Dell PowerMax vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category. Dell Technologies is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.8, while IBM is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.3. Dell Technologies holds a 9.5% mindshare in N, compared to IBM’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

Dell PowerMax and IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe compete in the high-performance storage solutions category. Dell PowerMax tends to have a slight edge due to its comprehensive integration capabilities and superior replication features.

Features: Dell PowerMax offers comprehensive integration, superior replication with SRDF, and efficient storage consolidation that ensures uptime and low latency. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe features unique FlashCore technology, high IOPS performance, and a user-friendly interface, making it ideal for high-traffic environments.

Room for Improvement:Dell PowerMax can improve deduplication, compression efficiency, and NVMe over Fibre Channel support. Enhancements in automation and GUI are also desired. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe could focus on better storage expansion integration, enhanced ransomware protection, and more competitive pricing.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Dell PowerMax is primarily used on-premises and provides robust technical support, praised for effective problem-solving and swift deployment. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe supports hybrid and public cloud deployments with reliable support, noted for responsiveness and effective issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI:Dell PowerMax is expensive but offers significant ROI through performance and consolidation capabilities, contributing to data center efficiency and reduced maintenance time. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is generally more cost-effective, offering competitive pricing and good value, particularly for larger enterprises, with cost advantages over cloud alternatives.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerMax vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

January 2026

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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 FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 4.2%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerMax is 9.5%, up from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is 1.5%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell PowerMax	9.5%
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	4.2%
IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe	1.5%
Other	84.8%

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

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Gouranga Maiti

Sr. Project Manager IT at ITC Ltd

High‑performance all‑flash storage has transformed data warehousing and reporting speed

The features of Dell PowerMax that I find most valuable so far include its all-flash capability, along with its performance, reliability, and efficiency. Additionally, it has snapshot-level features that allow me to take snapshots or backups within only a few seconds. There is no need to wait long, and unnecessary high bandwidth used for backup does not occur because I can take the whole snapshot backup within a fraction of a second. I have used the deduplication feature of Dell PowerMax. Deduplication and compression are very effective, so despite my large amount of data, the effective size is reduced due to this deduplication and compression, allowing me to store more data on the same storage. Regarding the impact of Dell PowerMax's real-time data encryption on my data protection strategies, I have not used that feature personally. However, in another department, my colleagues are using it, and they have not faced any performance bottlenecks due to data encryption. The encryption is very powerful, but I have not implemented that encryption in our database data warehouse systems since they are for internal use only, not exposed worldwide. At first, I faced several issues, and our report rendering complaints were quite annoying. However, now with Dell PowerMax storage's high IOPS handling capabilities, the output comes within a fraction of a second, making our users happy. Whatever our requirement or demand is, it has already been implemented in Dell PowerMax with its all-flash NVMe storage. New bricks can also be added if a size increase is required, allowing for additional bricks to be added as needed. Everything is in place; therefore, I do not think any other improvements are required. However, it is worth noting that Dell is continuously inventing and releasing more powerful types of storage. This results in increased reliability, enhanced data handling capabilities, improved deduplication ratios, and the fulfillment of more IOPS demand.

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MohammedIsmail

Datacenter Manager at Tracker Connect

Enhanced storage performance and an easy setup with compression challenges

We use IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe as a storage device in the IT industry The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance. The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could also be improved as it's been…

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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

"The high availability of the product is the most valuable feature."

"The Pure1 component is most valuable at this point in time when comparing it with EMC. Pure1 is where you can have your diagnostics in the cloud, so you can look at things from your mobile phone."

"One of the best features is the support, which is excellent."

"It has benefited my organization because it has reduced time to insights."

"The standout features for us in Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its robust DDoS protection, seamless transparent failover, and failback capabilities ensuring high availability."

"It has good, reliable, fast storage."

"I appreciate the performance."

"What I really like about this program, is that it is easy to use and easy to configurate."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"A huge benefit of the PowerMax has been the decreasing of our physical footprint. We recently did a consolidation where we went from 58 tiles down to 5. If we had used just the PowerMax, we could have gone from 58 tiles down to 2 tiles, which is huge space savings. If you have 56 newly available floor tiles on a raised floor data center, which you previously had to cool and provide power to, then now, not only are my costs going down, I now have more revenue opportunities because I have more space to put new customers."

