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HCL Notes, formerly known as Lotus Notes, has a long history as one of the earliest email management systems embraced by professional organizations. Powered by the Domino Server, it’s versatile, running across various environments, from Windows to Mac OS, Linux, and Unix. Despite IBM’s claim of over 145 million licenses sold, HCL Notes has faced criticism, primarily for its non-user-friendly interface, challenging file search, and subpar attachment handling. Additionally, some features, like drag-and-drop folders and follow-up flags, were late additions compared to other email managers.
Reasons to Move from HCL Notes To Office 365
Here are the drawbacks which limits the performance of HCL Notes and push the user to try other platforms –
- Whenever a new message comes in the mailbox, the user gets a notification, but the message does not become visible until the user refreshes the message list.
- The search feature is not up to the mark.
- Whenever you search for an email based on a keyword, a list of emails comes up there. So, the user needs to search manually to get the desired email.
- Whenever you save a document at a place, it remains at the same location. The user creates multiple links at different folders. So, if you delete a file from its location, then it is also deleted from all the folders. It increases the chances of data loss.
- Due to the complex user interface, the user requires technical expertise at every level. A novice user can not properly handle the HCL Notes effectively.
- HCL Notes discourages to use multiple accounts simultaneously. If the user requires to use another account, then he/she needs to separately login to the account.
After learning about the drawbacks of HCL Notes, it’s understandable that users seek to migrate to other platforms, with Office 365 being a prominent choice. Office 365, a robust cloud platform by Microsoft, offers an array of advantages, including the Microsoft Office suite, Live Exchange, OneDrive, Skype for Business, and more. It provides users with numerous benefits compared to other platforms:
- Increased storage: You need to download and install HCL Notes on your computer and later configure it. But you do not need to install Office 365 because it is an online platform. So, you do not need any storage space. Additionally, the processing speed is also increased.
- Better synchronization: HCL Notes can have synchronization issues with Domino Server and many times the connection may be lost due to even smaller error. Office 365 offers a better uptime.
- Rendering issues: HCL Notes does not render the HTML, CSS file efficiently and its database file NSF is also not supported by other email servers/clients. When you configure your account with Office 365, then not only it removes all the rendering issues, but it also makes your data available globally.
When considering the migration of your Lotus Notes or Domino Server data to Office 365, it’s essential to choose a reliable and efficient method. We recommend using the trusted automated solution – Kernel Office 365 Migrator for HCL Notes. This tool enables you to easily migrate NSF and Domino server files to Office 365 mailboxes. It supports various Notes versions and allows you to move to Lotus Notes to Office 365 destinations, including Archive mailbox, Public Folders, and more. The tool also offers advanced filters for selective data migration and provides a preview option for local NSF files. You can download a free trial version from the website for testing and analysis.
Conclusion
HCL Notes, formerly known as IBM Notes, was once a popular email client. However, with the rise of cloud computing, it has seen a decline in its user base. Office 365, on the other hand, offers numerous benefits, features, and security that HCL Notes couldn’t provide. Therefore, the blog recommends using an advanced Notes to Office 365 migrator tool to facilitate a seamless transition.