Posts Tagged: ‘Digital Solutions’

Interview: HCL Volt MX Hackathon winner, Vishal Vats (Part Two)

4. August 2023 Posted by Suhas Bhat

Earlier this year, HCL Volt MX hosted our very first Hackathon! Eight-weeks, 4300 registrants, and countless great submissions later, we finally announced our winner: Vishal Vats.

After the hackathon, we got a chance to catch up with Vishal and ask him about his app Wishy and his experience learning Volt MX. Last week, we shared part one of our two-part interview. Let’s get into part two!

How did you approach the development process during the hackathon? Can you walk us through the key steps you took to bring your project to life?

Vishal: As this was a completely new domain for me, so I first went to the HCL software academy courses and completed 5 courses revolving around Volt MX. Then I actually started using the Volt MX & Iris platform. The first phase in the development phase was getting the UI done, because there are 6 pages in my application and I wanted to showcase the application in the best manner possible.

After making the same, I spent a couple of days controlling the form/page flow between each of the pages and started setting up the Foundry services to connect my front end to the backend database services. As I can recall, the initial deadline for the event was on May 14, and by that time I remember that I did complete my project but I was not happy with the landing page of the application. As soon as I got to know about the one-week extension, I revamped the UI and tweaked the programming logic a bit. And I can proudly say that the landing page of the application was looking great because of that extension.

What were the key factors that you believe contributed to your project’s success in the hackathon?

Vishal: I think that the constant support from the forum and the hikes were the most useful ones that helped me complete the project. Apart from this, I guess the easily laid out sections in Volt MX ensured that I can access almost everything with ease. So, accessibility of likely things at a place helped me a lot to quickly create the UI elements and manage their properties. Having the option to manage and save the same physical appearances of each element in the form of skins was also crucial in the development.

“The constant support from the forum and the hikes were the most useful ones that helped me complete the project.”

What were your favorite elements of Volt MX?

Vishal: While making a full-stack application, I (as a developer) have to do everything from scratch, i.e. making each UI element and even managing the backend functionalities. That might sound very easy or short, but believe me, it requires a lot of coding, and even little things like HTML/CSS and even JS functionalities have to be paid the greatest of attention to make something to start with. Being a low-code platform is the greatest feature of Volt MX (maybe second-best to the fact that it is a low-code platform that can be a single place to build any sort of application for any type of end device).

On top of that, I loved the fact that it uses JS as a coding language if someone needs to customize some things/processes. Volt MX is providing everything out-of-the-box, right off starting with the simplest of drag & drop features for adding any UI element, presenting repetitive information in the form of segments (tabular or in page forms) to control the data flow from one form to another. At every instance of development, the developer has control of what is being shown to the user and how data will be shared from one page to the other. Filtering the backend response at the Foundry end also ensures that the frontend is always receiving the minimal required things for processing. So, every unnecessary thing is rightly being shredded off and thus providing the developer a way to develop the applications in the quickest time & efficient manner possible.

“Volt MX is providing everything out-of-the-box, starting with the simplest of drag & drop features for adding any UI element, presenting repetitive information in the form of segments to control the data flow from one form to another.”

What advice would you give to aspiring participants in future hackathons, especially those working with HCL Volt MX?

Vishal: I would like to advise the future participants that if you are just starting off with Volt MX, then it will surely be difficult but in order to ease the same, try to first complete at least a single HIKE because that actually makes you familiar with the platform and then you can directly start making a demo page and add as many containers/UI elements possible. Play with each element’s various properties and try to use SKINS to not repeat the same process for the UI elements that need the same sort of UI appearance. Most importantly, do structure your project and rename each thing that you add to the workspace as it is very helpful when your applications expand.

Personally, I love to have a basic idea of how the platform works, and that’s why I first completed all of the 5 Volt MX introductory courses offered by the HCL Software Academy. Adding and managing the action section for an element must be learned afterward and then at last switch to Foundry and integrate an integration service into the backend. The path might be difficult and you will be stuck at almost everything, but don’t lose hope because Volt MX really simplifies things a lot and it’s a matter of time to be accustomed to this unique ecosystem.

Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations regarding your proficiency with HCL Volt MX? Are there any specific projects or areas of development you are eager to explore further?

Vishal: For Wishy, I used a lot of utilities and assets offered by Volt MX but those were not all of the things provided by the same. So, I am looking to first explore every aspect of Volt and then I might start working on a watchOS project that will be helping the user take personal productivity to the next level by using AI recommendations and analyzing the user behavior through pattern-recognition machine learning algorithms. Will be using separate TensorFlow containers for the processing and then sending the same to the frontend via Foundry.

“Personally, I love to have a basic idea of how the platform works, and that’s why I first completed all of the 5 Volt MX introductory courses offered by the HCL Software Academy.”

We’d like to thank Vishal for chatting with us and giving us a deep dive into his experience learning Volt MX and participating in the Hackathon. And congratulations on your big win!

Want to see Vishal’s app for yourself, check it out in the Volt MX Marketplace.

If you’re interested in learning Volt MX and starting to build some incredible apps on your own, check out the Volt MX Bootcamp and get your Volt MX Certification.

 

Interview: HCL Volt MX Hackathon Winner, Vishal Vats (Part One)

4. August 2023 Posted by Suhas Bhat

Earlier this year, HCL Volt MX hosted our very first Hackathon! Eight-weeks, 4300 registrants, and countless great submissions later, we finally announced our winner: Vishal Vats.

In fact, Vishal not only came in first place overall, but he also won our award for Most Innovative App. After the hackathon, we got a chance to catch up with Vishal and ask him about his app Wishy and his experience learning Volt MX.

Check out the first part of our interview below:

Congratulations on winning the HCL Volt MX Hackathon! Can you briefly explain the project you worked on and what problem it aimed to solve?

Vishal: Thanks, the project that I worked on and submitted at the event is Wishy. In these busy times, we often forget to wish our loved ones on their special occasions. So, Wishy is an application that lets you add your contacts and then schedule automated email/SMS notifications for special days like birthdays, anniversaries, or even festivals so that you never miss your loved ones and [can] even be the first person to wish them through personalized wishes.

What inspired you to participate in the hackathon and choose this particular project idea?

Vishal: I am actively participating in hackathons/events and I got to know about the Volt MX Hackathon through the HackerEarth platform about 3 weeks before the end. The thing which intrigued me to use Volt MX is the fact that the platform provides a single low-code platform through which one can make complete standalone applications for mobile, web, desktop & even tablets. Isn’t that awesome?

I have been developing web applications for quite some time, so I know that part, but to make an Android/iOS application just by knowing the basics of JS really pushed me to participate in the event. Regarding the project idea, actually, I already had thought before the event that I want to explicitly make an Android (mobile) application that can really elevate the automated wishing part. So, I did have a blueprint in my head that how the backend will look and I was just waiting for an opportunity through which I can effectively portray my idea. Then I started shaping my idea into reality through the services provided by the Volt Iris application.

“I have been developing web applications for quite some time, so I know that part, but to make an Android/iOS application just by knowing the basics of JS really pushed me to participate in the event.”

How did you leverage the features and capabilities of Volt MX to create your solution? Were there any specific aspects or functionalities that were particularly helpful for your project?

