HCL Domino OverviewUNIXBusinessApplication

HCL Domino is the #13 ranked solution in top Rapid Application Development Software. PeerSpot users give HCL Domino an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. HCL Domino is most commonly compared to HCL Notes: HCL Domino vs HCL Notes. HCL Domino is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 60% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 17% of all views.
HCL Domino Buyer's Guide

Download the HCL Domino Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: March 2023

What is HCL Domino?

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.

HCL Domino was previously known as IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino.

HCL Domino Customers

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

HCL Domino Video

HCL Domino Pricing Advice

What users are saying about HCL Domino pricing:
  • "HCL Domino has reasonable pricing. It's not expensive."
  • "We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."
  • "HCL Domino is costly, but it still depends on how your organization views it price-wise."
  • "For 30 licenses, we pay $1,500 every year. It is not an expensive product."
  • "We're happy with the price of our license — it's pretty standard."
  • "I'd rate it a seven out of ten in terms of price."
  • HCL Domino Reviews

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    Assistant General Manager - Head of Messaging & Collaboration at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 20
    Stable with good security and great integration capabilities
    Pros and Cons
    • "The pricing is excellent."
    • "Recently, IBM sold the product to HCL. Since Pakistan and India have some problems on a domestic level, we were actually considering replacing it with Indian products from the organization. We're just facing some regulatory issues."

    What is our primary use case?

    We have developed 100 plus applications on this platform. For instance, the entire HR solution is built on that solution. Our HR management system is on Notes and Domino. The leave management system in Notes and Domino as well as the employee attendance system, performance reviews, and the reimbursement management system. Any area of HR and sub-service of employees is developed on Notes and Domino. 

    We have developed some sort of interface with the procurement management system that is eventually integrated with Oracle Financials. There are so many other processes of our core banking system that are developed on Notes and Domino. They all are connected to our core banking systems, our Oracle Financial, and other systems. The main focus is that any process that requires any approvals or any workflows, is developed on Notes and Domino.

    What is most valuable?

    It is a wonderful tool. 

    It offers a very stable environment. 

    The security is very good.

    The integration capabilities are great. 

    It is a beautiful platform for low-code and no-code developments and offers comprehensive solution development.

    The pricing is excellent.

    HCL is doing a wonderful job. I appreciate HCL. Whatever they are introducing in terms of new features has been great. I've got 20 years of experience on Notes and Domino and I love their way of working. They are improving the product continuously. That's the reason I'm trying my best to get approval from our regulator to keep the product intact.

    What needs improvement?

    Recently, IBM sold the product to HCL. Since Pakistan and India have some problems on a domestic level, we were actually considering replacing it with Indian products from the organization. We're just facing some regulatory issues.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for 20 years or so at this point. It's been a while. 

    Buyer's Guide
    HCL Domino
    March 2023
    Learn what your peers think about HCL Domino. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2023.
    687,947 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable. In 20 years, I don't think we've had even five minutes of downtime despite all the upgrades, parallel activities, patch management, et cetera. Everything was done in parallel and we have never, never, ever had even five minutes of blackout for users.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have approximately 13,500 to 14,000 users on this solution.

    We might switch to another solution. It's not clear yet if we will.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We find the price to be quite reasonable. It's not overly expensive.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We have evaluated SAP, Oracle ERP, and IBM BPM, as well as SharePoint. We were planning to migrate the entire solution on the platform known as Xpage. Xpage is a wonderful web interface for Notes and Domino on which when you design an application, it seamlessly works on the client, web, and mobile. You design once and use it anywhere. That's the concept. We've also looked into Mendix. 

    SharePoint is a good tool, however, it cannot handle complex scenarios. The stability is also a challenge in SharePoint as Microsoft does not provide a clear roadmap on its product. If you develop an application on this platform, tomorrow they'll bring a new version and they don't provide the upgrade. We need to rebuild everything on the new product as we have already developed so many systems on VB6, then we were planning to switch them on .NET. And eventually, the .NET version one was introduced for a short time, and then the new language was introduced, C#.

