SAP is not the only significant system that has always been a highlight. With V12, it will be even more extensive with hundreds of new APIs, making Domino the center of enterprise IT. Why? Modern applications are attractive because they can be easily created, run on all devices, and integrate data from all company systems. And that's on a particularly secure and performing system with an attractive pricing model and low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). It only gets better.

HCL Domino is no longer the IBM-era Domino but a current and strategic platform from one of the top 20 IT companies in the world. Who wouldn't want to say no? Maybe only those who have missed the new developments around HCL Domino. "This is your wake-up call, guys!"

New Developments: Open Standards and Simplified Processes

HCL has also cut loose old ties. Proprietary backup concepts of the past are a thing of the past. Instead, open standards will be supported, allowing any backup solution to be used. The same applies to the drastic simplification of SSL/TLS certificate creation using Let's Encrypt.

Email and PIM: The Most Important Application for Many

For some companies, email is just one of many applications on Domino. For others, it's the most important. Without a doubt, Domino is also the platform with the highest availability and lowest total costs. HCL takes this topic very seriously and has made significant progress in its development.

HCL Notes: The Email Rich Client

For some, Domino is just one of many applications. For others, email is the most important. And for some, HCL Notes is the email rich client that's not dusty compared to MS Outlook, and HCL Verse in the browser is definitely easier to use than Outlook Web. There are also options for mobile devices: mobile Verse App, iOS Mail with Traveler, or – unfortunately little known – the most performant and powerful version with Verse on a mobile browser.

Open Mail & PIM Client Solution

We're working at HCL towards Domino V13 (around 2022) on an open mail & PIM client solution that will make it possible to use any email client with Domino as a secure, reliable server that can run on-premise. This would allow, for example, using all variants of Outlook or Apple Mail. This will eliminate the limitations of today's mobile SyncML interface and enable features like autoprotection.

Domino V13: A New Era

And with V13, we're also thinking about updating Domino Designer, the oldest of three application development options with and for Domino, to bring it into the browser. This would be the final piece that still requires a Notes client. However, there will always be reasons to use a rich client as an option – even if only in certain situations.

Personal Perspective

Personally, I find the current versions of HCL's email client options more than sufficient – i.e., really good! – and don't need anything else. HCL is also market-oriented, adapting to customer wishes and expanding the range.

When I switched to HCL about a year ago, I had hopes that Domino could bloom again. That this actually happened relatively quickly excites me. And that HCL has successfully established itself with other HCL Software products, as reflected in HCL's calendar year results for 2020 – and also in D-A-CH – is a wonderful story!

In this sense, I wish you a pleasant week – and stay healthy!

Yours,
Tom Zeizel
Associate Vice President & Head of HCL Software in DACH