IBM Notes

Pros: I started using IBM Lotus Notes fresh out of college at my first job and all my coworkers complained about it and wished we were using Microsoft Outlook instead. I had never used Microsoft Outlook so I didn't know what I was missing. Having a fresh perspective, I actually *mostly* liked IBM Lotus Notes. I liked that when you received an email, even if it was apart of a longer thread, it appeared in your inbox like a single email. I liked this because it helped me visualize how many emails I actually had vs. seeing various long threads. I loved that you could open, display and reference pertinent emails in a tab-style fashion within the program. After I moved companies we switched to G-Mail and I miss this tab-style treatment from Lotus Notes so much. When I worked in Lotus Notes, I'd keep emails that I needed to respond to or emails that had details that I wanted to look at open and this feature was a time saver and helped me manage my time and projects since I could visualize what emails I needed to respond to or what issues I need to tackle. The calendar system and the fact that our conference rooms were linked to the system was amazing, too. Double room booking never happened once during my time using Lotus Notes calendar.

Cons: I have 3 main issues with Lotus Notes
1. The tabs (emails) that you keep open for reference at the top of the program cannot be shifted around. They're organized in the order you open them. I wish you could shuffle them around, much like you can move around browser tabs in programs like Google Chrome. If I could reorganize these email tabs it'd help better with project management and overall clarity because you could arrange emails in the order in which you need to respond or handle them and / or arrange them by category (i.e. put 2 emails about finances next to each other; put 3 emails about meeting prep next to each other, etc.).
2. When you close Lotus Notes the tabs you had open close, too. It'd be much better for the tabs to autosave and when you open Lotus Notes again for those same tabs to open so you don't forget about emails you need to respond to / handle. I began flagging emails I needed to respond to as a safety net but I'd prefer these tabs to stay open until you close them directly.
3. The program itself tends to freeze and I've lost many email drafts as a result. I'm hoping this improves over time and I wouldn't be surprised if this happens less on PC computers since IBM is more of a PC-first software generally speaking. I've had less bugs / freezing on my first PC computer than I've had on my many Apple Macbooks.

Pros: IBM Notes formerly known as Lotus Notes offers a collaborative email client. IBM Notes has integration of various business functions such as calendar, email, contact lists, and messaging. IBM Notes has archival options and file sharing capabilities. With the professional download of IBM Notes the administrator has the option to customize the user interface by modifying the view of the mailbox window. IBM Notes interfaces with company's server and intranet which makes communication between networks such that downloading files; are user-friendly. IBM Notes offers the following products; Traveler; mobile email, Sametime; messenger, and Domino; notes server.

Cons: IBM Notes has 9 versions of the email client with errors regarding saving a Lotus Document varying across operating systems. Reports of frequent crashes during general startup of IBM Notes. Crash reports of general startup after logging into Sametime. Depending on the size of the company and the maximum amount of the band width, loading may be exceptionally slow and may "hang" or create a "lag" within the opening of the client. Updates of the software are to be completed by the administrator or user which may take time away from productivity.

Comments: I work with Notes from 10+ years and I loved it. Right now the development made by HCL has restarted the engine so i'm confident Notes will have a better future. This review is based on what i've seen until V10, we will see something better for sure at the end of this year with V 11

Pros: Notes could be considered a standard. It's available from 20+years and today you could open and use application build 10 years ago without any issue: this is insane. If you have learn to use Notes 10 years ago and you have to use it today , don't be scared, you will be able to use it in a seconds.

Cons: Starting from version 8.x IBM has decided to base the full client on eclipse framework and this was a big mistake that have almost killed the product. 8/10 years later, we are on version 10 where we have decent performance because SSD and modern CPU but the client performance of last years has pointed customers in other directions. Another cons is Notes is not easy to be used : if you have to use it on your company plan also education.

Comments: I'm not impressed with Notes. It's not a bad software, but it is old school and clunky, like most IBM software. Newer software developed by other firms are more elegant, efficient and better capable of interfacing with other newer software.

Pros: It can be purchased as part of an IBM package, for example if the organization is adopting SAP as its EAM tool, which can be convenient if the organization is interested in things like centralized technical support and in managing just one account/software provider.

Cons: The conveniences of having it all under one umbrella (IBM in this case) is not worth it when it comes to Notes. For the most part, IBM business software are old school and clunky; Notes is no different. It lacks some of the efficiencies developed into newer competing software, and it lacks a user interface that is attractive to newer generations of workers.

Comments: I was an admin and user.

Pros: Notes was a requirement at Zodiac Aerospace. We used it for the Database Workflows and Email. I really liked the way you could setup workflows and attach them to an email workflow. This was handy. It was definitely easier to give someone access to another mailbox than Outlook.

Cons: It is Notes. The standard email is outlook, and so a lot of times the emails you get wouldn't show up correctly. There were a lot of limitations on Notes. It had to have it's own mailbox on Android devices. It caused a gap in my learning of the new outlook.