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 1.5% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #2 in CCP , with an average rating of 8.6, and holds a 6.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of HCLSoftware users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

HCL Verse

Read 3 HCL Verse reviews

414 Views
329 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Office 365

Read 130 Office 365 reviews

1,819 Views
924 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

HCL Verse

Office 365

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

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

Find out what your peers are saying about Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Email Applications.

To learn more, read our detailed Email Applications Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

May 2025

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Helped 851,604 peers since 2012

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

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Email Applications (13th)

Office 365

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

130

Ranking in other categories

Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)

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 1.5%, up 1.4% compared to last year.
Office 365, on the other hand, focuses on Content Collaboration Platforms, holds 6.3% mindshare, down 6.5% since last year.

Email Applications

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.

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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."

"Many of the features in Office 365 are good, but I think Excel is a very good tool."

"There are no more server and hardware operational costs and downtime, updates, etc. for all the workloads available. Newer features and updates are available immediately. Can be managed from a single web interface. Cloud-based, so same experience for all users, regardless of location."

"The integration with other applications is pretty good."

"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."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration."

"The most valuable feature is the integration between net and mobile devices."

"If you have a global solution, you can go from one product to the other very easily. And then you can share data between all the different tools of Office which is good because participation and sharing is very good. That's the most important aspect of Office 365."

"It's very stable."

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."

"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."

"Data protection and email security are almost the same for all the organizations, irrespective of their segment (SMB or enterprises), with standard subscription at least basic Data loss prevention and Advance threat protection can be enabled for SMB segments, it is available in enterprise version / Premium versions."

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

"It seems like every other week when we log into the administrative portals, it doesn't matter which one, it could be the active directory portal, it could be the exchange admin center or SharePoint admin center, it seems like Microsoft is consistently updating with new versions of the admin centers, which can be frustrating."

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

"Sometimes the synchronization between the desktop and online is a little bit slow."

"We have had some connectivity issues."

"In terms of improvement, it should have tutorials when you first have the opportunity to use it, to be able to really learn it."

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."

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

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

"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."

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

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

"I think that we pay $9.99 USD per user, monthly."

More Office 365 pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

19%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Healthcare Company

Educational Organization

75%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

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

I am not aware of the cost at work, but the cost for personal use has increased significantly and feels expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Office 365?

Moving from the original Outlook to Outlook 365 was problematic because I couldn't transfer a lot of my previous emails. This is an area where improvement is needed to make the transition smoother....

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Office 365?

I use Office 365 ( /products/office-365-reviews ) strictly for sales. As a small office, we utilize products like Outlook and Word.

See all answers

Comparisons

HCL Notes vs HCL Verse

Compared 53% of the time

HCL Domino vs HCL Verse

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Exchange Online vs HCL Verse

Compared 9% of the time

Huddle vs HCL Verse

Compared 8% of the time

Hub vs HCL Verse

Compared 8% of the time

More HCL Verse Competitors

Google Workspace vs Office 365

Compared 36% of the time

Amazon WorkDocs vs Office 365

Compared 11% of the time

Atlassian Confluence vs Office 365

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft OneDrive vs Office 365

Compared 7% of the time

Slack vs Office 365

Compared 3% of the time

More Office 365 Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Email Applications

May 2025

Download HCL Verse product report

Buyer's Guide

Office 365

May 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

Me & the Bees Lemonade

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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.