    It's really difficult to migrate the entire system from one language of one platform to another. Just like if you spend one year building an application and this application is discontinued by the product owner.

    That's the reason we prefer Notes and Domino. We are using few applications that we developed 20 years ago. We upgraded Notes and Domino on four major releases, however, a 20-years-old application can still work fine. We don't need to modify this application. We don't need to upgrade this application. Backward compatibility is marvelous on Notes and Domino.

    What other advice do I have?

    We're just customers and end-users.

    We have not received the approvals to upgrade the solution on 11, which is why we are still using the last version released by IBM.

    I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten. I've been extremely happy with its capabilities.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Tamer Baher - PeerSpot reviewer
    Professional Services Manager at Insight Technology
    Real User
    Top 5
    Secure and stable platform for application development and collaboration; has reasonable pricing
    Pros and Cons
    • "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."
    • "HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly."

    What is most valuable?

    The best feature of HCL Domino is that you can use Notes for messaging plus application, not just for messaging. It's not a main system only, okay?

    Another good feature is that the HCL Domino server is supported in all platforms, e.g. AIX, Windows, and Linux. Microsoft Exchange only works on the Windows server.

    In terms of stability and security on the server side and applications, I also find HCL Domino very strong in those areas.

    What needs improvement?

    HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly, as end users prefer Outlook over it, because they find Outlook easier to use.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been working with HCL Domino for the past year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    HCL Domino is strong, stability-wise.

    How are customer service and support?

    I find the technical support for HCL Domino very helpful.

    How was the initial setup?

    Deployment of HCL Domino is easy. You can deploy a Domino server in 10 minutes, e.g. no preparation, no domain preparation is needed. With Exchange and active directory, you need to extend the schema, but because HCL Domino has its own directory service, there is no need for this. It does not rely on Active Directory. You can integrate it with Active Directory, but you do not need to extend your Active Directory schema, and you do not need to add the object, unlike what you need to do with Exchange.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    HCL Domino has reasonable pricing. It's not expensive. If you compare its price with Exchange, they have the same product pricing. They are within the same range in terms of pricing, but Microsoft played it another way.

    Microsoft went to the customers and told them: "We can offer you ELA for a price agreement, and you can get Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Dynamics for free," so the customers made the decision of reducing their investment in HCL Domino, for them to get Exchange for free. This is the reason why customers are willing to migrate from HCL Domino to Exchange, plus there's also more customer familiarity from Exchange than HCL Domino.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We were able to evaluate Exchange.

    What other advice do I have?

    We've been dealing with different HCL solutions: HCL Domino, HCL Notes, HCL Domino Volt, and HCL Basics. We're a partner of HCL. We're working with the latest version of HCL Domino: version 12.0.

    The HCL Domino market is very small, e.g. there's not a lot of customers, or the segment using it isn't large, because Microsoft recently went to the customers and told them IBM already sold the product, and internally, IBM will use Exchange. When you migrate the HCL Domino environment to Exchange, there's a new IBM ELA deal where you can get Exchange for free. The HCL Domino segment then shrunk, so the number of customers using it is very small. The big customers have now migrated to Microsoft Exchange, and the rest will migrate eventually.

    We don't have many support facilities in Egypt now, so customers transferred to a different product, e.g. Exchange for the market segment. It's really different, especially in an Office 365 model and Teams collaboration, e.g. using Teams, the competition was not fair.

    My suggestion to people planning on starting their use of HCL Domino is to mix it
    with other applications, rather than comparing it with Microsoft Exchange as a messaging tool, or just using it for messaging, because HCL Domino is a collaboration tool. With it, you can offer applications to different departments, build applications and share it with different departments, etc. It's more preferable to utilize HCL Domino plus messaging, than just using it for messaging only, then comparing it with Exchange.

