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HCL Connections vs Microsoft Teams comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 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
5.7
Microsoft Teams proved essential during lockdowns, saving time and money while enhancing collaboration and integrating with Microsoft services.
 

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
6.2
Companies have mixed experiences with Microsoft Teams support, valuing enterprise aid but noting slow communication and resolution times.
Microsoft support is excellent, offering instantaneous assistance through either robo support or live personnel.
CEO at Planfirma Technologies Private Limited
We have cases where it took more than six months to resolve very basic issues.
IT Project Manager at UkrSibbank
I have logged tickets for Office 365 and received responses within 24 hours, depending on the severity.
Microsoft Practice Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 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
7.8
Microsoft Teams effectively scales for any user base, with smooth cloud integration, despite minor access and licensing challenges.
Microsoft Teams is a scalable solution.
Master in Cyber Security at Ganpat University
Microsoft Teams can be scalable for more than 1,000 people, and I have seen video conferences with 5,000 participants, so the scale is incredible.
Senior Software Engineer at Endava
I do not see a limit to how many people can be added to Microsoft Teams.
Manager at NetEase
 

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
7.5
Microsoft Teams is praised for stability, with occasional minor issues often resolved quickly, delivering strong performance across devices.
I appreciate the ability of Microsoft Teams to control the quality of the call.
IT Project Manager at UkrSibbank
Microsoft Teams is stable once the setup is completed properly.
CEO at Planfirma Technologies Private Limited
For stability in Microsoft Teams, I would rate it a five.
Master in Cyber Security at Ganpat University
 

Room For Improvement

HCL Connections needs better document management, interface customization, third-party integration, collaboration, and cloud stability for improved usability.
Microsoft Teams could enhance UI, file sharing, stability, reduce resource use, and improve integration, speed, and video quality.
AI capabilities should be integrated into Microsoft Teams to provide better transcript services and offer multiple language support.
CEO at Planfirma Technologies Private Limited
The biggest issue with Microsoft Teams is switching identities, especially when communicating with external organizations.
Microsoft Practice Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Microsoft Teams could be improved through more synchronization with other platforms like Calendly and Gmail.
Team Lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

HCL Connections pricing varies widely, offers discounts, flexible licensing, and competitive pricing compared to Jive or SharePoint.
Microsoft Teams offers competitive enterprise pricing, often included in Office 365 bundles, but costs vary by user count and features.
Microsoft Teams is economical when purchased as part of an Office 365 bundle.
CEO at Planfirma Technologies Private Limited
Microsoft Teams comes with Office 365 licenses like E3, but there are options for those who prefer not to pay for Teams by using alternative products like Slack.
Microsoft Practice Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Regarding the license, the Microsoft 365 license I am taking is quite expensive, and every year it goes higher.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
 

Valuable Features

HCL Connections enhances collaboration with file sharing, tool integration, expert profiles, mobile access, and efficient content management.
Microsoft Teams enhances collaboration with seamless Microsoft 365 integration, offering video, chat, document sharing, and robust remote work support.
Teams offers the ability to record sessions and store them in OneDrive, which provides 1 terabyte of space.
CEO at Planfirma Technologies Private Limited
The platform is user-friendly and has positively impacted our communication, allowing us to communicate with people from different countries and cities in real time.
Team Lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The biggest advantage of Microsoft Teams is that it is a combined package where I can do chat, video conferencing, work on spreadsheets, documents, and other things with many people sitting at my desk, which makes work easy, especially with clients who are in remote locations, so it saves a lot of time.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
 

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)
Microsoft Teams
Ranking in Enterprise Social Software
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
173
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (4th)
 

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 Microsoft Teams is 8.8%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Social Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Teams8.8%
HCL Connections1.9%
Other89.3%
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.
Anna Virtsan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Project Manager at UkrSibbank
Have streamlined daily workflow and task management but still face inconvenience from recent interface changes and limited integration options
There are challenges and issues in Microsoft Teams, such as after recent updates where group chats were combined with Teams, chats, and groups into one. Users have to work with settings to make it normal again so Teams are separated from chats, and that was a really inconvenient update. Many users ask me to help make it back again to separate Teams and groups from one-to-one chats. That's probably the worst update they've made recently. Additionally, there are some minor features, such as when I work with messages, I don't have an actual forward or quote option when replying to someone's message. I need to be careful not to miss the quote sign. For a lot of people, they are confused about where the quotes option is. I've received a couple of hundred support tickets just regarding this issue. The function to share email to Teams chat doesn't work sometimes due to our compliance policies, and sometimes it would be nice to be able to forward an email to the group chat and have further discussions. Microsoft Teams could improve by being less glitchy because it glitches a lot, leading to undelivered emails and undelivered messages. It would be beneficial if the MS application Shifts, which adds functionality to groups, could be integrated into the groups calendar. Currently, many teams don't use the app because it is not integrated with the general calendar or the Outlook calendar, making it basically a useless application. The platform needs less Copilot and more people. The general Copilot integration into the platform is less glitchy, but Microsoft Teams is quite heavy and glitchy sometimes. Stability depends a lot on compliance restrictions, policies, and quality of internet. Sometimes, when updates are enrolling, the platform glitches, breaks, or shuts down.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
15%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Wholesaler/Distributor
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
23%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

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 Business64
Midsize Enterprise43
Large Enterprise70
 

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 Microsoft Teams?
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Teams for us is the ability to share files from OneDrive seamlessly.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Teams?
Regarding the license, the Microsoft 365 license I am taking is quite expensive, and every year it goes higher. The solution is expensive for Microsoft Teams as well.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Teams?
Today, we do not integrate any third-party apps into Microsoft Teams, but we may use project management tools such as Jira in the future. We used to integrate something, but now we do not need it. ...
 

Also Known As

IBM Connections, Lotus Connections
MS Teams
 

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
Honeywll, AIRFRANCE, AccuWeather, Lilly
Find out what your peers are saying about HCL Connections vs. Microsoft Teams and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.