HCL Technologies acquires IBM products
On December 6, 2018, IBM announced that all IBM Collaboration products ( including Portal, Domino, Notes, and Connections ) would be sold to HCL Technologies for $1,8 billion, subject to regulatory approval (Link: HCL Technologies acquires selected IBM software products ) . A comprehensive technology partnership between IBM and HCL Technologies had already been in place prior to the sale, covering the further development and maintenance of the products. As of July 1, 2019, HCL Technologies became the sole owner of Domino, Notes, and other Collaboration products (Link: HCL Technologies announces completion of acquisition of selected IBM products ) . The full scope of the acquired portfolio also includes IBM Cloud products in the Connections and Domino areas. HCL Technologies also acquired not only the products but also many experienced managers, product specialists, and developers from IBM. A comprehensive FAQ for partners and customers regarding the acquisition was provided (Link: HCL Frequently Asked Questions ) .
The acquisition by HCL Technologies was unanimously welcomed in the trade press and the community. Under IBM's umbrella, Domino and Notes were unable to undergo significant further development. Numerous customer requests regarding functionality and architecture were not implemented, and it wasn't until the introduction of Domino 10 in October 2018 ( hashtag #dominoforever ) that a reliable roadmap became available again for customers, partners, and new prospects (link: Domino v10 Roadmap ).
HCL Technologies is an Indian IT services company operating globally in 140 countries and generating annual revenue of almost 9 billion US dollars with over 140.00 employees (Link: About HCL Technologies ) . These are excellent prerequisites for ushering in a new era for the Domino, Notes, and Connections products.
In the first 30 days since the acquisition, former IBM partners were migrated to the HCL Technologies environment, customers were thoroughly informed, and the key areas of software and support were migrated to new systems . Software downloads and ticket creation are working flawlessly. We found our new Indian colleagues to be highly dedicated and helpful. HCL Technologies already has a strong presence in German-speaking countries . The new organizational unit under the HCL Technologies umbrella is called Digital Solutions ( and includes the products Notes/Domino, Connections, Portal/DX, and Leap ).
What's next for the products under the Digital Solutions umbrella? Various webcasts have made it clear that new product development will take place in close collaboration with customers and partners. Agile development and faster product cycles will enable the company to bring innovation back to the global market in a competitive way.
HCL Technologies has announced the availability of the first beta version of Domino V11 for September 2019. The final version 11 will be released in Q4/2019 . Domino and Notes V11 will include a new thin client that, in addition to Verse and Sametime, will also make standard Notes apps available in the browser . The Notes client will be completely revamped with a modern user interface. Integration of user management with Microsoft Active Directory will be enabled, and collaboration with cloud applications such as Office 365, particularly regarding calendar functions, will be redesigned. Storage costs for documents with attachments will be reduced when using the new DAOS integration with AWS S3-compatible storage media ( two-tier storage ). Apps Everywhere will extend Nomad technology ( native Notes applications on mobile devices ) to ChromeOS, iOS (iPhone), and Android ( tablets, and later smartphones ). New application development capabilities include LEAP, a browser-based rapid app builder for the straightforward creation of workflow apps without using the Domino Designer.
Do you have ideas and suggestions that should be implemented in the products? Then use the new Product Ideas Forum (Link: Product Ideas Forum ).
Please contact us if you have any questions on these topics. Our specialists work with the latest product versions and have in-depth knowledge gained from numerous customer projects.
Back to blog overview