Box vs. HCL Notes

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Box
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
Box is an online Intelligent Content Management solution that caters to individual users as well as businesses.
$7
per month per user (3 minimum)
HCL Notes
Score 3.5 out of 10
N/A
Notes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A
Pricing
BoxHCL Notes
Editions & Modules
Business Starter
$7
per month per user (3 minimum)
Business
$20
per month per user (3 minimum)
Business Plus
$33
per month per user (3 minimum)
Enterprise
$47
per month per user (3 minimum)
Enterprise Plus
$50
per month (billed annually) per user (3 minimum)
Enterprise Advanced
Contact us
per month per user (35 minimum)
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BoxHCL Notes
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA discount is available for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BoxHCL Notes
Considered Both Products
Box
Chose Box
I believe that anyone with exposure to software like Dropbox or Google Drive will have an easier transition when attempting to use Box. Where Box could improve is having a refresh of the UI/UX design. With an improvement to the design, Box can be more responsive and widely …
Chose Box
The best user experience of any of the major cloud data providers. As it's not a product of any of the other major technology companies, it remains agnostic to the many platforms / features that everyday users want to have.
Chose Box
I slightly prefer Box over Dropbox, especially if I need to store and manage thousands of files. DropBox online file management was not as easy to navigate as Box. However, DropBox also has a similar cloud sync feature that worked similar to Box and was pretty comparable to the …
Chose Box
Box is nowhere as deep as Google Drive due to the breadth of Google's ecosystem, but it is a self-contained mini-DAM that most will find works really well. The added bonus of built in Gmail sharing is a nice addition.
Chose Box
Google Drive is a bit slower for sending and receiving files. Box helps sending links for files directly once you share it with team members.
Box is good for user interaction for files sharing. And helps users to quickly download files for internal review. I like using Box for …
Chose Box
They are kind of the same. And both of them do their job as promised. But for company and project wise I think that Box slightly wins for some points. Which [makes him] win over Google Drive (don't forget that google drive is very easy to use and has a lot [of] nice features …
Chose Box
Box has fewer features than Dropbox and that makes it easier to use.
Chose Box
The first benefit of using Box that comes to my mind is the cost advantage. Box is generally more affordable and easy-to-use than Dropbox Business because it eliminates the cost of hardware and maintenance which translates into significant cost savings. Box team maintains, …
Chose Box
Most of these cloud storage platforms have a simple interface and provide a feature of drag and drop to easily upload a file to the online drive with little or no expert knowledge. However, Box goes a step further to store data across redundant servers so that even if one of …
Chose Box
The first reason that makes Box worth considering is the ability to ensure each authorized network participant can access the stored files. Another key advantage of using Box is that essentially all organization files and backups can be stored on the Box server and with the …
Chose Box
Among many other solutions box has been vetted by our security professionals and deemed to be the best solution for our particular organization. This lends to many of box's security features that still allow for collaboration and secure file sharing.
Chose Box
Neither pCloud nor Sync.com comes with unlimited storage, even though they are cheaper than Box. They also do not match most of Box's business features like custom branding and data loss protection.
Chose Box
Box has cheap storage pricing and so is preferred by small organizations, and easy to use app and sync make it a good product to use.
Cross platform file sharing and editing over the cloud is one of the best features it has.
Chose Box
It gives different bands to give access to others to see documents which [helps] us to maintain confidential information easily and do what need. The best alternative to other cloud storage because of uploading and sharing the document.
Chose Box
For us switching to Box [was] a big move. It saves us from big problems and troubles which we were already facing while using the other software. Those use a lot of effort and have zero results in terms of results. Box has been a great find for us.
Chose Box
Compared to all the listed alternatives I would give Box a good rating, because regardless of all the things normally associated with data, Box is always protecting all types of data with great efficiency and full responsibility.