"For the migration process from the older VMAX arrays to PowerMax, we VMotioned everything. It was easy."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the data reduction ratio."

"The optimization of the cache memory of each engine and the use of persistent memory."

"The UI is very easy to use. We can add volumes and manage them easily."

"It allows us to protect our data using different data centers and replicate bi-directionally between our two main data centers."

"Dell PowerMax NVMe's tech support is good."

"Performance and management aspects are satisfactory."

More Dell PowerMax pros

"IBM FlashSystem provides the same software on each box, including virtualized solutions."

"IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is easy to use and comes with good performance."

"The FlashCore modules support more value to the architecture due to their unique characteristics."

"The features I find most valuable include its use for storage and performance."

"What I like about the product are its high availability, maximum efficiency in performance, and its ability to handle a high level of I/O operations."

"The solution is more available for IOPS warehousing, resolving issues, and reporting than other products."

"Its ease of use, performance, and hardware compression is very useful feature."

"IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is one of the leading storage systems in the world...I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pros

Cons

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"The software layer has to improve."

"In the next release, I would like to see real-time analytics for further insight into consumption models."

"In terms of what needs improvement, the dashboard and management could be simplified."

"There is room for improvement in catering to midrange storage needs, especially for customers seeking Enterprise-class features."

"It feels more suitable for small and medium-sized businesses rather than enterprises."

"The tool's portfolio is minimal. It is expensive."

"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial. Storage replication should be essential, and the analytics should not incur extra charges."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"The main challenge with the product was to have control over the simultaneous failures of controllers. For recovery, manual intervention is required."

"I would like NVMe to be end-to-end in the next release. Right now, it is not end-to-end."

"The solution is quite expensive."

"The price cap of Dell PowerMax NVMe is very high."

"Dell PowerMax NVMe needs to increase storage and improve scalability."

"We would like more documentation, a guide to the features of the PowerMax."

"My primary suggestion for improvement would be enhancing the IOPS handling capability even further."

"There are so many configurations in the tool that cannot be done by anyone who is not a Dell personnel."

More Dell PowerMax cons

"In the FlashSystem 5200, there were only four ports of 32 fiber channels for the architecture. This has been resolved in the new generation."

"The efficacy of the GUI in IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe could be enhanced, and it would be beneficial to include a feature that can prevent ransomware attacks."

"Deduplication and compression should be improved."

"The support could be better."

"I would like to see IBM products become more affordable because they can be quite expensive, which limits their accessibility to a broader customer base."

"The tool's architecture is complex. It also needs to add data utilization reports."

"The pricing should be more competitive."

"Other vendors have included a block and file system. IBM doesn't include a file system. And yet, it's very necessary for all organizations' networks to have file systems. We have other systems for the file system, however, ideally, we would like to have one system with these features."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

"The licensing is on a yearly basis."

"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."

"With VMware, we pay $300,000 annually."

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

"Its price could be better. It is not too expensive, but it is the high-end cost. It is kind of a Rolls-Royce. You pay a lot, but you get a lot out of it. So, the price pressure on the way down would be great, but at the end of the day, if you need to do the work, you just pay for it."

"With Pure Storage, we would like to continue seeing price reductions with flash storage. I don't think we're any different than anybody else when we continue to look to the industry for price reductions of both NVMe and traditional SSD storage. We would like to see these prices continue to decline and erode, even displacing large spinning disks."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"Its price is competitive, but they need to have a different price for West Africa. They can do better with the price point to allow us to scale even more. We wanted to migrate our entire storage infrastructure to PowerMax, which would require us to buy more capacity, and from the price point, it didn't attract us."

"Our costs are on a yearly basis."

"The cost is expensive. While VMAX now has good pricing, PowerMax is a little expensive."

"I think it is an expensive tool, but it is the best product. I think it is expensive and the cost one must pay for the best solution."

"The PowerMax appliance pricing was reasonable. Dell EMC quoted us a substantial discount."

"The cost of the solution is quite noticeable, but it provides a good fit regarding the price of the hardware and all of the required licenses."

