HPE BladeSystem vs Lenovo Flex System comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Lenovo are both solutions in the Blade Servers category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6, while Lenovo is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.7. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 13.9% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Lenovo’s 3.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Lenovo users who would recommend it.

HPE BladeSystem

Read 139 HPE BladeSystem reviews

1,900 Views
1,881 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Lenovo Flex System

Read 10 Lenovo Flex System reviews

396 Views
392 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

HPE BladeSystem

Lenovo Flex System

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

HPE BladeSystem and Lenovo Flex System are key players in the enterprise server market. Reviews suggest HPE BladeSystem has an advantage in terms of support and scalability, while Lenovo Flex System stands out with resource capacity and user-friendliness.

Features: HPE BladeSystem is known for durability and configurability, particularly for its iLO management and reliability over time. It offers comprehensive management tools and scalability. Lenovo Flex System is praised for reliability and performance, with a focus on storage capabilities and user-friendliness, providing high resource capacity before upscaling.

Room for Improvement: HPE BladeSystem faces challenges with outdated technology and limited parts availability, with concerns over scalability and licensing processes. Its management lags behind competitors, needing better support and integration. Lenovo Flex System requires improved integration with other platforms and better module flexibility, with users noting initial setup and customer support issues.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE BladeSystem offers reputable customer service with proactive support but regional discrepancies in response times are noted. Lenovo Flex System shines in initial customer service but struggles with consistent issue resolution, indicating a need for more uniform support.

Pricing and ROI: HPE BladeSystem is perceived as having high initial costs but delivers excellent long-term ROI through reduced operational expenses. It's ideal for large enterprises. Lenovo Flex System offers competitive pricing and more cost-effective scalability options, delivering significant ROI with upfront savings. Both systems have tailored pricing strategies for distinct market needs.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE BladeSystem vs. Lenovo Flex System Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HPE BladeSystem vs. Lenovo Flex System

July 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

HPE BladeSystem

Ranking in Blade Servers

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

139

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Lenovo Flex System

Ranking in Blade Servers

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of HPE BladeSystem is 13.9%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo Flex System is 3.2%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Blade Servers

Featured Reviews

Fatai Akinwande

Specialist Datacenter and Server at IHS Towers

Enables you to manage all resources from a single dashboard using the OneView feature

In terms of improvements, I'd suggest enhancing the stability of the HPE BladeSystem, especially regarding network connectivity. We once had an issue where a system didn’t communicate with the network, and it took a while to diagnose the problem. Eventually, we discovered it was a motherboard issue, but we initially thought it was the network card. Improving the onboard administratordashboard to provide more granular insights, like clearly identifying faultycomponents, would make troubleshooting much more efficient. Aside from that, the system is superb and has been reliable.

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Syed Ibrahim

Assistant Manager Systems - IT Infrastructure at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

Provides a high initial ceiling before upscaling is required, user-friendly and rich in resources, but has occasional stability issues

The solution should come with cloud native applications to prepare for cloud based solutions. Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem. The level of customer support needs to be improved. There is currently an issue with Lenovo switching out SAN switches from the chassis, which will cause problems for people who already have a set up with the SAN switch connected to the central storage. This could require an entirely different network, adding an additional cost for the user.

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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 solution is very fast and the power consumption is great."

"The density of the BladeSystem, that we can keep adding blades as we need more VMs."

"This has drastically reduced our datacenter space, has good cooling and power consumption."

"The solution has good scalability."

"Remote management features are valuable."

"The solution has good performance."

"Cabling complexity and volume have been reduced."

"The most valuable feature of HPE BladeSystem is its upgradability and centralized configuration."

More HPE BladeSystem pros

"The product is very user-friendly and has many resources at the enterprise level."

"The stability and speed are always good. The processor is good and it's still working with our loads."

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is its ease of use."

"We use the solution as a compute model to run the compute load on servers."

"Flex System's best features are its performance and stability."

"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."

"The Lenovo Flex System is very stable."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

More Lenovo Flex System pros

Cons

"I would prefer to have changes in the compatibility of the blade servers with the new ones designed by HPE, as the top team's version does not have it."

"We had a few hard drives that crashed, and we couldn't find them locally. We've tried internationally, but we are still struggling to get its spare parts. This is the main challenge that we have faced with this solution. Fortunately, the other drives are still working. There should be easy availability of spare parts. I should be able to request a quotation online from HPE for things that I am not able to get locally. Currently, I can order online, but when I type the serial number, most of the time, it is rejected. I don't know why it is happening. It could be because the company that sold us the system didn't buy it through the normal HPE channel. HPE should assist us as users to get the spare parts. Its security needs to be beefed up. I would like some security features. It was also challenging for us to set it up because we didn't get enough training from them."

