Dell ObjectScale vs IBM Cloud Object Storage comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the File and Object Storage category. Dell Technologies is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.1, while IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.3. Dell Technologies holds a 5.9% mindshare in FaOS, compared to IBM’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

IBM Cloud Object Storage and Dell ObjectScale are competitors in the data storage solutions category. IBM holds the upper hand in pricing and customer support, while Dell is preferred for its advanced features and integration capabilities.

Features: IBM Cloud Object Storage includes scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Dell ObjectScale offers seamless integration with existing infrastructure, automation, and advanced security features.

Room for Improvement: IBM Cloud Object Storage could enhance its user interface and offer more advanced integrations for diverse environments. Dell ObjectScale might improve by reducing setup complexity and offering more competitive pricing options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Cloud Object Storage is easy to deploy and has strong support from IBM’s customer service. Dell ObjectScale requires more initial planning but benefits from a robust support network for complex setups.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Cloud Object Storage provides a better initial setup cost and attractive ROI, emphasizing cost-efficient storage solutions. Dell ObjectScale involves higher upfront investments but offers significant ROI with its advanced features for long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

December 2025

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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

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the File and Object Storage category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 5.3%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell ObjectScale is 5.9%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Cloud Object Storage is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

File and Object Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell ObjectScale	5.9%
Pure Storage FlashBlade	5.3%
IBM Cloud Object Storage	1.1%
Other	87.7%

File and Object Storage

Featured Reviews

MikaelHellström

IT Manager at Regin Dalarna

Has handled backup storage needs reliably and supports seamless upgrades

In environments requiring high throughput and low latency, Pure Storage FlashBlade provides high throughput and normal latency, but we do not have any application that requires low latency right now, so the latency of three to five milliseconds is considered kind of high. Pure Storage FlashBlade's ability to integrate with enterprise applications is not important for us, as we only want to present an S3 bucket for our backup, which we have done, and it works very fast. We use the Purity software's data reduction techniques; we have a backup software that compresses everything before sending it to the S3 bucket, achieving a data reduction of 1.1 to one. I would recommend Pure Storage FlashBlade to other companies because it's a very fast and scalable solution for anyone who needs it. On a scale of 1-10, I rate this solution an 8.

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Mahmoud Abuherra

Manager, Technical Services at AXS

Offers seamless protocol integration for diverse solutions with flexible API communication

We recommend Dell ECS to customers looking for GeoDrive, archiving, long-term retention solutions, or S3 protocol. It is proposed to sectors like government, education, and banking. Overall, I would rate Dell ECS eight out of ten, as it has shown a lot of enhancement compared to previous solutions like Centera and Atmos.

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reviewer2384904

Account Technology Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Enables seamless data replication and supports comprehensive data analytics workflows

The capability to replicate data in different locations is valuable since it enables customers to have a cluster over various sites. Also, important is the capability to provide RESTful APIs for custom connectors. In terms of security, I advise customers to rotate access keys to enhance protection. Additionally, scalability is effortless as you can add nodes or expand the license.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is user-friendly. It's replication feature is great because it has active replication and active DR. That's the beauty of the product. It's a perfect solution for block storage."

"The initial setup was straightforward. If you know how to plug in power and network you're pretty much qualified. They were on site to configure the network, the box to fit into our network architecture. Other than that, we self-managed from there."

"The most valuable features of FlashBlade include its replication capabilities, reports, and easy allocation. Everything is user-friendly."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the rewrite speed and the nonstop services."

"The most valuable features include the ease of implementation, ease of use and the speed that you can do backup and recovery on."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade's scalability is one of the most valuable features, and importantly, it always works, allowing for seamless upgrades."

"It uses the same platform for connectivity so integration is seamless."

"The initial setup is pretty easy and simple."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"Dell ECS is very easy to handle, primarily because the web UI dashboard and everything is very easy to manage for every customer."

"I have been satisfied with the stability."

"It is 100% stable. It is also scalable."

"The setup was straightforward."

"The impact of Dell ECS on my organization has been positive, improving user experience, security, and reliability."

"We face very few hardware failures."

"This solution is very easy to use, and is very reliable."

"What I like best about Dell ECS is its stability. I also like that you can use it for large-scale data purposes. The solution works fine for me, and I haven't encountered any issues with it."