Vishal: At the start, the platform seemed to be a bit daunting because of the number of various functionalities & properties panels popping up at almost every pixel of the screen space. But once I started using the software, then everything made sense as all those panels provided me with a thorough control of what I have to use in my project and how. I almost used every functionality provided by the platform.

Speaking of my favorite elements, I assume Segments (their page variants in general) were of great help to me because, firstly, I could define a segment template and then populate it with the data that I was receiving from Foundry. As the page variants of segments allowed me to present the data in a carousel form which added a lot of visual appeal to the application and thus I used it a couple of times in my project. The rich text division was also another cool variant apart from their normal text counterpart because I can use HTML code right in those and thus achieve specific things to an element without touching anything. Action flow dialogs also helped me a lot in putting the event listeners for an element in a single place.

How would you compare HCL Volt MX to other low-code development platforms or frameworks you have used in the past? What are its strengths and weaknesses in your opinion?

Vishal: I have not used any of such low-code platforms before Volt MX because I really love writing code and was always a fan of actually writing things by myself rather than just having everything tailor-made by a framework or template. But I must admit that after using Volt MX that is not the case because now I want to write only those things that are actually crucial to the applications’ working and can just leave out all other things on the software.

“I almost used every functionality provided by the platform.”

Looking back, what were the most valuable lessons or insights you gained from participating in the hackathon as it relates to Volt MX?

Vishal: As mentioned earlier, I had a completely different landing page UI after the first deadline and I was really unhappy with the UI that will be presented to the users. I almost gave up on the idea of refining that due to the time constraints out of nowhere, the extension was announced and I got the glimmer of hope that I can do that and to no surprise, I did that. So, I learned that we should never step back from the things that we want to do and unexpected things happen if the cause is good.

Being a web developer, I was completely unaware of the fact that how the Android/iOS development ecosystem worked, but with the use of Volt MX, I got to have a peek at how things work for the handy mobiles and it was really exciting to actually make my first mobile-native application using the software. That made me feel that as a developer, its good to have knowledge/clarity of what has to be achieved and how that should be done (clear programming logic), if you have so then Volt MX is definitely a place that can provide a place to turn your ideas into reality.

“Volt MX is definitely a place that can provide a place to turn your ideas into reality.”

Thanks for chatting with us and sharing your insight, Vishal! Want to hear more from the HCL Volt MX Hackathon Winner? Next week, we’ll share the rest of our two-part interview.

If you want to see Vishal’s app for yourself, check it out in the Volt MX Marketplace.

Interested in learning Volt MX so you can start building some incredible apps on your own? Check out the Volt MX Bootcamp and get your Volt MX Certification.

 

Boosting Office Productivity and Efficiency with HCLSoftware Verse 3.1 Release

2. August 2023 Posted by Timothy Clark

HCL Verse is excited to present HCL Verse 3.1! What better way to present the latest and greatest of Verse than through the story of three individuals at Baldwin Designs who found common daily problems easily solved with the feature updates of Verse 3.1?

In the bustling office space of Baldwin Designs, Sarah, Lukas, and Daniel find themselves navigating through the challenges of their daily work routines. However, with the introduction of HCL Verse, their workdays are about to become more productive, efficient, and enjoyable.

Chapter 1: Message Recall

As Sarah starts her day, she stumbles upon a distressed Daniel who sent an email with the necessary attachment.

“It’s going to be a productive day!” Sarah thought to herself. Walking in through the glass doors to the office space of Baldwin Designs, she noticed the new stained-glass decal that had been applied over the weekend. The bright sunlight casting the company colors onto the floor reminded her of her vacation to Spain last year, bringing her thoughts of the warm Spanish sun.

Her daydreaming was abruptly ended by a shout from Daniel’s office.

“No, no, no….NO!!!!”, he screamed as Sarah stopped in to see what all the noise was about.
“Anything I can do to help Daniel?” Sarah asked.

“Not unless you can turn back time and let me send this email again, but with the proposal this time! It is going to look so unprofessional if the customer sees this without the document attached.” Daniel was deflating back into his chair, misery written all over his face.

Fortunately, Sarah knows just the solution in HCL Verse – the “Message Recall” option.

“Just open up the sent folder and find the email”, she explained, “Now, in the actions for the mail you can find the ‘Recall Message’ option. Click ‘Select All’ and ‘Recall even if it has been read’ and then hit ‘Recall Message’ button.”

With a few clicks, she saves the day and earns Daniel’s heartfelt gratitude.

“What can I ever do to thank you Sarah?” exclaimed Daniel.

As Sarah was leaving his office she turned back, smiled, and said “Coffee, creamer and a cake. Somewhere around 11:30 should be about the right time.” And with that she was gone, across the office floor and into her own office to start her day.

Chapter 2: Templates

Overwhelmed by the task of sending out repetitive monthly town hall meeting notices, Lukas finds himself reminiscing about a recent training email he had skimmed.

“Go and find the last one, copy it to the clipboard, start a new mail, paste in the contents, add the recipients, set the title for this month’s meeting date…” Lukas mutter, recalling the dreaded monthly email.

It always took so long, and that didn’t even include finding all the new agenda items. If only he could set up a template that he could complete each month!

“Ah ha!” Lukas exclaims as the word ‘template’ bounced around inside his mind before connecting with a memory of some training email he’d seen last week.

In his Verse email, Lukas typed ‘template’ into the search bar and grinned to himself. There it was the training email from last week, listing all the new features HCL Software had delivered in the latest version update of HCL Verse.

‘Templates are a way of creating an email once and using it time and again’ he read. “Well, that looks like it could be useful,” he thought to himself, “Let’s try it out!”

In the next 5 minutes, Lukas had set up 3 templates of emails that he would need to send on a regular basis, including the dreaded monthly town hall meeting notice. Thrilled with this newfound efficiency, Lukas celebrates with coffee, humming the same ‘Walking on Sunshine’ tune he’d heard Sarah humming that morning.

“It’s going to be a great day!” he exclaims.

Chapter 3: Calendar Improvements

As Sarah and Lukas share their morning successes, they decide to explore more features in the recent release of HCL Verse 3.1. Intrigued by what he’d discovered earlier, Lukas noticed ‘Calendar Improvements’ was one of the trainings. He thought to himself, “It’s often hard to find a meeting time with Sarah and Daniel together. This new ‘Suggested Times’ feature would be ideal for getting us together and saving me time comparing their calendars endlessly.”

Lukas realizes they have an event coming up and need to have a meeting with Daniel, who is the Client Account Manager, and Sarah, the Lead Designer. “What better time to try about suggested times that now!” he exclaims. Lukas opens his email, clicks on ‘new calendar entry,’ types Sarah and Daniel’s names, adds a subject and clicks on ‘check the times suggested.’

“Ha, would you look at that!” he exclaimed, “Monday at 3pm is the next time we are all available. Awesome!”

Chapter 4: Online Meeting Preferences

With the quote approved by the customer, Daniel rushes to Sarah’s office. “They liked the quote!” he booms as he got to Sarah’s door.

“Awesome! Let’s set up a meeting to discuss the next steps. This won’t take long,” Sarah affirms.

Sarah recalls the new HCL Verse feature of ‘Online Meeting Preferences’ where she can create Sametime meeting rooms ahead of time and allocate them to meeting invites. Having already created four meeting rooms with different permission restrictions, Sarah ensured a secure and productive conversation. Now all she must do is select from the list of online meetings and Bam! In less than a minute, she had sent an invite sent to Daniel.

