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Apache Spark vs IBM Spectrum Computing comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache Spark
Ranking in Hadoop
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Compute Service (6th), Java Frameworks (2nd)
IBM Spectrum Computing
Ranking in Hadoop
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Management (32nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Hadoop category, the mindshare of Apache Spark is 14.2%, down from 19.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Computing is 4.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hadoop Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache Spark14.2%
IBM Spectrum Computing4.9%
Other80.9%
Hadoop
 

Featured Reviews

Devindra Weerasooriya - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Architect at Devtech
Provides a consistent framework for building data integration and access solutions with reliable performance
The in-memory computation feature is certainly helpful for my processing tasks. It is helpful because while using structures that could be held in memory rather than stored during the period of computation, I go for the in-memory option, though there are limitations related to holding it in memory that need to be addressed, but I have a preference for in-memory computation. The solution is beneficial in that it provides a base-level long-held understanding of the framework that is not variant day by day, which is very helpful in my prototyping activity as an architect trying to assess Apache Spark, Great Expectations, and Vault-based solutions versus those proposed by clients like TIBCO or Informatica.
OmarIsmail1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group
Senior Technical Specialist appreciates intelligent workload management, strong support, and scalability
The best features of IBM Spectrum Computing are common across many of their storage products. The software is solid, meaning that the code is stable. They take business seriously, which is what IBM stands for - International Business Machines. They always maintain a business-oriented approach in their software development. It's not simply clicking through interfaces; in IBM software, they consider their actions, process flows, and workflows around business processes. It requires understanding IBM and their methodology, as the software operates accordingly. I have utilized IBM Spectrum Computing's intelligent workload management feature. We use Insights, which is connected to the cloud. This provides AI capabilities for analyzing the configuration, offering smart recommendations on new code, warning about bugs in current code, and suggesting configuration improvements through its advisor tool. The predictive analytics feature in IBM Spectrum Computing enables optimal software performance through Insights. However, being a storage administrator requires foundational knowledge and understanding beyond these tools. For troubleshooting, it's efficient in spotting bottlenecks, but understanding the terms and metrics is essential as it provides answers that need interpretation.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"With Spark SQL we've now the capabilities to analyse very large quantities of data located in S3 on Amazon at very low cost comparing other solution we checked."
"AI libraries are the most valuable. They provide extensibility and usability. Spark has a lot of connectors, which is a very important and useful feature for AI. You need to connect a lot of points for AI, and you have to get data from those systems. Connectors are very wide in Spark. With a Spark cluster, you can get fast results, especially for AI."
"DataFrame: Spark SQL gives the leverage to create applications more easily and with less coding effort."
"Apache Spark provides a very high-quality implementation of distributed data processing."
"The distribution of tasks, like the seamless map-reduce functionality, is quite impressive."
"The scalability has been the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"The memory processing engine is the solution's most valuable aspect. It processes everything extremely fast, and it's in the cluster itself. It acts as a memory engine and is very effective in processing data correctly."
"The data processing framework is good."
"I tell everyone that they should go with IBM Spectrum Computing."
"The comparison was challenging, but the IBM Spectrum Scale offered a balanced solution. Our engineers rated itsanalytics capabilities equally high as Pure Storage. For workload management, Spectrum Computing provided effective solutions that met our needs. Workload management is part of a complete solution that uses different tools. There were the cloud and HPC parts; within HPC, there were parts like liquid cooling, simple computing, storage, and orchestration. The orchestration team handled the workload management."
"The best features of IBM Spectrum Computing are common across many of their storage products."
"Spectrum Computing's best features are its speed, robustness, and data processing and analysis."
"Spectrum Computing is one of the best tools in the data management and services area, as it can process huge amounts of data with standardized data management and provides a great data governance capability."
"This solution worked as expected and it is reliable."
"The most valuable feature is the backup capability."
"IBM's ability to cluster compute resources is impressive, with built-in support for scenarios like VR and active-active configurations,"
 

Cons

"The main concern is the overhead of Java when distributed processing is not necessary."
"When you first start using this solution, it is common to run into memory errors when you are dealing with large amounts of data."
"There is complexity when it comes to understanding the whole ecosystem, especially for beginners."
"The solution needs to optimize shuffling between workers."
"It should support more programming languages."
"Spark could be improved by adding support for other open-source storage layers than Delta Lake."
"Apache Spark could potentially improve in terms of user-friendliness, particularly for individuals with a SQL background. While it's suitable for those with programming knowledge, making it more accessible to those without extensive programming skills could be beneficial."
"It needs to be simpler to use the machine learning algorithms supported by Octave (example polynomial regressions, polynomial interpolation)."
"IBM's sales and support structure can be challenging."
"This solution is no longer managing tapes correctly."
"The deduplication software isn't quite up to speed with the market."
"SMB storage and HPC is not compatible and it should be supported by IBM Spectrum Computing."
"Lack of sufficient documentation, particularly in Spanish."
"Software sometimes is a little slower. It takes two or three days sometimes."
"In Pakistan, IBM's disadvantage is the lack of OEM support and presence."
"The deduplication software isn't quite up to speed with the market. While IBM has excellent compression technology, specifically on their FlashCore modules, they lag behind competitors such as NetApp in deduplication capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source solution, it is free of charge."
"It is an open-source platform. We do not pay for its subscription."
"Since we are using the Apache Spark version, not the data bricks version, it is an Apache license version, the support and resolution of the bug are actually late or delayed. The Apache license is free."
"It is quite expensive. In fact, it accounts for almost 50% of the cost of our entire project."
"Apache Spark is open-source. You have to pay only when you use any bundled product, such as Cloudera."
"Considering the product version used in my company, I feel that the tool is not costly since the product is available for free."
"The tool is an open-source product. If you're using the open-source Apache Spark, no fees are involved at any time. Charges only come into play when using it with other services like Databricks."
"The product is expensive, considering the setup."
"Spectrum Computing is one of the most expensive products on the market."
"This solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise33
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Spark?
Apache Spark is open-source, so it doesn't incur any charges.
What needs improvement with Apache Spark?
I find that there really lacks the technical depth to do any recommendations for future updates of Apache Spark. I used it for two years for our prototype work and testing things, but because I had...
What is your primary use case for Apache Spark?
I attempted to use Apache Spark in one of our customer projects, but after the initial test, our customer moved to another technology and another database system. I do not have any final remarks on...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Computing?
IBM Spectrum Computing consistently offers competitive pricing. When solutioning new implementations, IBM always presents the best solution and price. In a recent comparison with Pure Storage and N...
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Computing?
IBM Spectrum Computing had limitations with remote copy services between head office and disaster recovery sites. In the last year, IBM has improved the code by re-engineering it to policy-based re...
What is your primary use case for IBM Spectrum Computing?
The typical use case for IBM Spectrum Computing is that it's an all-rounder. It can be used in various scenarios, such as the retailer I work for that has batch processing. It's on-demand when perf...
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Platform Computing
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NASA JPL, UC Berkeley AMPLab, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, UC Santa Cruz, TripAdvisor, Taboola, Agile Lab, Art.com, Baidu, Alibaba Taobao, EURECOM, Hitachi Solutions
London South Bank University, Transvalor, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Genomic
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Spark vs. IBM Spectrum Computing and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
910,005 professionals have used our research since 2012.