    My rating for HCL Domino is a ten out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    HCL Domino
    March 2023
    Learn what your peers think about HCL Domino. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2023.
    687,947 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Bogdan Chechlowski - PeerSpot reviewer
    Kierownik Biura Informatyki at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Top 5
    Poor performance and we have trouble with special cases, but it's easy to start writing applications
    Pros and Cons
    • "We have been able to set up a portal using a special XPage application that gives our customers access to this system."

      What is our primary use case?

      We are an insurance broker and use HCL Domino for our customer relationship management. We use it to write applications for use in our company.

      How has it helped my organization?

      We use this solution for our email, workgroup, and especially for customer relationship management. We have all of our documents in this system, and it stores information about all of our processes.

      What is most valuable?

      We have been able to set up a portal using a special XPage application that gives our customers access to this system.

      It is very easy to start writing applications.

      A big advantage that is very important to us is that the ACL access to the documents belongs to the records, as opposed to the kind of record.

      They update the features regularly and recently added multifactor authentication.

      The XPage programming capability should be improved because it is not as modern as the other languages that we work with.

      Recently, we have had a lot of trouble with the server.

      What needs improvement?

      The biggest problem for us is the performance. We have been working with this product for a long time and our database now contains approximately two million documents. It takes a very long time. We purchased super-fast storage with special disks and nothing helps the performance.

      We have problems developing special cases.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been working with HCL Domino for 22 years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      This is a stable solution, provided that the database is not very big. When we have a large database then there are problems with stability. 

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      The database can scale to a certain size but after that, there are issues with reliability. Yesterday, for example, I worked with a database that contained 1.8 petabytes of data.

      We have approximately 200 users inside the company, and we have approximately 700 customers from outside that use it.

      We have two people that develop programs, two more for technical support, and I manage the team.

      How are customer service and support?

      We use technical support only when we upgrade. We do not contact them but rather, just visit the webpage.

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup is very easy. We have experience with it.

      It is installed in our own data center, and it takes a few hours to set it up well, with the proper configuration.

      What about the implementation team?

      We have three people in charge of deployment and maintenance.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually.

      Which other solutions did I evaluate?

      We plan on switching to another solution because of the performance. That is the only complaint that we have about the product.

      What other advice do I have?

      This is a solution that I would recommend for a business that is just starting. I would not recommend it for big business because it gets slower over time, and we haven't seen any improvement in years. The only thing that changes is the version number, rather than the performance. To us, there's nothing new in that regard.

      I would rate this solution a five out of ten.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      On-premises
      Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
      PeerSpot user
      M. Asim Butt - PeerSpot reviewer
      Assistant General Manager IT at Hinopak Motors Limited
      Real User
      Top 10
      Stable and mature but needs improvement in its GUI and security
      Pros and Cons
      • "I like that HCL Domino is stable. It's a great product. I also like that HCL Domino is a mature product under IBM, which is why many companies use it."
      • "An area for improvement in HCL Domino is security. New enhancements in the IT industry mean that security should be improved. The HCL Domino GUI also needs improvement."

      What is our primary use case?

      We're using HCL Domino for the email system.

      What is most valuable?

      I like that HCL Domino is stable. It's a great product. I also like that HCL Domino is a mature product under IBM, which is why many companies use it.

      What needs improvement?

      An area for improvement in HCL Domino is security. New enhancements in the IT industry mean that security should be improved.

      The HCL Domino GUI also needs improvement.

      What I want in the product's next release is for it to have a user-friendly environment. HCL Domino should also integrate well with other software, for example, Outlook. If I want to use the product with Outlook, I should be able to access and get all the emails from Outlook. HCL Domino should have compatibility with Outlook as Outlook is easy to understand and is used by many people and companies.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I've been using HCL Domino for ten or twelve years now.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      HCL Domino is a stable product because it's under IBM, a big name in the industry.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      HCL Domino is a scalable product.

      How are customer service and support?

      I've never contacted the technical support team for HCL Domino, though I'm not sure if other team members did.

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      My organization is switching from HCL Domino to Microsoft Exchange, probably in the next month, because of some challenges with HCL Domino. My organization went with HCL Domino in the past because it's an IBM product. Many people prefer using products from IBM as it's a big brand.