Chapter 5: Enhancing Contact Management

Back at his desk, Daniel realized one thing he hadn’t done was add his new customer to his list of contacts. With Verse, he is easily able to create a contact profile by selecting ‘Add Sender to Contacts.’ Here, Daniel is able to add the contact’s information such as email, job title, mobile number, company name, and a profile photo, making it easier to remember and recognize his new contact.

‘Putting a face to the name,’ he chuckles to himself as he clicks ‘save’ on Fred’s contact.

Conclusion

As the day draws near the end, Sarah, Lukas and Daniel gather in the front lobby, admiring the beautiful stained-glass decals on the front doors.

“They put me in a great mood today and I got a ton of work done!” Sarah recounts.

“Me too!” Lukas agreed, “Mind you, I think that new version of Verse we have might have helped a little.” Lukas laughed. Sarah and Daniel couldn’t help but nod and smile in agreement.

This great team credits HCL Verse for boosting their productivity and teamwork, making their time in the office more efficient and enjoyable. With a sense of relief and excitement, they look forward to additional features being supported by the powerful tool of HCL Verse.

HCL Verse is a proven and trusted enterprise email platform that empowers business users without exposing your organization to security risks. Start your own HCL Verse story with new v3.0! Contact us to get started.

HCL Connections: CR3 Now Available – A Recap of New Features in Recent Releases

31. Juli 2023 Posted by Rene Schimmer

Since the release of HCL Connections v8, our collaboration platform has undergone significant updates and improvements. Our most recent update, Connections 8.0.3 (CR3), is available now for download. Let’s take a moment to recap new features introduced in our recent releases, starting from the latest and working our way back.

Connections 8.0.3 (CR3) available now!

Connections 8.0.3 (CR3) brings a host of updates and improvements to the end user experience. Some of the key highlights include:

  • Enhanced user interface focused on simplicity and intuitiveness
    • With our HCL Sametime integration, we have made changes to deliver a better user experience. The status bar has been moved to the Connections header, providing easier access to chat and status options, such as setting a custom status message. The user’s custom status message is now visible on the user’s profile and business card. Additionally, the Sametime status indicator now shows for each person on the “Important to Me” bar.
  • Advanced security features to protect sensitive data
    • You can now configure HCL Connections to force all traffic that passes between a Connections server and a user’s web browser to be sent over TLS 1.3. This helps avoid security vulnerabilities in TLS 1.2 and earlier versions of SSL.
  • Upgraded guidance for customizing Connections
    • With the UI redesign, there have been updates to guidance on applying customizations starting in Connections 8.0. Legacy approaches used in Connections 7.0 and earlier versions are now unsupported, although some of the methods might still work.

Connections 8.0.2 (CR2)

Connections 8.0.2 (CR2) introduced several enhancements and bug fixes to further augment the user experience. This includes integrations with additional HCLSoftware applications for increased productivity and collaboration. Here are some notable updates in CR2:

  • Integration with HCL Leap – allows users to create applications such as polls and surveys to their communities
  • HCL Sametime integration – enables a user’s profile and business card to display along with setting their status and starting Sametime chat conversations within HCL Connections
  • HCL Connections mail plug-in support for HCL Verse – makes the collaboration experience with Connections more seamless, allowing for the optional configuration of “My Mail” and “My Calendar” plug-in to point to HCL Verse by default

Connections 8.0.1 (CR1)

Connections 8.0.1 (CR1) was the first update following the release of Connections 8.0, and it focused on addressing user feedback and bug fixes. Although this release did not introduce major feature updates, it played a crucial role in improving the overall stability and performance of the platform. Some key enhancements in CR1 include:

  • Introduction of TinyMCE Editor – an alternative, rich-text editor, providing extra features and extensive customization options to users
  • Bi-directional language support for Arabic and Hebrew – enables users to interact with Connections in their preferred language
  • Improved onboarding tour for the new HCL Connections – quickly acquaint users with the latest offerings, introducing the new UI, and highlighting features such as supercharged search, new navigations and universal share and upload

With the recent release, HCL Connections continues to evolve and provide users with a powerful collaboration platform. Stay tuned for more updates and exciting new features in the future!

Click here to learn more about HCL Connections.

HCL Domino v12 Associate Admin Certification is NOW AVAILABLE!

28. Juli 2023 Posted by Tiffany Amos

Have you been eagerly awaiting this exam? Wait no longer! It is now officially available.

Who should take this exam?

This exam is for individuals who are new to HCL Domino 12 and want to take the beginner level Associate Administrator Certification.

What skills are measured in this certification?

The HCLSoftware Certified Associate Administrator for Notes and Domino 12 should be able to demonstrate skills associated with planning, installing, and expanding the Domino Infrastructure.

They should have knowledge of using Domino Administration Tools to complete day-to-day administrative tasks to manage core Domino Services and functionalities such as Administration Process, Replication, Mail, Policy Management and DAOS.

They will also demonstrate skills associated with core Domino Security Concepts like Authentication, ID Vault, Database Security and Workstation Security.

Why should I get certified?

  • Take your credibility to the next level; highlight your abilities and determination to succeed
  • Earn Your Digital Badge that you can easily manage and share
  • Showcase Your HCLSoftware Product Skills with your colleagues and peers

How do I schedule my exam?

Check out the Exam Guide to make sure this certification fits your career path and goals. Once that’s done, check available dates and times to schedule your exam online or at a PearsonVue Testing Center!

Get Ready. Get Set. Get Certified.

Accelerate Domino App Modernization with Volt MX Go v2.0

25. Juli 2023 Posted by Richard Jefts

I’m thrilled to introduce Volt MX Go v2.0, an innovative solution that will transform your Domino apps in half the time, risk, and cost of a total rewrite.

We recognize the enduring power of the Domino platform. In fact, 40% of the Fortune 500 companies remain loyal Domino customers, and its v14 release in December 2023 demonstrates its continued relevance and HCL’s commitment to its customers and innovation.

In v12.0.2, we provided multiple ways to modernize apps, such as through Restyle, Domino REST APIs, and Nomad. Volt MX Go serves as a complementary approach containing the best of Domino and Volt MX, our industry-leading low-code platform. You can now do even more with your Domino apps, such as extending them with multiexperience capabilities, from mobile to wearables, and incorporating cutting-edge technology such as AI chatbots – all without the fear of disruption. Read our official statement here.

With Volt MX Go, we’re also offering customers on Domino v9.0.x and v10.0.x (going out of support in June 2024) another pathway for their modernization projects.

Transforming your apps with Volt MX Go v2.0
Check out my short video explaining the benefits of Volt MX Go.

 

What’s special about Volt MX Go

What sets Volt MX Go apart is our experience and expertise in both the Domino and Volt MX platforms. The proprietary technology available only with Volt MX Go incorporates a powerful translation engine that automates up to 60% of the labor required to extend Domino apps. With Volt MX Go, developers can reuse your existing app’s data and business logic — so no time-consuming rewrites.

Furthermore, our solution allows you to both reuse your app’s existing Domino application logic and to code in modern scripting languages like JavaScript, expanding your access to available developer resources and capabilities.

A person holding a phone and a computer Description automatically generated

Notable features in the latest release

This release of Volt MX Go brings you a host of exciting features designed to streamline your app transformation process. Key highlights include the Domino Adapter, First Touch Experience, Design Import, and VoltFormula. Get more details about the features in this knowledge article.

