need a marketing email to be sent out at a particular point."

"It's inexpensive to license."

"The integration of co-pilot as part of M365 has made it easy to access support for common technical issues, saving time that would be used on trying to access prompt feedback following back-and-forth emails in getting the correct solution."

"It is stable."

"Cloud-based management is valuable and software deployment is positive."

"Most of the work that seems not to work offline works perfectly with Microsoft Office 2013, like converting a Word document to a PDF file."

"The product helps us be more efficient. It helps us to have a standardized way of doing things."

More Office 365 pros

Cons

"The solution could improve by allowing us to use a color that we want in the editing boxes."

"Security is very important to us, so improvements to this functionality are welcome."

"I rate the support of Office 365 a four out of five."

"It would be a fantastic opportunity if their solution could be used in combination with VoIP software, allowing you to combine VoIP software and Office 365 on a single platform."

"It could be more user-friendly for inexperienced people."

"Security is still complex, but the admin console improving."

"There are several additional features we would like to see, such as advanced features of SAN protection in Office 365. The main thing is the SAN protection; we would like to see a lot of advanced features added because we had a lot of spam attacks."

"The online applications have limited functionality compared to the local applications."

"They should do more testing before product releases."

"There are some complexities to the initial setup if you use some of the more advanced features."

More Office 365 cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"This is an affordable solution but the price could be improved."

"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."

"The pricing is good for all the features that we receive, e.g., Skype for Business."

"The price of Office 365 is very expensive."

"Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis, or we prepay them."

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

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

"The pricing/licensing is easy to manage."

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

More Office 365 pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

27%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

19%

Outsourcing Company

Performing Arts

Educational Organization

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

Ask a question

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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 ...

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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...

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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

HCL Notes vs HCL Verse

Compared 57% of the time

Hub vs HCL Verse

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs HCL Verse

Compared 13% of the time

Huddle vs HCL Verse

Compared 9% of the time

HCL Domino vs HCL Verse

Compared 8% of the time

More HCL Verse Competitors

Google Workspace vs Office 365

Compared 57% 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

Email Applications

October 2025

Download HCL Verse product report

Buyer's Guide

Office 365

October 2025

Download Office 365 product report

Also Known As

Verse, IBM Verse

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 Verse is a powerful email hosting solution that enables users to access their business communications from a laptop or desktop browser or from a mobile device. This email and business messaging experience is based on an innovative user-centric design, including social analytics and advanced search capabilities. IBM Verse helps users quickly find and focus on what content is most important, empowering them to build stronger working relationships while optimizing business results.

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

Canon Marketing Japan Inc., Australian Trade Commission, BTC, Havas, Canal Barge Co.Inc., RAVInvest, Elemental Path, WDR mediagroup

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We monitor all Email Applications 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.