More Dell ObjectScale pros

"One of Cloud Object Storage's best features is infinite capacity. This is one of the main advantages if you don't want to use your own storage. You also have the ability to write only, write once, and read many. It's like tape storage but software-based. This feature is essential for financial institutions that require that kind of protection if you write backup or data there."

"Overall, I rate IBM Cloud Object Storage a ten out of ten."

"IBM has the most number of additional services, this is the main advantage."

"The most valuable feature I like is when you connect it via CLI plug-in...It is a stable solution."

"The standout feature of IBM Cloud Object Storage is its top-notch security, making it ideal for sensitive applications like mobile financial transactions."

"IBM Cloud Object Storage integrates well."

"The capability to replicate data in different locations is valuable since it enables customers to have a cluster over various sites."

"The integration itself is pretty easy. The access appliances create the connection between both environments."

Cons

"It usually comes down to just what you hit and the value you're getting when you spend the money and license the products. I would always go, "If you want to make things better, lower your price and make your licensing simpler." There's always an opportunity around that."

"It would be nice if you could store file-based in the same box with the same technology."

"The Pure Storage Orchestrator is our biggest pain point at the moment. If we can have more say in future developments of feature sets that we will need to support for our use case, that would be pretty beneficial to us."

"There could be improvements in public cloud integration."

"In my opinion, one way Pure Storage FlashBlade can be improved is by having more compatibility between the FlashArray and FlashBlade, allowing for synchronized data between both platforms."

"In the realm of micro-services, I think that Pure Storage can do well if they start getting in there and making their arrays more micro-services ready."

"I would also like to see better support for CIFS workloads."

"They need better integration with public clouds along with a better hybrid solution."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"The setup is very complex."

"The graphical user interface should offer more options, and the documentation with respect to administration could be improved, as it is quite weak in this product."

"However, hardware failures can impact the cluster, making it read-only."

"The solution’s stability could be improved."

"Dell ECS needs to improve its performance."

"Technical support needs to be improved."

"From an improvement perspective, Dell ECS should aim to offer a better pricing plan to its users."

"It is a good solution, except for the cost."

More Dell ObjectScale cons

"Room for improvement depends on customer needs. Some customers prefer pure Object Storage using the S3 protocol, while others use a gateway in front of the storage grid to enable CIFS or NFS."

"If I had to choose one area, it would be making the consoles more intuitive would be helpful. Sometimes, they can be a little complicated if you're not familiar with them."

"The performance could be better. It isn't bad, but everything is network-based, so you have a performance penalty on the network. You can never achieve the same performance as hardware. That's the disadvantage of cloud storage solutions in general. Cloud performance is one of the main issues clients have."

"The performance could improve in IBM Cloud Object Storage. The throughput or objects per second can have degradation."

"One improvement could be incorporating a feature similar to Dropbox's version history. This would allow users to track modifications made to files over time, which is particularly important for maintaining a record of changes. While the free version might not include this feature, it could be included in the paid version to provide added value to clients. Additionally, having a version history feature that allows users to access modifications made to files over the past three months could be beneficial."

"IBM has limited cloud storage."

"Sometimes technical support lacks a comprehensive understanding of the entire solution, only focusing on the product they support."

"One area where IBM Cloud Object Storage could potentially improve is in modernizing its underlying codebase."

More IBM Cloud Object Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is within reason for what you get. From what we have found comparing it to other vendors, it is in the same range as others. Given the choice, we would definitely redeploy it based on the cost."

"The price could be cheaper."

"Licensing fees are paid yearly."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is a hardware appliance, and it's very expensive if you compare its price with other solutions. You can get the same features and benefits from its competitor, VAST Data, but for half the price of Pure Storage FlashBlade."

"The price is a little high."

"It's a costly solution, but Pure Storage FlashBlade doesn't require additional licenses. All of the software is combined into one bundle."

"I understand that it is competitively priced compared to other brands."

"I rate the tool's pricing a seven to eight out of ten."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"The price of Dell ECS should be reduced."

"Dell EMC ECS is too expensive."

"The product is quite expensive."