Get started with Volt MX Go. Today.

If you’re ready to unlock the full potential of your Domino apps, you can purchase Volt MX Go today. Please contact our team to discuss your needs and how we can help you on your app modernization journey. We also offer comprehensive lab services, such as app assessments to identify Volt MX Go candidate apps, and installation.

Additionally, you can explore new app development possibilities by signing up for a free account to experience Volt MX firsthand.

With Volt MX Go, we are committed to your investment in the apps that run your business and providing new ways to build differentiating experiences to grow your business.

Hyperautomation and Rapid Application Development: Moving the Needle on Digital Transformation

20. Juli 2023 Posted by Dan Allen

Enterprise technology and application development are accelerating at record-setting speed, directly impacting your digital transformation strategies. Explore the capability and value of Domino’s rapid application development tools to support hyperautomation — and accelerate your business growth.

As the past few years have demonstrated, the entire business landscape can undergo sudden, transformative shifts that force the rapid-fire development of comprehensive solutions that address real business needs– like workflow improvements and business automation.

Organizations are coming to the realization that hyperautomation is essential to a digital transformation journey. But what’s the secret to enabling hyperautomation and becoming an industry leader? Rapid Application Development (RAD).

Hyperautomation as a means of survival

Hyperautomation is an approach to automating business and IT processes organization-wide to streamline and accelerate workflow.

Despite the established prevalence of business automation, too many companies are still hampered by siloed applications and inefficient workflows even though workflow efficiency is considered an organizational priority. The move toward hyperautomation is a natural progression for companies looking to speed up digital transformation and have more impact on reducing costs, increasing customer engagement, and optimizing business processes. In some cases, it is a means remaining competitive.

“Hyperautomation has shifted from an option to a condition of survival,” said Fabrizio Biscotti, research vice president at Gartner. “Organizations will require more IT and business process automation as they are forced to accelerate digital transformation plans in a […] digital-first world.”

In fact, a recent Gartner survey found that 85% of respondents are planning to increase or sustain their hyperautomation investment strategies, and over half of these said their companies had several hyperautomation projects underway.

Harnessing the power of hyperautomation – through Rapid Application Development

Overall, hyperautomation is about integrating people, processes, and technology and that’s why RAD is central to digital transformation. Using a rapid application development platform, like Domino, makes it easy to empower your workforce, accelerate innovation and streamline work. For the past thirty years Domino has been a has been a favorite of developers and IT organizations who value usable software that works. The primary success of RAD is based on providing developers with a repository of reusable code, easy database access, quick app design, and a focus on a simplified approach.

Key benefits of rapid application development

  1. Faster delivery of process improvements and applications – RAD ensures faster delivery with preset components and ready-made adapters.
  2. Lower development costs – while skilled developers are necessary, a shortened development cycle can more than offset those costs.
  3. Fewer coding errors – preset components can help eliminate repetitive errors thus improving software quality.
  4. Shorter cycle time for updates – easier modifications through compartmentation of components.
  5. Comprehensive integration toolset – ready-made adapters, APIs and components enable quick integration and access to data.

Domino helps makes hyperautomation your reality

Whether you’re a 50,000-employee banking company providing onsite and online financial services or a manufacturer that relies on tight cost control and schedule adherence, Domino lets you target and solve your own unique challenges.

Rapid application development can transform businesses and help companies bring value to the market faster, whether businesses have an overreliance on outdated processes, difficulty in reporting, a need to increase customer engagement, or deliver workflow improvements.

Domino, with Nomad capability, can also swiftly extend your business apps to a mobile device or web browser. This enables access to your business apps from virtually anywhere. Additionally, you can continue to work on your apps even if there is no data connection and sync your work later when reconnected.

A rapid application development platform such as HCL Domino includes all the tools you need without worrying about integrations, back end, or security. A RAD platform, like Domino, is an important tool to enable hyperautomation for a business of any size to support your digital transformation journey.

To take advantage of all Domino has to offer, upgrade to Domino v12 and experience the hundreds of new features that can help your company drive innovation and rapid application development.

HCL Volt MX holds first-ever hackathon

13. Juli 2023 Posted by Suhas Bhat

Student and professional developers from around the world create innovative apps fast with Volt MX – here are the winners.

Hackathons are a great way to bring together a diverse group of talent from across organizations, departments, and countries.

For companies, it can be a tool to drive product and brand awareness, build new product features, and even expand your talent pool. And for students and professional developers alike, it’s an opportunity to network, develop your skills, and gain industry recognition. Overall, hackathon bring devs together to accelerate innovation and take on business challenges by creating competitive solutions.

Recently, HCLSoftware held our very first Volt MX Hackathon. Over eight weeks, over 4,300 students and professionals from around the world registered for the competition.

There were so many great submissions, proving just how easy it is for anyone–even those with no prior experience–to pick up Volt MX and use the platform to build compelling and beautiful apps in a matter of hours. This also made the judging process tough!

You can check out these winning apps for yourself, download them, and even reuse components in your own Volt MX app through the HCL Volt MX Marketplace. Each app below has a 5-digit code that, when entered into the Volt MX App Preview, allows you to preview the app! Download the app on the iOS or Google Play Store.

Now, we’re thrilled to introduce you to the winners of the competition and show off their awesome products.

First Place & Most Innovative: Team Visionary Youth – Wishy

The Wishy app lets you register your contacts’ birthday, anniversaries, and the like – sends them timely e-greetings to recognize the occasion. It was developed by one college student from India.

 

Second Place: Team ZaNa – Navigation Bar

A reusable component for adding an app navigation menu to the footer of any Volt MX app. Created by a developer in Zambia.

 

Third Place: Team Foodbae  – Foodbae: Deliver Deliciousness

The Foodbae app lets you order food and track the delivery. Some parts of the process were built out, and it was developed by a team of college students from India.

 

Best Looking App: Team Harishkotra_b159 – Health & Fitness UI

This app onboards a user to a health & fitness app and tracks related metrics. This developer submitted another app called ThoughTracker (Preview Code FG2A7), which was also a finalist, allowing users to track their emotions. Both of his apps were developed in 6-7 hours each by a developer from India.

  • Team Member: Harish K
  • Video: https://youtu.be/ez-pezAn2JQ
  • Download the Volt MX app and look at the winning app yourself – Preview Code:  Q65NR

Congratulations to these teams on this great accomplishment! Throughout the Hackathon, these winners showcased exceptional talent, creativity, and a deep understanding of the capabilities of Volt MX. Their dedication and innovative approach truly set them apart from a highly talented pool of participants.

The Basics of Citizen Development: Why It’s Essential to Your Business

10. Juli 2023 Posted by Martin Lechleider

A person sitting at a computer Description automatically generated with low confidence

To truly achieve digital transformation, forward-looking companies need to adopt a platform that streamlines operations, cuts costs, and taps into the full potential of their workforce. As more organizations join in on the trend of introducing no-code and citizen development, many of them are still unfamiliar with the true value of adopting this strategy.

Let’s explore the basics of citizen development, and why no-code application development platforms offer a significant advantage in today’s dynamic business environment.

