IBM FlashSystem vs NetApp Private Storage comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the NAS category. IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while NetApp is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.5. IBM holds a 7.6% mindshare in N, compared to NetApp’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

IBM FlashSystem

Read 110 IBM FlashSystem reviews

3,799 Views
2,926 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

NetApp Private Storage

Read 14 NetApp Private Storage reviews

284 Views
246 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM FlashSystem

NetApp Private Storage

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 7, 2024

IBM FlashSystem and NetApp Private Storage both compete in the storage market, each offering distinct advantages. IBM FlashSystem appears to have the upper hand with its cost-effectiveness and emphasis on core functionalities.

Features: IBM FlashSystem provides high performance and low latency with features like Easy Tier and a user-friendly GUI, aiding data management and storage virtualization. NetApp Private Storage, in contrast, excels in cloud integration and offers a rich set of features including SnapMirror, yet often faces challenges in ease of use.

Room for Improvement: IBM FlashSystem could enhance scalability, its management interface, pricing transparency, and integration documentation. NetApp Private Storage requires simplification in configuration, improved support responsiveness, and better feature utilization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FlashSystem predominantly sees on-premises deployment, with mixed reviews on support quality, highlighting delayed responses as a challenge. NetApp Private Storage integrates well with on-premises and cloud environments, but user satisfaction is hampered by inconsistent customer service.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing with a bundled licensing model, appealing to budget-conscious organizations despite being slightly higher than some alternatives. NetApp Private Storage, viewed as expensive, provides extensive features but lacks IBM's pricing strategy appeal.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp Private Storage Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp Private Storage

January 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

IBM FlashSystem

Ranking in NAS

4th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

110

Ranking in other categories

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (4th), All-Flash Storage (13th)

NetApp Private Storage

Ranking in NAS

16th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the NAS category, the mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 7.6%, up from 7.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp Private Storage is 1.5%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

NAS

Featured Reviews

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

Offers cost-effective storage for small companies with budget constraints

IBM FlashSystem 5300 is offered at a very low cost in Israel, which is advantageous for small companies. However, other features like deduplication and compression do not perform effectively. The price sensitivity makes it a viable option for clients with budgetary constraints, as it allows us to secure deals based on the cost rather than advanced performance.

Read full review

Pramod-Talekar

Sr Service Engineer at Evolent Health

Well-suited for virtualized environments and highly stable solution

We are in a VMware Intra environment, so we are utilizing NetApp Storage for our virtualization infrastructure NetApp offers multiple features that we utilize for our projects. At the moment, we are extensively using SnapMirror Flex. There is room for improvement in the support. It has been a…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The valuable features for us are the extra add-ons, such as the FIM provisioning, the compression, the disaster recovery capabilities, and the storage pooling functions."

"The most valuable feature in demand is virtualization and its support storage of virtualization features."

"The performance monitoring feature is useful as it can report in 15 minute intervals by hour, day, week, month, or by a custom date range."

"This solution is really user friendly. It also offers good performance and is highly reliable."

"The most valuable features are, of course, the virtualization of the storage, the performance, and the compression."

"The speed and the ease of installation are the most valuable features."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is compression."

"The maintenance service and support from IBM is very good."

More IBM FlashSystem pros

"The most valuable feature of NetApp Private Storage is out-of-the-box integration with the SAN switches. They are much easier compared to Dell solutions. Additionally, the connector that comes with the solution that allows connection back to the Cisco SAN switches is very good. In Dell, I would need to use an FCIP or CIP port that is required."

"NetApp is faster than other storage brands."

"NetApp has its own dedicated operating system, so it will not be affected by any wireless piggybacking or malware. That's the beauty of NetApp's operating system."

"The most valuable feature is integration."

"It gave us a platform which could clearly arrange all our files and volumes."

"Disaster recovery. And I like the security very much. I think they have the needed options for security. Can manage NPS using the same tools and process that we use today."

"Integration with other NetApp solutions and merging them is manageable."

"Very stable and very scalable."

More NetApp Private Storage pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the troubleshooting part, specifically related to IBM Spectrum for Insight."