"If I remember correctly, Dell ECS is an appliance, so if you buy Dell ECS, you also have to buy the hardware, while IBM is standalone software, so you can buy IBM as software only without needing to buy the hardware. On a scale of one to five, I'm rating the pricing for Dell ECS a four."

"Dell ECS is a cost-effective solution."

"We initially purchased all of the licenses at the same time."

"It is an expensive solution. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product."

"The solution could be cheaper."

More Dell ObjectScale pricing and cost advice

"Like most cloud providers, IBM likely charges based on storage capacity, typically per gigabyte or terabyte. Their pricing is competitive when compared to AWS or Microsoft."

"Pricing is not cheap."

"You have the option of a monthly or yearly license. Most customers choose the monthly option. I understand what you would like to say. IBM also lets you choose among four types of Cloud Object Storage. The difference is usage, performance, etc. Of course, high-performance storage is more expensive, while low-performance storage is for cold data, and it's really cheap."

"IBM Cloud is cheaper than AWS. If you want to scale your cloud infrastructure, it can be bought at almost the same price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

20%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

25%

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	21

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

Regarding pricing, it is okay; we needed exactly this in size, and the price was a lot lower than competitors, making...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

In my opinion, one way Pure Storage FlashBlade can be improved is by having more compatibility between the FlashArray...

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What do you like most about Dell EMC ECS?

The tool is easy to use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC ECS?

The pricing is moderate and at par with the market. As a service provider, we receive good margins, indicating a favo...

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What needs improvement with Dell EMC ECS?

I cannot think of anything as an area for improvement with Dell ECS. I do not see any pricing or usability concerns.

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What do you like most about IBM Cloud Object Storage?

The integration itself is pretty easy. The access appliances create the connection between both environments.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Object Storage?

In general, Object Storage should be a cheaper solution.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Object Storage?

The interface can feel clunky and outdated compared to AWS S3 or Azure Blob Storage. While scalable, latency can be...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 18% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 9% of the time

VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 7% of the time

NetApp StorageGRID vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 4% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

Amazon AWS vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 21% of the time

NetApp StorageGRID vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 10% of the time

MinIO vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Storage Fusion vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell ObjectScale Competitors

MinIO vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 26% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 14% of the time

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Spectrum Scale vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 8% of the time

HPE File Storage and Object Storage vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Cloud Object Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

January 2026

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale

January 2026

Download Dell ObjectScale product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cloud Object Storage

January 2026

Download IBM Cloud Object Storage product report

Also Known As

No data available

EMC ECS, Dell EMC Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS)

Cleversafe

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Dell ObjectScale is a next-generation S3 object storage platform known for scalability, performance, and efficiency. It integrates with Dell EMC products, combining hardware and software for seamless user experience in the AI era.

Dell ObjectScale implements the S3 protocol, integrating smoothly with Dell EMC solutions like ISILON. Its architecture supports data compression and interoperates with multiple protocols for enhanced performance. Enterprise features include immutability, geo-replication, and user-friendly management. However, it needs better integration with other systems, enhanced security, and disaster recovery. Write performance and scalability improvements, competitive pricing, and documentation enhancements are key areas for progress. The interface could be more straightforward, with more remote management features and native analytics.

What features does Dell ObjectScale offer?

S3 Protocol Implementation: Brings industry-standard access with wide application compatibility
Seamless Dell EMC Integration: Ensures stability and ease of use with existing systems
Data Compression and Protocol Interoperability: Enhances performance and storage efficiency
Immutability and Geo-Replication: Provides enterprise-level data protection
Optimized Pricing: Balances cost with comprehensive support

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Supports expanding data requirements effectively
Integration Flexibility: Works with many existing systems for better interoperability
Ease of Management: Streamlines hardware and software operations
Enterprise-Level Features: Delivers advanced protection and efficiency

Industries leverage Dell ObjectScale for cloud-based object storage, archiving, and backups. It's favored for unstructured data management, CCTV integration, and document archiving. Strong in data analytics, it integrates well with high-capacity applications, enhancing data retention strategies across fields.

Dell Technologies

IBM Cloud Object Storage is a web-scale platform that stores unstructured data - from petabyte to exabyte - with reliability, security, availability and disaster recovery without replication.

IBM

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Atos

Bitly, Dreamstime, Prime Research

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

December 2025

Free Report: Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

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