      How was the initial setup?

      If you've been using HCL Domino for years, then setting it up will be easy. However, if you're new to it and you need to install it in your organization, the setup process would be complicated, particularly if you compare it to setting up Microsoft Exchange.

      How much time it takes to deploy HCL Domino depends on your expertise. Some people could take two hours, while some could take two days. On the other hand, some people could take two months to deploy the solution.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

      What other advice do I have?

      I'm still using HCL Domino, but my organization plans to switch to another solution, Microsoft Exchange.

      Close to three hundred people use HCL Domino within the organization.

      If you're a new user of HCL Domino, it may take some time to understand it versus Microsoft Exchange. Everyone's familiar with Microsoft Exchange compared to HCL Domino.

      From my personal experience, I'd rate HCL Domino as four out of ten. I cannot say it's a bad product, and I cannot say it's good, either. It's a mature product used by many companies, even big companies, but HCL Domino has some challenges. One challenge is the pricing versus the pricing offered by other solutions.

      My organization is a customer of HCL Domino.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      On-premises
      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
      Flag as inappropriate
      PeerSpot user
      SME at Varthacap
      Real User
      Top 20
      Easy to deploy with great security features and good reliability
      Pros and Cons
      • "We can scale it if we want to."
      • "The solution is expensive."

      What is most valuable?

      The security features are great. I like the ease of development. The workflow is pretty easy. These are the three main things I appreciate about the solution.

      The deployment process is very easy.

      It's a reliable, stable product.

      We can scale it if we want to. 

      What needs improvement?

      We'd like to see the speed of the Domino server improve. My customers keep on complaining about the speed of connectivity, irrespective of the bandwidth we use. Sometimes it is very slow.

      The solution is expensive.

      The ease of using the HDP server could be better. Currently, we can run an HDP server and install Domino. However, I would like an easy interface to integrate any HDP server with Domino. 

      The client is pretty heavy. It should be made a bit lighter.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I am a SME on Domino. I've been working on Domino for the last 20 or 22 years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      It has been stable so far. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      We find the solution to be very scalable. 

      We have about 45 people using the product in our company.

      How are customer service and support?

      Technical support is not ideal. The actual website is pretty complex. You never know where to go if you need something. 

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Neutral

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      We used to use SharePoint. The licensing and file sharing was good on it. Most users had used SharePoint at some point and we didn't really have to do any training when we used it. That said, we found Domino to be better.

      How was the initial setup?

      The solution is very simple to deploy. It's not complex at all. 

      Right now, I control the infrastructure of Domino. I do the development and handle the administration. Therefore, an organization only really needs one person to maintain everything. 

      What about the implementation team?

      We handle the deployment ourselves. It shouldn't take more than half an hour to install the server. 

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      The licensing of Domino is expensive. One user license is $100. Compared to SharePoint, which is free when you buy the server, Domino is a lot. 

      What other advice do I have?

      We're end-users.

      We never upgraded to HCL 11. We are still on IBM Domino 9. Although we have the license, we didn't go for the upgrade since we are comfortable with IBM Domino 9.

      I'd advise potential users to keep the application simple. Don't try to make things complicated. 

      I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      Private Cloud
      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
      Flag as inappropriate
      PeerSpot user
      Chiheb Charmiti - PeerSpot reviewer
      IS Manager & Consultant HCL Domino at JACOB & ASSOCIATES
      Real User
      Top 5
      Client-server software used for 20 years to facilitate app development
      Pros and Cons
      • "This solution can be used for workflow application so that applications can be easily developed."
      • "The client version of this solution could be faster and be made simpler for non-IT users. You will need to have some knowledge of Notes to correctly install this solution."

      What is our primary use case?

      Domino is the server and HCL Notes is a product installed on that server. 

      What is most valuable?

      This solution can be used for workflow application so that applications can be easily developed.

      What needs improvement?

      The client version of this solution could be faster and be made simpler for non-IT users. You will need to have some knowledge of Notes to correctly install this solution.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I have been using this solution for 20 years. 

