IBM Notes

In 1989, Lotus Development Corporation released the first version of Lotus Notes. In the coming years, different versions were released. In 1995, IBM bought Lotus, and Lotus Notes became a part of IBM; with version 9 in 2013 the Lotus brand was dropped and the product was renamed IBM Notes. In December 2018, IBM announced the sale of Notes and Domino to HCL, and after the deal closed in 2019 the client was rebranded as HCL Notes. The most recent major version of the software is HCL Notes 14.5, released in June 2025.

IBM Notes or HCL Notes is the desktop client of the Domino platform: it allows people to send and receive emails, organize contacts, manage calendars/schedules and to-do lists, and work with Domino applications and databases. Throughout its history, IBM Notes has evolved from a simple email/scheduling tool to a collaboration platform with document libraries, discussion databases and offline replication.

This software is still used by many universities, financial institutions, government departments and large companies. Many companies have transitioned to other collaboration software, but HCL continues to release new versions and fix packs of Notes and Domino.

IBM Notes (also known as Lotus Notes or HCL Notes) combines email, calendar, contacts and Domino business applications in one client for Windows and macOS users.

Features:

• Unlike many collaboration tools, IBM Notes combines email with custom business applications built in Domino Designer and stored in Domino databases.
• Salient features of IBM Notes include email, calendar, and contact management capabilities.
• HCL has introduced a new workspace look and custom color themes, which allow users to personalize the interface.
• Replication lets users work with mail and databases offline and synchronize changes with the Domino server later.
• Notes uses public key cryptography for user authentication, digital signatures and encryption of mail and documents.
• HCL Nomad lets users open Notes applications on mobile devices and in a web browser, which provides more flexibility and convenience for customers.
• Using the Quick Contacts option, you can quickly add contacts to your mail contacts list or personal address book.
• It can be integrated with IBM Connections (now HCL Connections). This way, you can get access to social networking services and several collaborative features.

IBM Notes/Lotus Notes/HCL Notes is a mature collaboration tool. It has been around for more than three decades, and many organizations still use it together with HCL Domino for their day-to-day email and business applications.