What is no-code application development?
A no-code development platform is an integrated software development environment used to create new apps, process workflows, and reporting through a graphical user interface. In the past, app development involved lengthy cycles of writing complex code, followed by extensive testing and debugging. With a no-code app development platform, coding is replaced by intuitive, visual, drag-and-drop interfaces, allowing for the rapid and efficient creation of sophisticated apps without the need for advanced training. These platforms are particularly valuable to business users looking for innovative workplace solutions that won’t overload IT with smaller app projects.

Why are no-code platforms becoming so popular? 
No-code development is the fastest, easiest, and most cost-effective way to build business apps and empower citizen developers in the workplace to gain quick insights, eliminate wasteful procedures, collaborate, and innovate. This speedy new app development process has transformed the business world. What used to take weeks or months of traditional development can now be accomplished and put into practice in a matter of hours–or even minutes.

Employees without any software engineering skills can create apps that were once the sole province of IT departments. This empowerment of employees is crucial for organizations to stay competitive in a world where digitization and data are key to success. As more companies rely on low code/no-code to automate outdated systems and processes, Gartner predicts that low code and no-code will power the creation of 70% of new applications by 2025.

What are the benefits of citizen development?
Citizen development offers significant advantages that allow organizations to leverage the collective skills and creativity of their workforce to drive innovation, streamline processes and achieve better business outcomes.

  • Filling talent gaps: Empower employees to contribute their expertise and creativity, reducing reliance on a small pool of technical experts.
  • Reducing IT dependency: Offload development tasks, allowing IT teams to focus on more complex projects and increase productivity.
  • Promote a culture of innovation: Foster a collaborative environment where employees actively participate in problem-solving and process improvement.

By empowering employees across different roles and departments to actively participate in application development, organizations can tap into a diverse range of expertise and foster a culture of innovation and efficiency. Citizen developers bring a deep understanding of business processes, user needs, and industry-specific challenges, enabling the creation of more effective applications that directly address organizational requirements.

Citizen development also mitigates the risks of “shadow IT,” where employees create digital solutions without IT department oversight. By providing a controlled environment with necessary governance measures, citizen development platforms transform shadow IT into a source of innovation and speed.

“It’s worth acknowledging two truths: shadow IT is essential for business operations, and talent capable of creating applications often resides outside the IT department,” write McKinsey experts. “Despite its utility, shadow IT poses a serious security risk to all organizations, but enterprises have an incredible opportunity to transform it into an area of innovation and speed.”

 How secure is a no-code platform?
Data is a company’s data most valuable asset. That’s why top-tier businesses rely on no-code platforms that prioritize rock-solid security, governance, control, and seamless integration built into their DNA.

These platforms come equipped with strong built-in security measures, which, when combined with a set of zero-trust rules, are your best bet against most data breaches and cyberattacks. Built-in permissions and proper training, testing, and gate-keeping are essential for maintaining good governance and ensuring data security.

“No matter how good the low-code tool is, there’s still a chance that employees will be tempted to create applications beyond the security radar,” Jonathan Reed writes in Security Intelligence. “For this reason, built-in permissions go a long way in maintaining good governance.” Proper training, testing and gate-keeping are key here.

Will citizen developers replace professional developers?
No code platforms may put app-building capabilities in the hands of business users and designers, but they don’t eliminate the need for coding or professional developers altogether. Enabling citizen development means that programmers won’t have to take on all the general workforce’s IT-related requests, allowing them to focus on high-level innovation, custom development of consumer applications, and other vital initiatives or higher value tasks such as planning, architecture, DevOps, and security.

Professional and citizen developers also complement each other’s skills and shortcomings. Professional developers have the expertise required to build complex, scalable, and robust applications. While citizen developers can contribute to application development using low-code tools, they often lack the technical skills and experiences necessary to take on complex or specialized projects that involve intricate coding, custom integrations, performance optimization, or legacy systems. The collaboration between citizen and professional developers creates a powerful combination that leverages the strength of both groups to deliver high-quality, innovative applications. It’s crucial to choose a platform that enables this collaboration seamlessly.

Conclusion
The drive toward digitization and the rise of citizen developers across the business landscape have elevated no-code development to a position of strategic importance. No code’s many advantages — ease of use, security and productivity improvement — align with the goals and objectives of organizations challenged to keep up with the ever-increasing speed of application delivery. No-code development offers a solution that harnesses the full potential of a company’s resources — both human and digital — improving outcomes across the board.

Volt MX is the industry-leading multiexperience low code platform for both professional and citizen developers. Volt MX provides a persona-specific environment for citizen developers to build applications with IT governance, and work collaboratively with IT to expand engaging experiences across all digital touchpoints. Learn more here.

Upgrading Domino Is Painless with HCLSoftware White Glove Service

6. Juli 2023 Posted by Dan Allen

HCLSoftware White Glove Services provides the ultimate Domino upgrade solution. Our team of experts are here to make the upgrade process as smooth as possible while reducing disruption for you and your end users.

Keeping your HCL Domino software up to date enables you to reap all the benefits of dozens of new features and capabilities, plus helps you minimize security risks and vulnerabilities. We want to help you upgrade your Domino and Notes platform so you can experience all that Domino has to offer and take the pain out of the upgrading process.

Over the past 12 months alone, our HCLSoftware Services Team has helped successfully plan and upgrade over 1000 servers and thousands of applications. Our White Glove Service offers a disciplined approach which includes upfront environmental analysis and insight that unlocks the details of your environment including applications, backwards compatibility and even modernization potential.

Moving the needle on performance by upgrading your Domino/Notes platform
Are you still using older versions of Domino and Notes? Now is the time to upgrade to the latest version, Domino v12.0.2. The latest release of the Domino platform offers many new features that will make your work life easier and your platform administration more efficient.

Here are some of the incredible benefits of upgrading to Domino v12.0.2:

  1. Create better looking applications: With the new and enhanced no-code capabilities offered in Domino v12, you can create better-looking applications in minutes. This saves time and allows you to focus on other critical aspects of your projects.
  2. Access applications from anywhere: With the cloud-native design of Domino v12, you have the flexibility to access applications from virtually anywhere in the world. This is especially useful when working remotely or on the go.
  3. Enable mobile device support: The latest version of Domino offers greater mobile device support. This means that you can access Domino applications from your mobile devices and leverage key capabilities like GPS, camera, biometrics and storage. This makes it easier to work on the go and stay productive.
  4. Strengthen mail security: Enhance email security with standardized anti-virus, anti-spoofing and in-transit mail security protocols. You can rest assured that your emails are secure and protected from threats.
  5. One-click deployment: Easily deploy mail and applications with just one click from any browser. This eliminates the need to upgrade desktop client applications, saving time and resources.

With the end of support for Domino/Notes v9, v10 fast approaching, it’s important for customers to plan their upgrade to Domino v12, not only to provide the latest features and improvements but also to ensure that your business is secure and compliant.

HCLSoftware’s White Glove Upgrade Services can help make the upgrade process smooth and efficient. Our team of experts can handle the entire upgrade process, from planning to execution and monitoring.

Here are some additional benefits of using HCL’s White Glove Upgrade Services:

A thorough review of your platform
HCL Advisor is a useful tool for customers who are interested in reducing the total cost of ownership, consolidating servers, and upgrading to the latest HCL Domino version while modernizing their environment. By providing insight into applications, compatibility, usage, modernization effort and remediation needed, HCL Advisor can help customers make informed decisions about their environment.