Chose Box
We have definitely come a long way to finally reach Box. It is undoubtedly a powerful and secure tool that is embedded with many modern features. Moreover, we wanted a platform that has more features and involves less cost. Altogether, it successfully stored many problems …
Chose Box
I prefer Box over all of these alternatives because I find Box to be a lot more user-friendly and intuitive. Box has a lot more integrations as compared to the previous alternatives I used in my company. Moreover, this tool has led to an improvement in risk mitigation because …
Chose Box
We use both Box and SharePoint for different purposes.
Chose Box
Simply put, having unlimited file storage is a clear differentiator. Furthermore, the number of integrations offered by Box is simply unmatched. If you are looking for pure document and file sharing, I don't think there is a better product on the market. The benefits from …
Chose Box
This platform was a recent selection but before switching to Box we used Hiver, MS SharePoint, Dropbox, and Asana. We moved to Box because of many reasons like cost factors, usability factors, support team rating, and much more. With my
HCL Notes
Chose HCL Notes
I've already answered this question in the previous questions however to sum it up IBM Notes stacks up VERY WELL! It has a LOT of really good business/enterprise features like enterprise-grade Dropbox-like storage, synced email/calendar/contacts, it supports a LOT of …
Chose HCL Notes
It helps in organizing work by just speaking to it, and you don't have to specifically type in the data and use it. It has a better UI and also is faster.
Chose HCL Notes
Outlook has been considered for years as a replacement platform. Pricing and support staff made it prohibitive. Our long-time use of Microsoft Office productivity suite naturally led us to consider the adoption of Office365. A recent investigation told us that Azure Cloud …
Chose HCL Notes
It had a simple user interface. It can be altered and modified to any database.
Chose HCL Notes
Our organization used IBM Notes before I started working there and is a legacy system that some teams still use. Many others in our company have switched to Slack and Google Hangouts as well as Google calendar. Slack and Google Hangouts offer a much better chat experience that …
Chose HCL Notes
As I stated previously, mail is mail. Notes is a fantastic option as a frontend for mail. On top of that, a business can be built from the custom applications that can be developed in it. We do have gmail as an option, but the vast majority of users are on Notes. We also choose …
Chose HCL Notes
Exchange is too resource hungry and cumbersome to restore granular. It requires several other Microsoft Servers to integrate just to meet IBM Notes in terms of features. As someone once described, doing an apple to apple [comparison] is difficult. If Exchange were taken as an …
Chose HCL Notes
We've looked at Exchange a few times. However, for more costly licensing and about the same amount of administrative support required, Exchange only does mail, calendar and contacts.

We do all that with Notes already, plus dozens of custom applications, and for less costly …
Chose HCL Notes
We originally selected Notes for it's ease of use, and ability to be customized. As the industry has progressed we have had to move on to a more progressive path.
Chose HCL Notes
I selected IBM Notes, because of its security features.
Chose HCL Notes
We are a small IT team and always had to deal with very high expectation, faster turn around time from users. Every application we've developed has very short turn around time and less resources. In the past 15 years, we can provide more application and doing it faster than …
Chose HCL Notes
Database development capabilities. Document management orientation.
Features
BoxHCL Notes
Enterprise Content Management
Comparison of Enterprise Content Management features of Product A and Product B
Box
6.1
Ratings
26% below category average
HCL Notes
-
Ratings
Content capture & imaging8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
File sync, storage & archiving9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Document management6.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Records management5.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Content search & retrieval7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise content collaboration8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Content publishing & creation5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Security, risk management & information governance6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract lifecycle management5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated workflows5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Artificial intelligence2.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile support3.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Box
-
Ratings
HCL Notes
6.9
Ratings
11% below category average
Task Management00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings5.00 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Search00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Visual planning tools00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Box
-
Ratings
HCL Notes
9.2
Ratings
15% above category average
Chat00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Notifications00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Discussions00 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Surveys00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Box
-
Ratings
HCL Notes
7.6
Ratings
4% below category average
Versioning00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Advanced security features00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BoxHCL Notes
Small Businesses
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.1 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MediaValet
MediaValet
Score 9.1 out of 10
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
MediaValet
MediaValet
Score 9.1 out of 10
HCL Connections
HCL Connections
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BoxHCL Notes
Likelihood to Recommend
6.7
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(0 ratings)
1.7
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.7
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BoxHCL Notes
Likelihood to Recommend
Very likely to use it. It gives you the comfort that all the files are being stored in [the] same places from different team members. It is easy to organize in folders and also very useful by adding time stamps. [With] an easy setup u can have and box extension installed on your laptop and use it directly. So you can sync files easily.