"The solution should improve its pricing and the mechanism in the reduction pool."

"With regards to the IBM V7000 storage system, where we have multiple tiers of storage, a heat map would show I/O distribution across the tiers of storage."

"The solution is not able to replicate data in one-to-many scenario."

"The initial setup is complex."

"GUI interface should be enhanced more as there is some issues in copy services."

"There is room for improvement in the troubleshooting part, specifically related to IBM Spectrum for Insight. Customers are uncomfortable with remote access, which affects automated remote support."

"I think the only thing the developers can look at, is that it is limited to 25 gigabytes currently. In the next release they might want to increase that."

More IBM FlashSystem cons

"The users find the new version's GUI complicated to use."

"There is room for improvement in the support. It has been a problem for our team."

"I would like to have the Active-Active feature. Some competitors already have it. I would like NetApp to add it to stay competitive."

"The solution could improve by having better support experts. For example, they do not have clear instructions on configuration."

"I'm not sure how easy it is to use on the cloud versus on-prem. If they have different user experiences, they should work to make the two as similar as possible to make it easy for a user to understand both even if they only deal mainly with one."

"I think that it should work better with Microsoft solutions, more integrated with Microsoft. We also need integrated NAS and block storage."

"NetApp Private Storage is still integrated into the ISCSI connectivity and the FC protocol. I would recommend them to migrate to the FCIP because the SAN switches are moving further to an FCIP, and are scaling out of the ISCSI connectivity. Sooner or later, that will be an issue for NetApp Private Storage. An NFCIP should be available to them moving three years down the line."

"I would like to see the GUI management simplified in the next release."

More NetApp Private Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have no issues with the price as it is very competitive."

"The pricing may be a bit higher than other brands. If you compare the IBM FlashSystems in midrange with Dell EMC in midrange, IBM costs a bit more, but I prefer IBM because it has more specs that I can benefit from."

"The pricing is competitive in our country."

"The cost is pretty high in terms of licensing. We pay at least $100,000 USD in licensing fees for the storage."

"There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."

"It pays to go back and get the best price you can from your supplier. The first offer is not always at the best discount."

"Its price is very good."

"For a yearly license, it is about $100,000. There are no additional costs. The entire system is included."

More IBM FlashSystem pricing and cost advice

"We negotiate whatever deal we can get on the type of storage that it is, but it's totally under our control,."

"The price of NetApp Private Storage is similar to other solutions. There is typically an annual license required for this solution."

"In general, I am pleased with the pricing, though it is a little high."

"The product is costly."

"It is an expensive solution."

"The price could be lower."

"NetApp Private Storage is cheaper here in India compared to other solutions, such as Dell."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

21%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Real Estate/Law Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem?

It is simple to make an update.

See all answers

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

Many factors affect purchasing directly from IBM, often involving a multi-step process. Customers, especially in banking, often use the latest devices as they are upgrading, indicating they do not ...

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What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

The GUI needs some improvement. An additional function that could be helpful is reducing the time it takes to delete volumes, especially if they are compressed or deduplicated.

See all answers

What do you like most about NetApp Private Storage?

NetApp is faster than other storage brands.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp Private Storage?

The product is costly. Also, we need to pay for features like SnapMirror, etc. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp Private Storage?

NetApp is a great storage device, but sometimes support is not accessible. Also, the current version has removed most of the dashboard features. We have to use the CLI for some tasks. Additionally,...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 25% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 7% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 6% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 48% of the time

NetApp FAS Series vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 28% of the time

Qumulo vs NetApp Private Storage

Compared 24% of the time

More NetApp Private Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

January 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp Private Storage

January 2025

Download NetApp Private Storage product report

Also Known As

IBM Storwize

NPS

Overview

IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

IBM

NetApp Private Storage (NPS) for Cloud is a family of enterprise storage solutions that lets you use multiple industry-leading clouds and maintain complete control over your data on dedicated storage systems from NetApp.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH

ASE IT, Concerto Cloud

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp Private Storage

January 2025

Free Report: IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp Private Storage

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