"The management side of this solution could be improved."

"Non-disruptive firmware upgrades in all areas of blade technology."

"The integration and price of HPE BladeSystem could be improved."

"Currently, in the case of a disk failure there is a need to remove the whole bay and as a result, to disconnect all the other disks."

"Higher bandwidth interconnects could be introduced."

"It would be nice if the solution were cheaper."

More HPE BladeSystem cons

"Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo."

"The solution's firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult."

"The user-interface needs improvement, because they have an application from which we have to manage the whole system and all the infrastructure. This application is not working at our premises, because of some problem with the hardware itself. So although we brought it with our systems, and we used it to manage all the systems: the storage, the switches, and everything, nevertheless we have to support every part alone and enter the interface in one-by-one."

"It does not have the same module flexibility that was present in IBM Blade. On the Blade System, I was able to choose between the Cisco module, or BMC module. Since the switch to Lenovo, I have not had the same choice of modules, only the BMC modules."

"The product could improve its integration capabilities."

"Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem."

"I had some difficulties with the initial setup."

"Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved."

More Lenovo Flex System cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not expensive, really, in this class of server products."

"It is expensive. There are no additional costs. We are able to get good discounts anyway from HPE, but if the price can come down, we'll be happy."

"The pricing is competitive."

"I don't have access to your financial information or the specific details of this solution's pricing. There are no additional fees. It is the hardware and the support."

"The chassis itself, with no blade server inside, so expensive. The C7000 model costs around $100,000."

"We have been satisfied with the price. However, there are additional costs for support."

"I need to pay for the license, and it is expensive. We make yearly payments."

"BladeSystem is a little bit cheaper."

More HPE BladeSystem pricing and cost advice

"The is an annual license cost to use the Lenovo Flex System. If the price was less expensive and flexible overall and for additional features, our customers would be happier."

"We are just paying the operational cost, which is not much."

"The price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."

"The 14 blade server allows significant room for upscaling before having to invest in another chassis. You would have to purchase another chassis much sooner in the case of an eight or nine blade server."

"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."

"We have the whole maintenance for the 3 years, starting the deployment. We also have the VMware license for 3 years and I think we have another license to buy. There are no additional costs besides licensing."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

16%

Government

16%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How would you choose between HPE's Bladesystem and Synergy?

For me, choosing between HPE’s Bladesystem and Synergy came down to which solution was more powerful, reliable, and stable. It turns out Bladesystem was the winner. Bladesystem is excellent because...

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What do you like most about HPE BladeSystem?

The solution is scalable, offering flexibility and expansion options to meet changing business needs.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE BladeSystem?

With around 19 years of exposure in working with various servers, including HPE, I encounter challenges in identifying reasonable prices during the setup cost and licensing process, especially for ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo Flex System?

Compared to its quality, the pricing is very reasonable and represents good value.

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What needs improvement with Lenovo Flex System?

Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Lenovo Flex System?

We are using Lenovo Flex System on the server for our VMware environment, which includes our VMs and all our servers, Linux and Windows. It manages the daily operation efficiently.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 62% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

Cisco UCS B-Series vs HPE BladeSystem

Compared 9% of the time

HPE Superdome X vs HPE BladeSystem

Compared 7% of the time

Supermicro SuperBlade vs HPE BladeSystem

Compared 5% of the time

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HPE Superdome X vs Lenovo Flex System

Compared 56% of the time

HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System

Compared 44% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE BladeSystem

July 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Blade Servers

July 2025

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Also Known As

HP ProLiant BL Series Servers, HP ProLiant BladeSystem

Flex System Blade Servers, Flex System SN Series

Overview

HP ProLiant BladeSystem share power, cooling, network, and storage infrastructure via the blade enclosure. Since equipment is not needed for each server, you get a dramatic reduction in power distribution units, power cables, LAN and SAN switches, connectors, adapters, and cables. And you can add the newest-generation technologies by simply changing individual components.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Flex System is Lenovo’s proven, 2nd generation blade, that efficiently runs your infrastructure applications with up to 80% better density than standard rack server deployments.

Lenovo

Sample Customers

EMIS Health

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

HPE BladeSystem vs. Lenovo Flex System

July 2025

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