With HCL Advisor, customers can effectively identify outdated applications or processes that are no longer being used, allowing them to focus on modernization efforts where it matters most. Additionally, it can help customers optimize their infrastructure by consolidating servers based on usage, enabling them to save costs while maintaining high performance.

Moreover, HCL Advisor can help customers with their upgrade planning process. It can provide information on the compatibility of their existing applications and processes with HCL Domino v12, allowing them to plan for an upgrade with greater confidence.

No more rip and replace strategies
At HCL, we are always looking for ways to drive customer value. Consolidation can be an effective way to improve service delivery to end users while decreasing the total cost of ownership of a Domino environment. With product enhancements in Domino and improved cloud computing power, customers can better size their environments with their end users in mind, enabling them to get application servers closer to their end users while needing fewer of them.

Domino continues to provide industry-leading backwards compatibility, allowing customers to upgrade and consolidate applications at a faster rate than ever before, without the need for rip-and-replace strategies. This helps customers leverage the investments they have already made into their Domino applications while modernizing their environment.

Keeping end user operational capability and uptime a priority
As with any upgrade that happens within an organization, it is important to prioritize end-user experience during the process. To minimize user impact, it’s important to take a comprehensive approach that spans from the analysis phase to the cutover phase. From our experience, we have found that several best practices help to eliminate upgrade disruption, minimizing user impact such as:

  • Comprehensive end-user communication about the upgrade process and expected changes
  • Providing end-user training and support to ensure that they are familiar with the new features and functionality
  • Testing the new software with a pilot group of end-users to gather feedback and identify any issues
  • Providing help desk and support services during and after the upgrade to address user queries and issues that may arise.

In addition to our best practices, we can also deploy HCL Nomad Web to allow users unrestricted access to traditional Notes applications via a web browser. This can be a great solution as it eliminates the costly need to customize the application.

Getting to the finish line together
Once you’ve upgraded to Domino v12, we highly recommend ensuring that you have all the new features required to properly run your environment. Our team of experts is available to assist you with documented steps and post-deployment assistance, known as the HCL Domino Upgrade Factory.

The HCL Domino Upgrade Factory provides a simple, low-cost pricing model for customers who need help upgrading their Domino environments, starting from as little as $4000 per server. Here are a few of the steps that are included in the HCL Domino Upgrade Factory offering:

  • Complete analysis of your Domino environment including applications and servers.
  • Health check report with a prioritized list of actions to be undertaken, if required.
  • Development of cutover strategy for users.
  • Installation and transfer of applications to new Domino V12 servers.
  • 30 days of post-upgrade hyper care for all servers.

We understand that upgrading your Domino environment can be an intimidating process and that cost is an important factor to consider. That’s why HCLSoftware’s White Glove Upgrade Services combined with HCL Domino Upgrade Factory provides a simple, low-cost pricing model that is predictive and helps to consolidate and reduce your overall operating costs.

We are more than happy to provide you with further information on the HCL Domino v12 upgrade and our professional services, HCLSoftware White Glove Upgrade Services and HCL Domino Upgrade Factory.

To learn more, fill out our contact form and one of our experts will be in touch shortly to discuss your requirements in more detail.

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HCL DX License Simplification: More Value and Flexibility

30. Juni 2023 Posted by Demetrios Nerris

HCL DX License Simplification: More Value and Flexibility

June 30, 2023 – HCL is simplifying its HCL Digital Experience offering and giving customers the opportunity to transition to a proven and predictable consumption-based subscription licensing.

Effective immediately, HCL is removing all Perpetual (PVU and Authorized User) HCL Digital Experience license packages for new license sales. However, DX customers can renew their S&S-associated E-Parts until June 30th, 2025.

HCL Digital Experience End of Marketing (EOM) Offerings
HCL Customer Experience Suite
HCL Digital Experience Manager
HCL Employee Experience Suite
HCL Portal Extend
HCL Portal Enable
HCL Portal Express
HCL Portal Server
HCL Web Content Manager
HCL Web Experience Factory

For the latest information about HCL DX:

  • Subscribe to the latest HCL DX news, interact with peer and HCL practitioners in the HCL DX Q&A forums and DX User Group.
  • Access DX training materials in the HCL Software U
  • Take a test drive of HCL Digital Experience 9.5 from the HCL SoFy platform
  • Continue your journey with HCL DX v9.5 and expand your TCO with hundreds of new features, fixes, security updates and Kubernetes capabilities like auto-scaling & self-healing environments.
  • Enroll in a complementary HCL Accelerator program for expert guidance to modernize, upgrade and maximize the business and technical value of your Digital Experience solutions

If you have questions, please contact your HCL sales representative or Business Partner, or contact us directly.

DX Product Team

Transform Your Digital Experiences with HCL DX 9.5

30. Juni 2023 Posted by Demetrios Nerris

Whether aimed at customers, partners, employees, or all of the above, digital experiences are in a state of continual evolution and improvement, subject to the ever-increasing demand for functionality, security, and user-friendliness.

To that end, HCL Digital Experience — already ranked as an “outperformer” in GigaOm’s Radar report — offers many updates, enhancements, and a new pricing model. They’re all available now in HCL DX 9.5 (note: some updates require Kubernetes deployment), via a painless upgrade path.

At a high level, these updates are geared to bolster value for our customers in several key areas of the digital experience market:

Let’s take a look under the hood!

Content Composer (Kubernetes)
Content Composer offers a central workspace for content creators and managers, from where they can help manage customer, employee, and partner experiences.

Creators can create, edit, update, and replace content for the current channel and all channels — meaning incredible time savings across teams. Templates for content models and items further streamline the process and deliver more power to your creators.

With centralized management and multi-lingual handling, your creators can easily specify the desired languages and locales for your content.

Everyone makes errors from time to time, and that’s why Content Composer offers document tracking and history with a simple option to compare and restore previous versions.

In addition, HCL DX 9.5 offers workflow with Content Composer to strengthen and streamline approval processes.

Digital asset management (Kubernetes)
Fully integrated into the DX content authoring experience, the HCL DX DAM makes it a breeze to organize, place and keep rich assets in a page.

Multiple APIs for third-party media integrations further simplify building out your asset library. The HCL DX DAM also supports images, documents, and videos at production-scale for rapid deployment in all markets with consistent performance and responsiveness.

Consumption-based licensing
A transparent, consumption-based pricing model option is available for HCL DX 9.5. For more information on the Digital Experience Cloud Native 9.5 simplified offering model, please reference Digital Experience Cloud Native 9.5: Simplifed Pricing, More Value. Consumption-based pricing is a popular choice for many software products; Bain & Company note that this model has many iterations, but “all with payment that is ultimately based on usage and aligned with value.”

Under this arrangement, you’ll pay only for the number of production sessions per time period. Users can work within their session as long as necessary, and the system will count it as a new session only after 30 consecutive minutes of inactivity.

For even more value, this new licensing approach offers:

  • Unlimited hardware deployments
  • Unlimited sites
  • Prod and non-prod environments
  • Unlimited content creators/authors

You’ll pay only for production sessions, enabling easy “pay-as-you-grow” scaling. Kubernetes deployment also offers out-of-the-box auto-scaling and auto-healing. With unlimited hardware deployments, it’s easy and risk-free to test out new sites, experiments, or even entirely new lines of business. Consumption-based pricing will accommodate any projects you undertake.

