No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM Cloud Private vs Microsoft Azure comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

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

IBM Cloud Private
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
20th
Average Rating
6.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
324
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of IBM Cloud Private is 1.7%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure is 11.7%, down from 18.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
PaaS Clouds Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure11.7%
IBM Cloud Private1.7%
Other86.6%
PaaS Clouds
 

Featured Reviews

VM
Executive Manager - Strategy & Enterprise Architecture Office at Al Rajhi Bank
Helps in microservices environment but satellite layer needs to improve
We opted for the IBM Private Cloud due to the prevalence of IBM applications in our ecosystem, including IBM IIB, IBM API Connect, DataPower, IBM ESB, and IBM FileNet. The seamless integration with our middle layer, the IBM Integration Hub, was a key factor in our decision. Leveraging API Connect simplified the integration process, aligning well with our overall architecture.
reviewer2832981 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Cloud migration has reduced hardware dependency and supports secure global access to apps
The best features Microsoft Azure offers are cloud scalability, virtual machines, storage, networking, security, monitoring, and identity management. Scalability is the most valuable to our organization because Microsoft Azure allows businesses to scale resources up or down based on workload demand. This helps manage traffic spikes without buying permanent hardware. Virtual machines are also valuable as Microsoft Azure provides cloud-based Windows and Linux virtual machines to run applications, servers, and workloads. Identity and Access Management is important, as the integration with Microsoft Entra ID helps manage user authentication, role-based access, and MFA. For example, employees access business apps securely using single sign-on. Backup and disaster recovery are also important because they provide automated backups and failover options to ensure business continuity. Microsoft Azure positively impacts my organization by reducing infrastructure dependency, improving availability, and enabling remote access. Teams can access applications globally without on-premises server dependency, and in terms of cost, it is very low-cost.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Excellent technical support."
"We have control of the ESXi."
"Our core banking process was monolithic. To address this, we transitioned to a microservices-based architecture. Leveraging Microsoft technologies, including Terminals version 23, we’ve revamped our banking operations. Not all services are microservices; some remain monolithic for simplicity. Containerization is pivotal, with OpenShift (based on Kubernetes and Docker) managing our microservices."
"The product's framework is good, it integrates well with API Connect, and the private cloud allows for use in any location."
"The most valuable attribute is the platform's ability to consistently deliver high reliability."
"I think this IBM solution is the best for the industry because they support legacy systems, and since we're dealing with regulations, it's the best way for us to stay safe."
"With Microsoft Azure, we have a platform that lets us easily deploy applications to the cloud."
"To me, the most valuable Azure features are AKS, Cloud SQL, security, and account management."
"The product brings a lot of value to our business and customers."
"The stability is good, there is compliance with the SLAs, and we have not encountered any issues in this domain."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure is its ease of use."
"The integration with Databricks is the most valuable aspect of the solution; it's easy to use and to put on the pipeline, and Data Factory and Databricks together build a pipeline and really integrate very well."
"The solution is stable in my experience."
"We are satisfied with the technical support."
 

Cons

"One issue with the solution is latency because there is lag time when we connect from Argentina to IBM's data centers in Washington and Dallas."
"lacking in multi-cloud management."
"Auto-scaling and managing pod scaling in the microservices architecture, a core feature of IBM Cloud Private, can pose challenges, especially when dealing with larger volumes of traffic."
"I've noticed that the satellite services layer requires some improvement compared to platforms like Azure or Microsoft. While it's in development, I believe the satellite layer has room for enhancement. Additionally, the DevOps layer could benefit from closer integrations, especially for using external applications like Jenkins."
"The support and pricing need to improve."
"From a technical perspective, there are some things lacking including some defects around multi-cloud management."
"I would like to see better policy-based management and everything related to security management could have been better integrated."
"The tool needs to improve its navigation."
"I would prefer to see improvements such as more advanced AI features, lower pricing, and better technical support."
"Pricing is very difficult to guesstimate."
"If you're not aware of how things work with Azure, it's not easy to understand. It's not clear for customers and sometimes even for Microsoft people themselves."
"There is room for improvement in the product's AI capabilities and real-time data processing features."
"The level of authorization or authorization cascading can be improved. We have the most powerful admins and then we have sub-admins, but the level of authorization is not that easy to handle or manage."
"Could be more user friendly; security features should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay annual licensing fees."
"The solution is expensive."
"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten."
"In general, the cost is on the higher side."
"The pricing for the end-user packages is a bit high. It is full of very interesting services, but I would still like it to be less expensive."
"The price of the solution could be less expensive and the pricing model could be less confusing."
"The pricing is fair and it was actually just reduced. My organization is paying approximately $100,000 annually with close to one thousand users. There are no additional fees."
"The pricing is relatively high."
"Most of the pricing from Microsoft is reasonable."
"If you are not aware of costs, pricing, etc., you can end up with a hefty bill. However, I found that the Azure price calculator is a valuable tool to use before starting to deploy VMs in Azure. This tool will give you an overview of the costs you should expect on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis."
"With adequate knowledge, I think you can come up with a good model where the pricing won't be a constraint."
"Microsoft Azure overall is an expensive solution."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which PaaS Clouds solutions are best for your needs.
916,240 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user8586 - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Aug 14, 2013
Amazon vs Rackspace vs Microsoft vs Google: Cloud Hosting Services Comparison
Amazon Web Services, Rackspace OpenStack, Microsoft Windows Azure and Google are the major cloud hosting and storage service providers. Athough Amazon is top of them and is oldest in cloud market, Rackspace, Microsoft and Google are giving tough competition to each other and to Amazon also for…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business141
Midsize Enterprise54
Large Enterprise153
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
Which is preferable - IBM Public Cloud or Microsoft Azure?
IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to manage data and applications. One of the features we like is the cloud activity ...
Which is better - SAP Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure?
One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world. SAP Cloud Platform is suitable for companies of any size; it works well with bo...
How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?
I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. In particular, the Firebase library grants you access to a shared data structure...
 

Also Known As

ICP
Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company
BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Cloud Private vs. Microsoft Azure and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
916,240 professionals have used our research since 2012.