With some software, it’s just like with cars: as long as it keeps running smoothly, people rarely look under the bonnet. But how often does it happen that your car suddenly has all sorts of new features you knew nothing about? If you’re already running HCL Notes and Domino, it’s worth taking a look at all the features you still have access to.
Seven years ago, the software company HCL acquired a number of applications from IBM, including the Domino server and the accompanying Notes client. Since then, intensive work has been carried out behind the scenes to develop a modern architecture. Today, HCL Domino is a flexible suite that bundles email, web, application and database servers into a compact package.
Everything from low-code and productivity to email and private AI, for a single, clear price.
Back to the nineties
For the more experienced readers amongst us, reading the previous paragraph may have rung a bell. The programme was indeed known for quite some time as Lotus Notes, but there’s not much left of that dusty software from the 1990s.
‘Standing still is going backwards’, HCL seemed to think. And so, whilst reliability has been retained, the engine has been completely adapted to the modern enterprise requirements of 2026.
Everything in one place
A perfect example of this update is how easy it is to upgrade everything. Domino has always been known as a versatile platform, but centralised management has become even easier.
With other platforms, IT admins have to schedule separate updates for web servers, databases and security patches, with all the downtime and risks that entails. With Domino, everything is in one place anyway, and with the new Auto Update tool, patching is virtually automatic. A solid quality-of-life upgrade that also ensures your entire stack remains up to date and secure in one go.
Modern web apps and low-code
As well as your central documents and workflows, there’s plenty more to modernise with Domino. Thanks to HCL Nomad, all your existing HCL desktop applications run smoothly in any browser and on mobile devices, straight away and without the need for reprogramming. To develop new web applications, your developers can get to work using modern standards (REST APIs) and JavaScript frameworks such as React or Vue.
Would you like to build applications (or have them built) without detailed programming knowledge? With Domino Leap, all teams are given the tools to engage in ‘citizen development’. This isn’t a traditional drag-and-drop tool where you immediately hit technical limitations, but a fully-fledged low-code environment.
A little bit of functional logic is all it takes to build visual workflows, smart evaluation forms or internal timesheet applications yourself. This allows you to replace those Excel files once and for all with clear processes, all within your existing licence.
Security and private AI
All that data and those web applications must, of course, be properly secured. Domino’s comprehensive security model is tailored to the strictest modern requirements. With built-in technologies such as phishing-resistant Passkeys, OIDC integration, advanced encryption and integrated auditing, your infrastructure is, by default, compliant with the strictest regulations. The BSI IT-Grundschutz certification proves that the platform complies with the strictest European security standards.
Within these secure boundaries, you can experiment with AI without a single byte of data leaking out. Through Domino IQ, the platform introduces powerful artificial intelligence that remains entirely local. Instead of sacrificing your intellectual property to train the models of American tech giants, you can choose from the wide range of open-source LLMs available on Hugging Face and run them on your own Domino servers. Your teams can search databases using natural language or generate contract-related emails, without any of your sensitive information ever touching the internet.
Ready for an upgrade?
In most cases, upgrading to Domino 2026 does not require any complicated migration processes. Even if you need to skip several version numbers, your existing applications will continue to work as normal.
Curious to find out what this means in practical terms for your organisation? We’ll soon be hosting the Belgium Domino Sovereignty Roundtable: an exclusive, closed-door session on digital sovereignty, modern infrastructure and what Domino 2026 brings in practice. Places are limited!