HCL Digital Experience is cloud-native
It’s 2023, and cloud delivery models aren’t exactly novel — but a Digital Experience Cloud is, to be fair, a more recent concept. With HCL DX 9.5, you can move your digital experience to the cloud solution of your choice, enabling maximum scalability, availability, and support. With this offering, HCL DX 9.5 delivers an option to have your deployment fully hosted and managed by HCLSoftware, providing more options than ever before to suit your needs.

HCL Digital Experience Cloud-Native, optionally available later this year for DX 9.5, elevates your digital experience platform to a business-critical, always-on, always-available, cloud-native deployment with a proven history of five-nines uptime.

Further benefits of our cloud offering include:

  • Single-term price for hosting, managing, and software
  • Single-tenant cloud hosting, with your choice of provider and datacenter location
  • Cloud security: web application firewalls and DDoS/bot mitigation, data residency with ISO 27000, SOC3 and PCI-DSS certifications
  • Monitoring and alerting: page and transaction monitors, plus an option for custom monitors
  • Performance monitoring
  • Auto-scale, auto-heal
  • Environments: production, pre-production, and dev/QA, with the option to add more
  • CI/CD Pipelines: standard CI/CD pipeline methods to connect your custom development to our platform
  • Support: dedicated named account executive, plus access to the HCL Now team in real time
  • Customer portal: see service levels, entitlements, SLA status, etc.

CTA: There’s so much to show you in HCL DX 9.5 — there’s never been a better time to make the move. Upgrading is direct, fast and easy. To get started with your software upgrade, visit the HCL Digital Experience Help Center – Supported Installation and Upgrade Paths Help Center topic for more information.

HCL also offers an option for a cost-effective services engagement, which can help you build your upgrade plan and support you throughout the process. For more information about the Digital Experience DX K8s Deployment Accelerator and other DX Accelerator program options, please visit the HCL DX Accelerators program site.

Product Announcement: HCL Domino License Simplification

29. Juni 2023 Posted by Dan Allen

Product Announcement: HCL Domino License Simplification

Today, June 29, 2023, HCLSoftware announces several changes to further simplify our Domino portfolio licensing and capabilities:

  1. End Of Marketing (EOM) and End Of Support (EOS) of Domino Utility Server and Domino Utility Express server licenses and part numbers.
  2. The addition of the Domino License Analysis Utility tool (DLAU) to help establish a CCB/CCX entitlement baseline and security health check.
  3. EOM and EOS of the Domino AppDev Pack Supporting Program.

HCLSoftware continues to simplify its Domino licensing based on the Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) model – a modern, per-user, licensing model comprised of:

HCL Domino Complete Collaboration Business Edition (CCB) for the B2E and B2C users,

HCL Domino Complete Collaboration eXternal User (CCX) for B2B users,

HCL Domino Complete Collaboration Solution Partner Edition (CCS) for ISVs.

CCB is the only license entitling customers to all Domino’s features, updates, and supporting programs. To realize all the benefits, HCL strongly recommends that customers move to CCB licensing and upgrade to Domino version 12.0.2 as soon as possible.

Following an adoption rate of over 70% for CCB licensing and with many more planning to move to CCB, we are making the Domino License Analysis Utility (DLAU) tool available to enable customers to perform a baseline count of the needed CCB/CCX entitlements for any Domino configuration and, at the same time, to perform a security “health check” on your Domino deployment.

1 – Deprecating Utility and Utility Express licenses and part numbers
Today, June 29, 2023, HCLSoftware completes the move away from server-only licensing. Utility Server and Utility Server Express were based on Processor Value Unit licensing, an old license metric no longer relevant in a modern Cloud / Kubernetes world. Effective today, HCL is announcing the immediate End of Marketing (EOM) of the following part numbers. In addition, these parts and licenses will be End of Support on June 30, 2024:

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Effective with this announcement, EOM means these parts are no longer available for purchase.

EOS means that HCLSoftware no longer provides Support Benefits for these products after June 30, 2024.

To enable you to continue under support, you need to move to Domino CCB/CCX licensing at your next renewal. To help you do this, you must run the DLAU tool to assess your environment and share the report with your HCLSoftware business partner or HCL sales representative as input into obtaining a quote.

2 – Introducing the Domino License Analysis Utility (DLAU) tool.
DLAU will assist you in determining the entitlements needed for Domino CCB licensing of your complete Domino deployment. DLAU is a non-intrusive tool only scanning server log files and configurations and is fully GDPR compliant. DLAU is currently available to any Domino customer full documentation and instructions on using the tool are here:

https://opensource.hcltechsw.com/domino-license-analysis-utility-DLAU/

A downloadable version of DLAU will be included along with Domino in the HCL License & Download portal over the coming months before Domino v14 ships.

3 – EOM and EOS of Domino AppDev Pack.
Due to the success of the Domino REST APIs, HCLSoftware will remove Domino AppDev pack as a supporting program. Specifically, the Domino AppDev Pack will no longer be:

  • Available for download from the HCL License & Download portal after September 20, 2023.
  • Supported after December 31, 2023. Customers and partners with a perpetual entitlement can continue to run it unsupported if they choose.

Customers and partners who have deployed the Domino AppDev Pack should use the Domino REST APIs instead. The Domino REST APIs were released in version 12.0.2 and are available under CCB entitlements.

If you have any questions about this announcement or have Domino licensing questions, please contact your HCL product specialist or Business Partner.

Useful Links:

HCL Domino Product Team

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Domino CCB Licensing and DLAU Tool

29. Juni 2023 Posted by Uffe Sorensen

HCLSoftware continues to simplify its Domino licensing based on the Domino Complete Collaboration (CCB) model – a modern, per-user, licensing model comprised of:

HCL Domino Complete Collaboration Business Edition (CCB) for the B2E and B2C users,

HCL Domino Complete Collaboration eXternal User (CCX) for B2B users,

HCL Domino Complete Collaboration Solution Partner Edition (CCS) for ISVs.

CCB is the only license entitling customers to all of Domino’s features, updates, and supporting programs. To realize all the benefits, HCL strongly recommends that customers move to CCB licensing and upgrade to Domino version 12.0.2 as soon as possible.

CCB: Simplifying Domino Licensing
CCB is the cornerstone of our journey to provide a single, user based, license model for Domino, eliminating Processor Value Unit licensing, an old license metric no longer relevant in a modern Cloud / Kubernetes world:

  • A simple “Per User everything model” – use any client and any protocol for any server capacity to run all applications – including enterprise e-mail.
  • Transparent license compliance management by simple user counting.
  • All new Domino capabilities are only included with CCB entitlements – e.g., from V12.0.2 Nomad for Web Browsers and Domino REST APIs.

CCB entitlements are needed for all of the employees and contractors in your enterprise needing access to your Domino CCB servers – covering all B2E (Business-to-Employees) scenarios. A server licensed under CCB also include unlimited external web user access as needed for most B2C (Business-to-Consumer/Citizen) scenarios:

  • Guest: unlimited anonymous browser users can freely access your Domino based websites.
  • Known Guest: unlimited registered users with credentials to login for read-only access to applications (see Known Guest Use Cases in this blog Licensing Update: Domino V12 and Key CCX Enhancement).

The volume of needed entitlements for a CCB configuration is the count of all credentials in Domino directories or any other authentication source used by the enterprise.