Read full review
I often work with teams from other country and regions, hence HCL Notes is a very useful platform for internal company management operations. It standardized organisational work standards in most of the offices worldwide. HCL Notes also enables chat with other team around the world that I find very helpful when initiating conversation or just want to have a quick update rather than sending emails and waiting for replies. However, HCL Notes is not very efficient in web browsing and user still need to use other internet service providers.
Read full review
Pros
  • The main feature that I like the most in Box is that it makes collaboration seamless, workers can easily check the documents any time and make changes according to the needs.
  • Box manages and backs up all of your files on its cloud servers, and provides a very nice interface for creating, viewing, editing, and collaborating on the most commonly used file types (PDF, XLS, DOC, etc.).
  • Over the past few years, Box has built on top of its basic cloud storage management with a host of other tools, such as workflows, AI, monitoring, and analytics.
  • It is helping us to make good connections with clients and our workers themselves as to its syncing and viewing feature to all is very much helpful and easy to go.
Read full review
  • Data sharing via small database format is valuable as they are quickly deployed, easily managed and distributed on backend email servers.
  • Integrated messaging allows quick communications between geographical sites reducing long distance costs.
  • Policy documents for registering new users, setting initial security levels, assigning default database access is managed easily with the admin client.
Read full review
Cons
  • The graphic design of the dashboard should be simpler and more tangible that can be changed to the liking of the Admin.
  • Sometimes there are some syncing issues in the background.
  • The product has very limited functionality in some areas which could be a bit frustrating at times.
Read full review
  • The simple user experience can be touted as a positive, but it is also a negative in some ways. Compared to other calendars, email and chat tools, IBM Notes looks like it is from the 90s.
  • We have constant issues with chat crashing. This is the main reason so many people in our organization chose to switch away from Notes.
  • There aren't a lot of integrations with IBM Notes and other applications we regularly use. Notes seems to have been left behind by many.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
As I've stated Box is very easy to use and to set up. The documentation provided by Box is easy to follow and the interface is designed in a way that makes sense. With only a few limitations on the administrator side the system is fully capable to get the job done for our company
Read full review
Since companies started to moved their email systems to the Exchange platform and the cloud, we are unable to find any new projects with IBM Notes, the marketing share and software price is another issue, so we have to move to another platform.
Read full review
Usability
I think I can only describe it as excellent. All aspects of Box work without problem, quickly and efficiently. The file upload and download systems are quite fast, the process of access from different platforms is carried out without problems, so far no document has been generated in conflicts or unexpected copies, or any type of error.
Read full review
Easy to use for the user, most of the apps we developed, there is not much need for user training. Most of the times, we just do a demo to the users group and they can pick up from there.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Yeah, it's always worked, I've never had any kind of connection issues, the only issues I've had it I've been on our end when the Internet hasn't worked.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Performance
It's performance is great. Everything loads as soon as you open a page. The same goes for the local file application, if is just like going through folders on a native "My Computer" or "Finder" folder. The integration into other softwares is also fantastic, as Box keeps them all running smoothly and quickly
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I found their support community lacking in clarity when I experienced a login issue. The error messaging was poor on my Box Sync application. I did not reach out to support staff for help, instead, I reasoned that I should try downloading the Box Sync application again and reinstall it. That fixed my issue, thankfully. I think a less computer-savvy user would've been much more frustrated.
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I've been using the production for a very long time and very happy with it. Also, all the online resources and forums for notes is very friendly and easy/quick for getting help. I found out that compared to Microsoft or Oracle or any other platforms, IBM Notes online forum is the best I have seen.
