For decades, Lotus Notes was a household name in the corporate world, used by enterprises to manage everything from emails to databases and applications. Originally developed in the 1980s, it was a revolutionary platform for its time. But with the rapid evolution of digital tools and cloud-based services, where does Lotus Notes stand today?

TL;DR

While Lotus Notes (now branded as HCL Notes) is not as widely used as it once was, it still remains active in certain niche sectors and legacy enterprise systems. Many organizations have moved on to more modern platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, but some industries with complex custom applications still rely on Notes due to its integration and database capabilities. The future of Notes largely depends on whether HCL can innovate the platform to meet modern business needs. It’s not gone—it’s just living a quieter life.

The Evolution of Lotus Notes

Lotus Notes began as a product from Lotus Development Corporation and was officially released in 1989. When IBM acquired Lotus in 1995, Notes evolved rapidly and gained widespread use throughout the late ’90s and 2000s. At its peak, Lotus Notes was a leader in corporate communication, offering features such as:

• Email and calendaring
• Enterprise-grade security
• Application development platform
• Replication and offline access

However, following the rise of cloud computing and more user-friendly collaborative tools, Lotus Notes gradually began losing its influence.

Rebranding and New Ownership

As enterprise needs shifted, so too did the Lotus Notes brand. IBM continued to develop and support the platform but rebranded it to “IBM Notes” in the early 2010s. In 2018, IBM sold the product to the Indian IT company HCL Technologies. Since then, it has been known as HCL Notes and continues to receive updates and support under this new ownership.

HCL has been actively investing in the platform. Updates such as HCL Domino v12 and v12.0.2 have shown efforts to modernize the Notes ecosystem and integrate with newer technologies, including cloud-based platforms and mobile apps.

So, Is Lotus Notes Still Used Today?

Yes—but with important caveats. Although it is no longer considered a mainstream collaboration tool, HCL Notes is still being used by thousands of organizations globally, particularly in industries that have heavily customized their workflows around the platform over the decades.

Some common scenarios where Lotus Notes continues to exist include:

• Government and regulated industries: Due to stringent compliance and data protection regulations, these sectors often maintain older systems longer.
• Large enterprises with internal custom apps: Many global enterprises have mission-critical apps built in Domino that are costly and complex to migrate.
• Security-conscious organizations: Notes/Domino environments offer end-to-end encryption, appealing to entities concerned about data privacy.

These existing deployments often use HCL Notes on-premise, with limited exposure to public cloud options. However, HCL has started offering Domino as a service (DaaS) to help transition users toward modern architectures.

Why Do Some Organizations Still Use Lotus Notes?

There are several reasons why Lotus Notes remains in use, despite seeming outdated when compared with modern productivity suites:

1. Deep customization: Companies have spent years building custom databases and workflow apps in Domino. Migrating these can be time-consuming and expensive.
2. Integration capability: Notes integrates well with legacy systems. Replacing it might require reworking core business processes.
3. Data security: Domino’s built-in security and offline replication features are still valuable in sectors like banking, healthcare, and defense.
4. Not broken, don’t fix it: For many, the system remains stable and functional—so they continue using it as long as it gets the job done.

These factors often outweigh the appeal of more modern tools for some organizations, especially when balancing risk versus reward in IT strategy.

Modern Alternatives to Lotus Notes

While Notes still operates in certain verticals, the vast majority of companies have shifted toward more agile and user-friendly platforms. Here are a few popular alternatives:

• Microsoft 365: Offers Outlook for email, Teams for communication, and SharePoint/PowerApps for custom workflows.
• Google Workspace: A cloud-first platform with Gmail, Google Calendar, and collaborative apps like Sheets and Docs.
• Slack and Zoom: Modern communication tools that offer integration with other platform services.
• Zoho Suite: A rising all-in-one software suite tailored for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Migrating from Lotus Notes to any of these platforms is a significant effort, often involving data export, application rewriting, and staff retraining. However, the long-term benefits in productivity and user satisfaction often justify the complexity.

The Community and Support Landscape

Another metric for gauging whether a product still has life is its community and support ecosystem. Although smaller than before, the HCL Notes community is active and international. There are forums, Stack Overflow discussions, and user group conferences like Engage and CollabSphere dedicated to Notes/Domino.

HCL also provides detailed product roadmaps and documentation. The company has made efforts to reach out to partners and developers to rejuvenate interest in building Notes-based solutions. In 2023, HCL released “Domino Leap,” a low-code platform built on the Domino engine, aimed at citizen developers.

Future Outlook: Can Notes Make a Comeback?

The future of Lotus Notes (HCL Notes) is uncertain but not bleak. It is clear that the tool will not reclaim its former dominance, but it may still evolve to serve niche markets effectively. HCL’s intent to modernize Notes is strong, but adoption will depend on:

• How user-friendly and visually appealing newer versions become
• Availability of cloud-native functionalities
• Integration with common enterprise platforms like Azure and AWS
• Community support and developer tools

If HCL continues to innovate without alienating its core user base, Notes can remain a practical legacy tool with powerful modern extensions.

Conclusion

In summary, Lotus Notes is still alive, albeit with a quieter and more niche presence in today’s tech landscape. Now known as HCL Notes, it continues to serve specialized use cases where reliability, security, and deep customization are prioritized over trendier features. While mainstream enterprises have largely migrated to modern platforms, Notes maintains a foothold thanks to its robustness and unique architecture.

So, is Lotus Notes still used today? The complete answer is: Yes—but mostly where it still makes business sense.