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HCL Domino vs Zimbra Collaboration comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
6.6
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Rapid Application Development Software (19th)
Zimbra Collaboration
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Email Applications (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

HCL Domino and Zimbra Collaboration aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. HCL Domino is designed for Rapid Application Development Software and holds a mindshare of 0.9%, up 0.7% compared to last year.
Zimbra Collaboration, on the other hand, focuses on Email Applications, holds 5.9% mindshare, down 8.2% since last year.
Rapid Application Development Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HCL Domino0.9%
Microsoft Power Apps7.6%
Oracle Application Express (APEX)5.0%
Other86.5%
Rapid Application Development Software
Email Applications Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Zimbra Collaboration5.9%
Google Workspace16.6%
Amazon WorkMail10.4%
Other67.1%
Email Applications
 

Featured Reviews

FN
Owner at Prodej a Správa Nemovitostí s.r.o.
Long-term platform has supported secure mail, custom workflows, and reliable on-premise apps
I have noticed some weak points and downsides. HCL Domino is a Swiss army knife, which is the downside as well. It does many things, which is an advantage. The biggest downside is that it is a good product, but there are not that many applications for it. There are not that many ready-made applications. When they do exist, they tend to be somewhat pricey. I have not actually used HCL Domino's low-code tools. There are no low-code tools. HCL says there are, but frankly speaking, I have tried it and I always come back to the classic, the original HCL Domino. I do not see it as truly low-code. They call it Leap. Even when you want to do something more specific or more complex, you do need programming logic and then it stops being low-code. I would say that there are much better low-code platforms. N8N, for instance, looks nice with nice diagrams, especially for workflow and automation, which is where HCL Domino is lacking. The evaluation of the security features of HCL Domino in handling sensitive business information is that it has a peculiar security model, which I view as acceptable. Sometimes it may get in your way, but sometimes it simplifies things. It depends.
Muhammad Talha Baig - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Analyst and Associate Project Manager at SAMI Pharmaceuticals
One of the premium features was customized rooms tailored to the collaboration needs
Zimbra's strength lies in its individuality, and it should focus on leveraging its unique features rather than trying to emulate competitors. My organization has certified Zimbra technicians, so we believe we can utilize Zimbra certification. However, I was recently informed by Zimbra that no such certification exists. I have recently completed the test kit, and after the training, I will gain access to tickets. Therefore, if any clients are experiencing issues, we have a certified technical team available to provide support 24/7. This is how we can cater to our client's needs. I recommend Zimbra to small-scale and enterprise customers. Anyone, even those with 5 users, can opt for Zimbra. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of HCL Domino is how robust it is."
"For workflow applications or general applications, the rapid development capability is what we value most."
"The full-text searching capabilities are great."
"We can scale it if we want to."
"One valuable feature of HCL Domino is its integration with other directories."
"The initial setup of HCL Domino is straightforward."
"The best feature of HCL Domino is that you can use Notes for messaging plus application, not just for messaging."
"IBM Lotus is good but there is other, better software available with much better pricing, and value-added functionality and features."
"For a small company, Zimbra Collaboration is good because it is simple, inexpensive, and not very difficult to deploy."
"Zimbra Collaboration is mainly used for messaging, emails, calendars, video conferencing, and document sharing."
"Zimbra Collaboration has integrated a lot of their party tools and they have good documentation available."
"It is the best open source collaboration suite that I know, because it provides high availability and more performance than the other solutions."
"The Zimbra Collaboration's most valuable feature is web access."
"The logs, troubleshooting, and tracking we have found to be the most valuable features, and when we have any issues with lost messages these features are useful because it is very easy to track and log."
"The product is very stable."
"Zimbra Collaboration's best feature is its compatibility with Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol, which allows users to use Outlook on Windows or MacOS."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve Kubernetes or Dockers migration to new environments in the cloud."
"Scalability needs to be improved to be on the level that's required. Support could also be enhanced."
"Designing a new template could provide a refreshed visual experience for users without significant changes to the underlying functionality."
"The speed of the Notes client is an area that could be improved."
"HCL Domino needs to be more user-friendly, as end users prefer Outlook over it, because they find Outlook easier to use."
"For me, the one thing missing is a really good reporting engine."
"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."
"Many people are not very happy with its speed."
"Zimbra Collaboration could improve the migration from a basic solution to a more containerized solution. For example, the installation should be able to extend to the containers and manage them with some solution, such as OpenShift or Kubernetes."
"It does have a few bugs."
"It does have a few bugs. However, they are small and can be worked around."
"We have had an issue with security."
"The log files need to be improved; they need to show us more information because a lot of detail is lacking and that's not very helpful or insightful."
"The support was lacking in my experience."
"Server deployment and the GUI for emails should be better."
"File sharing permissions with Nextcloud integration need improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company's customers need to make monthly or yearly payments towards the license charges of the product."
"We chose to pay for our licensing fees annually."
"HCL Domino's pricing depends on the number of users, but its license is not cheap."
"HCL Domino is costly, but it still depends on how your organization views it price-wise."
"We pay annually for the use of this solution and it is only a standard fee."
"The pricing is individually determined. For us, in our current deployment, we pay $12.50 Canadian per month per user."
"Price is reasonable compared to the other solutions."
"While I don't have precise pricing information at hand, my understanding is that it tends to be on the higher end."
"The solution is competitively priced."
"Zimbra Collaboration is expensive, and there is no perpetual license option."
"We pay yearly licenses for Zimbra Collaboration."
"When it comes to the licensing of Zimbra Collaboration, my license covers the servers and I find its terms to be much simpler than those of Microsoft Exchange."
"Zimbra Collaboration offers a good price-to-feature ratio."
"I use Zimbra Collaboration's community version. We may move to the enterprise version since prices are affordable."
"There is an annual standard licensing fee to use Zimbra Collaboration and there is no other cost."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a four"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What needs improvement with HCL Domino?
I am not missing anything significant from HCL Domino at the moment. There are some smaller things that can be improved, but these have already been posted on the HCL website where we can submit ou...
What is your primary use case for HCL Domino?
I have been using HCL Domino products since 1992, when it was known as Lotus Notes. I use it myself and also work as a consultant. We are an IBM Business Partner and HCL Business Partner. We are no...
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...
 

Also Known As

IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

A1 Telekom, Acubiz, Afrisam, E. A. Juffali & Brothers, Fiducia & GAD, and Pakistan State Oil
NEC Biglobe, City of Ventura, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Hola Publishing, BIG, Sleepwell, LaFayette College, Xmission, DNA, Ring Line, Future Group, TIGC
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