Read full review
In-Person Training
The in person training was done in house and I helped with the training, people seem to respond well.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Online Training
The documentation is good. Since Box is a popular service, there were also a number of YouTube videos and other sources that were helpful as we were considering the product and planning for deployment. Also, the ability to try the free version helped to prepare us.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Be careful with settings. It is easy to get overwhelmed with updates. For example, you don’t want to be updated when doing historical data uploads. I recommend taking off notifications initially and then turn on post you have done your historical data upload.
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Implementation is easy and smooth if the requirement is well gathered/documented. Notes is a RAD platform, all projects in Notes is simple in the implementation step.
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Alternatives Considered
I slightly prefer Box over Dropbox, especially if I need to store and manage thousands of files. Dropbox online file management was not as easy to navigate as Box. However, Dropbox also has a similar cloud sync feature that worked similar to Box and was pretty comparable to the Box feature. The main reason my team switched to Box was because our organization provided it at no cost to our team, whereas for Dropbox we had to use our own research grant money to pay for it.
Read full review
I've already answered this question in the previous questions however to sum it up IBM Notes stacks up VERY WELL! It has a LOT of really good business/enterprise features like enterprise-grade Dropbox-like storage, synced email/calendar/contacts, it supports a LOT of third-party add-ins, easy-to-use and friendly, very strong and robust, and most importantly it's a LOT more secure in my opinion than the competition.
Read full review
Scalability
It's great, as we put more files on there it's done very well.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Box has been an only positive experience. It provides a seamless way for me and my team to collaborate on documents in such a way where we're not sending the document back/forth via email. It's a huge timesaver.
  • Box reduces the risk of sharing a sensitive document to the wrong person via email.
  • Box has provided a platform where my team can share notes in meetings - this has helped streamline and organize our meetings. Our meetings are more productive and actionable.
Read full review
  • ROI for us has been extreme. In the late 1990's we automated dozens and dozens of paper-based processes and created workflows for activities that had never been formalized before. Additionally all those forms with their comments, etc. have been captured in a central place to serve as audit trails.
  • Whenever we need faster access to data (mail or otherwise), it's quick and easy to deploy a new Domino server somewhere, setup replication of appropriate databases, and get the local Notes clients pointed to those resources. So that to me is positive ROI because it represents time savings based on user need.
  • Tech. Support would claim a negative ROI in terms of supporting the Notes client, Notes updates, peculiar Notes issues, and users who complain about Notes. That is certainly true to a point. The Notes client is a much more complex piece of software than, say, Outlook. But we have to remember that Notes deployments are not just for Mail but many, many applications as well. In the end I'd say we might have 1 or 2 user complaints per month, typically around Calendar issues more than anything else.
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ScreenShots

Box Screenshots

Screenshot of an overview of Box's intelligent content management platform. It provides a unified, AI-powered approach to managing and securing your unstructured data, or content. ICM provides organizations with collaboration, AI, security, compliance, and workflow tools, interoperable and customizable, to get the most from their content.Screenshot of how with Box AI, AI can be accessed right where enterprise content exists. While that work can reside within Microsoft, Google, Apple, and other productivity suites, Box helps users to tap the full potential of AI for unstructured data.Screenshot of how Box creates a central workspace to edit, review, and assign tasks. Users can automate business processes and centralize content workflows in Box, including a configurable content submission, unlimited e-signatures, user-drive no-code workflow, and task assignment to power approvals.Screenshot of how Box secures content from threats, including malware and ransomware, and recover from attacks if they happen. This helps to maintain a zero trust architecture to ensure proper usage of corporate data, and prevent data theft.Screenshot of how Box can connect to any productivity suite, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple. This extends any existing security investments with integrations into key DLP, SIEM, and network security tools. Thus, seamless experiences can be built for users in any system they use, whether that’s a business tool like Salesforce or ServiceNow, or communications engines like Zoom and Slack.Screenshot of an overview describing Box's scalability. With unlimited storage capabilities Box has an exabyte (1,000PB) of customer data plus 1 gigabit per second upload and download speed. At its core, Box is a multi-tenant global SaaS platform with enterprise-grade reliability and end-to-end encryption to secure content.