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      This is a stable solution. 

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      This is a scalable solution.

      How are customer service and support?

      The technical support for this solution is good.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Positive

      Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

      We previously used an IBM product which had poor customer support while HCL does a great job at supporting their clients. 

      How was the initial setup?

      Domino took about 15 minutes to set up for users who have technical knowledge. 

      In my opinion, it is better to have one developer for the application, and one to administer the server. However, this could be done by one person. 

      What was our ROI?

      We have experienced a return on investment using this solution. 

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      For 30 licenses, we pay $1,500 every year. It is not an expensive product. 

      What other advice do I have?

      A company who is starting to implement an IT infrastructure, will need a program for mailing and Domino is a very good mailing product and also manages the sharing the documents well. For people or companies who need a workflow application, this is one of the best in the world.

      This solution is useful for external stakeholders who need to interact with the database of the company. The application can also be used on a number of different devices. 

      I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. 


      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      On-premises
      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
      PeerSpot user
      Project Manager
      Real User
      Top 20
      Integrates well with our mobile solutions
      Pros and Cons
      • "The full-text searching capabilities are great."
      • "From the Domino side, it should support DKIM and DMARC."

      What is our primary use case?

      We use this solution to save contact information and upload files.

      Within our organization, there are roughly 100 employees using this solution.

      What is most valuable?

      The full-text searching capabilities are great. 

      Domino integrates well with our mobile solutions. It's integrated with our scheduling system, meeting room, and our electronic meeting room indicator.

      What needs improvement?

      From the Domino side, it should support DKIM and DMARC. This is useful if you are using e-mail and other third-party e-mail gateways. 

      I'd also like to see better integration with third-party collaboration platforms like Microsoft teams.

      Otherwise, Domino is watertight — it has a lot of great features. 

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      HCL Domino is very stable. 

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      You can install an additional server at any time. If there are any new users, you can move them to the new server — the scalability is great.

      How are customer service and technical support?

      The technical support is always cooperative and nice. Once we create a ticket, they are always quick to respond. 

      How was the initial setup?

      The initial setup was very straightforward. This solution works very well straight out of the box; we have no plans to customize it. Overall, deployment took less than 10 minutes. 

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

      Our license is on a yearly subscription. You can sign a contract with HCL that will cover up to 100 users. This also includes technical support and all of the latest software updates.

      We're happy with the price of our license — it's pretty standard.

      What other advice do I have?

      If you're interested in using this solution, be sure to take a look at the Domino trial version first. It covers all of the new features which is very useful.

      Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine. 

      Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

      On-premises
      Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
      PeerSpot user
      ElvisHenriquez - PeerSpot reviewer
      Senior Services Manager at NextCom Systems Inc
      Real User
      Good support, provides good access control for documents, and saves space with DAOS
      Pros and Cons
      • "The DAOS feature is the most valuable. It helps to save some of my storage."
      • "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."

      What is our primary use case?

      It's for communication, collaboration, and applications.

      How has it helped my organization?

      It has been helpful for payroll solutions and controlling what we are seeing. It helps in providing good access control for the documents we are sharing with our team and with the external team.

      What is most valuable?

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

      What needs improvement?

      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.

      They need to provide better compatibility with third-party tools.

      For how long have I used the solution?

      I've been using it for fifteen or sixteen years.

      What do I think about the stability of the solution?

      It's stable. I'd rate it an eight out of ten in terms of stability.

      What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

      It's scalable. I'd rate it a nine out of ten in terms of scalability.

      How are customer service and support?

      Their technical support is definitely a ten out of ten.

      How would you rate customer service and support?

      Positive

      How was the initial setup?

      Our setup is on-prem. We are an HCL partner, and we provide support to our customers for their cloud and on-premises as well.

      What was our ROI?

      We've seen an ROI.

      What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

      What other advice do I have?

      Overall, I'd rate HCL Domino an eight out of ten.

      Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
      Flag as inappropriate
      PeerSpot user