The CCB entitlement can be extended with Domino Leap – an add-on for all CCB users providing a true citizen developer capability (see also HCL Leap 9.3.2 and Domino Leap 1.1.1). And the Sametime Premium secure meetings add-on for designated CCB users (see also Seamless, Flexible Collaboration Delivered with Sametime 12.0.1).

CCX: Dealing with external B2B or B2C users
For B2B (Business-to-Business) or advanced B2C scenarios, where the external users need to fully engage in applications beyond the read/only access permitted for Known Guests, HCL introduced the CCX entitlement as an add-on for CCB environments.

CCX users have full functionality to use Domino and Domino Leap (if installed) applications and workflows but cannot create applications themselves. CCX users do not have a personal mailbox but can use task/functional mail for workflow routing or applications generating mail.

Like the CCB Authorized User entitlement, the CCX Authorized User entitlement is also unique, however, can logically be reassigned after 30 days of inactivity. Consequently, you need entitlements to cover actual/expected CCX users in any 30-day period. Hence, some former server only based B2B/B2C use cases can now be easily supported by CCX as sporadic application use does not accumulate a long range of user credentials which would require entitlement under CCB.

See CCX Use Cases in Licensing Update: Domino V12 and Key CCX Enhancement.

All use cases supported with older Domino license models are supported by CCB/CCX, so moving to CCB from an older license will not require reinstallation of the currently deployed software components. Then, when the environment is upgraded to V12.0.2 or later, all new V12 features can be deployed and exploited. E.g., HCL Nomad Web and Domino REST API.

What is the Domino License Analysis Utility (DLAU)
Following an adoption rate of over 70% for CCB licensing and with many more customers planning to move to CCB, we are making the Domino License Analysis Utility (DLAU) tool available to enable customers to perform a baseline count of the needed CCB/CCX entitlements for any Domino configuration and, at the same time, to perform a security “health check” on your Domino deployment.

DLAU will assist you in determining the entitlements needed for CCB/CCX licensing of your complete Domino deployment and is a simple to deploy and use, non-intrusive tool:

  • Delivered as a Notes application file (.nsf) to be run from a Notes client.
  • Does not require any changes to the Domino servers (except ensuring appropriate logging is enabled).
  • Does not modify any existing data.
  • Runs in the background – will not “freeze” Notes.
  • Results normally provided within a few hours (dependent on environment complexity).

DLAU only scans log files and configurations and generated reports are under control of the Administrator and are fully GDPR compliant. DLAU also offers a range of observations and analysis and recommends best practices updates and any­ needed remedial actions. Most importantly, DLAU will report on Security Observations.

DLAU – along with a comprehensive Users’ Guide – is currently available to any Domino customer here ==> https://opensource.hcltechsw.com/domino-license-analysis-utility-DLAU/

DLAU will be included in the HCL License & Download portal over the coming months for availability along with Domino.

If you have any questions about this blog post and announcements or have any licensing questions, please contact your HCL product specialist or Business Partner.

Useful Links:

Related Blog Posts:

HCLSoftware Support Update: Important Policies

28. Juni 2023 Posted by Uffe Sorensen

HCLSoftware Support Update: Important Policies

HCLSoftware would like to take this opportunity to highlight our policies for offering Support Subscription and access to updates and downloads for HCLSoftware Programs.

Licensees of other software vendors’ products will recognize similar policies.

HCLSoftware’s Master License Agreement incorporates by reference HCLSoftware’s Support Guide and the Program specific License Information Documents, the terms of which together comprise the full agreement and are binding upon the Licensee.

Licensee must maintain a uniform, supported environment:

  1. Programs are deployed with the appropriate operating systems, container platforms and/or hardware levels and other environmental components for proper functioning.
  2. Deployed Program versions and releases are within the range of Licensee’s entitlements.
  3. All deployed Program entitlements and/or instances in Licensee’s organization have uniform Support subscriptions; there can be no partial renewal of Support for the Programs deployed.
  4. Licensee must maintain a Support subscription for any Program, where download of the actual code and/or any updates are needed.

Consequently, HCLSoftware mandates:

  1. Active Support subscription for all deployed Programs is required to enable access to the HCL License & Download portal.
  2. HCLSoftware requires that Support is renewed for all Programs deployed and partial renewals are not permitted.
  3. For some older license models, client-side and server-side were provided as separate products – although both are needed for a production environment. As Programs have evolved and are packaged, they are mutually dependent and one-sided renewal of such client-specific or server-specific entitlements would be considered a partial renewal and is not permitted.
  4. If Licensee desires any change in a Supported volume, a report that verifies current Program usage and installation volume is required for the renewal of Support. The renewal must follow the guidelines laid out here.

So, if you own a Perpetual entitlement:

  • Licensee is enrolled for Support permitting access to technical support and any updates or new versions or releases of the specific Program for the first 12 months after purchase.
  • The Support subscription must be renewed annually for continued access and must be for the full licensed capacity; HCLSoftware will not permit only some users out of a larger volume, or some percentage of a server being supported.Deployed volume and Supported volume must be identical.
  • For the HCL Domino family of products, Licensee must pay attention to some Programs being the primary Program for a particular product as well as also being a supporting program for other products. The requirement for all Programs to be under support applies to the individual Programs. E.g. HCL Notes Program entitled via HCL Enterprise Client Access or HCL Complete Collaboration Business Edition.
  • If Licensee allows a Support subscription to expire, there will no longer be any access to the Program on the HCL License and Download portal.
    • However, as entitlement is perpetual, Licensee may revert to the verison of the Program originally purchased and at the volume owned.
    • All other versions and updates must be uninstalled.
    • Licensee may negotiate a restart with HCLSoftware in order to obtain Support and access to further GA versions again.
  • If Licensee wants to increase the entitled volume (e.g. add more users) via Perpetual entitlements, this is only permitted if all current Perpetual entitlements are on active Support to prevent an indirect partial renewal.

If using Term licensing:

  • A Fixed Term License, is essentially a “lease agreement” where the license entitlement and access to Support is combined and valid for a specific finite term.
  • Renewing a fixed term license in a lesser quantity than the previous term also mandates customer providing a report that verifies current Program usage and installation volume.
  • Contrary to perpetual entitlements, if a term license is not renewed, Licensee has no entitlement to the Program and must delete/uninstall all material for the Program. And Licensee will no longer have access to the HCLSoftware License and Download portal or Support.
  • If Licensee wants to acquire term licenses for a product, and already owns perpetual licenses for the same, the entire volume of deployed entitlements must be established as term licensing replacing the perpetual licenses for continued uniformity.


Ensuring continuity:

  • For continued access to Support benefits, renewal orders must be placed prior to the expiration date for the current term – both for Support subscriptions and term licensing.
  • All renewals completed after the expiration date will be back-dated to the date of lapse. Renewals completed after the expiration date are exceptions and are at the sole discretion of HCLSoftware.
  • For any renewal or restart, Licensee must provide a report that verifies current Program usage and installation volume.

If you have any questions about this blog post or have any licensing questions, please contact your HCLSoftware sales specialist or HCL Software Business Partner. All renewal questions should be addressed to your HCLSoftware Customer Success Manager or other HCLSoftware sales specialist directly. If you do not know your sales contact, you may contact customersuccess@hcl.com and we will connect you with the right team members.

Useful links:

Disclaimer – This statement is subject to change or withdrawal without notice at HCLSoftware’s sole discretion.