"The price is okay."

"The price is on the market. It's not inexpensive, but it's available on the market."

More Dell PowerMax pricing and cost advice

"Compared to its competitors, IBM's offering is the most cost-effective."

"The price of the FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is reasonable."

"The solution is priced well."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMele can be considered affordable when taking into account the operating system that is required for it to function properly. This operating system, which is licensed by IBM, may carry a higher cost, but it is worth the investment for larger corporate entities, such as insurance companies, Fortune Five companies, and banks, who make up a significant portion of their target market. The FlashSystems are designed for larger corporations and multinational enterprises, and may not be the most cost-effective solution for smaller businesses."

"The price of IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe is less than Dell. For upgrades, the Dell solutions are more expensive."

"The tool's pricing is competitive."

"The solution's price is competitive."

"There are pricing options from the mid-rand to the high-range, of which the suitability depends upon the requirements."

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

Marketing Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	56

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?

Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell of...

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What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerMax NVMe?

First, it's an enterprise storage solution. This is very important for us. Another important feature is replication.

See all answers

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

The pricing of Dell PowerMax is a bit high, but compared to other storage solutions from vendors like HP, Dell remain...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The storage serves the virtual environment. Most of our applications run in the virtual environment, and it serves ne...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The tool is expensive, though I do not know the specific licensing costs.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe?

The solution's compression needs to be improved, as it's not the best. Furthermore, support from the partner could al...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 7% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 7% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 18% of the time

IBM FlashSystem vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 6% of the time

Dell VMAX All Flash vs Dell PowerMax

Compared 6% of the time

More Dell PowerMax Competitors

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 14% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

Hitachi VSP E Series vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

Compared 9% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

February 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax

February 2026

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Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

February 2026

Download IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Dell PowerMax NVMe, Dell EMC PowerMax, PowerMax

IBM FlashSystem 9100, FlashSystem 9100

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

PowerMax leads in mission-critical enterprise storage with advanced architecture and AI-driven automation, ensuring secure and efficient IT optimization. Its multi-node NVMe scale-out framework delivers unmatched performance and consolidation, backed by Dell’s Future-Proof Program.

PowerMax is renowned for its robust reliability, performance, and efficient data reduction capabilities. Users benefit from its NVMe architecture, aiding significant scalability and cost efficiency through effective deduplication and compression. Unisphere simplifies management, while CloudIQ provides enhanced monitoring. With high availability and strong IOPS capabilities, PowerMax effectively manages demanding workloads and ensures seamless operations. Its compact design and increased storage capacity enhance user experience, particularly with easy maintenance and robust performance.

What are the key features of PowerMax?

Reliability: Ensures consistent service uptime and data integrity.
High Performance: NVMe architecture provides exceptional speed and efficiency.
Data Reduction: Deduplication and compression drive down costs.
Management Tools: Unisphere interface for easy system management.
CloudIQ: Advanced monitoring for predictive insights.
High Availability: Supports mission-critical and demanding workloads.

What benefits should users expect from PowerMax?

Performance Optimization: Handles low latency and high IOPS needs.
Scalability: Expands effortlessly with growing data and workload demands.
Enhanced Monitoring: Predictive analytics for proactive management.
Efficient Maintenance: Streamlined processes reduce downtime and costs.

Dell PowerMax is predominantly employed in mission-critical applications such as SQL, Oracle databases, ERP systems, and high transactional environments. Healthcare, finance, and e-commerce sectors leverage its high performance, scalability, and NVMe technology for low latency and redundancy. It is adept in storage consolidation, data analytics, and disaster recovery.

Dell Technologies

IBM FlashSystem 9100 combines the performance of flash and Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) end-to-end with the reliability and innovation of IBM FlashCore technology and the rich features of IBM Spectrum Virtualize - all in a powerful 2U enterprise-class storage system. Providing intensive data driven multicloud storage capacity, FlashSystem 9100 is deeply integrated with the software defined capabilities of IBM Spectrum Storage allowing you to easily add in the multicloud solutions that best support your business.

IBM

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Rackspace, Open Line

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerMax vs. IBM FlashSystem 9100 NVMe

January 2026

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