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IBM Power Systems vs Intel Server System comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 11, 2026

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 Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Intel Server System
Ranking in Rack Servers
11th
Average Rating
6.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 6.5%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Intel Server System is 4.0%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Power Systems6.5%
Intel Server System4.0%
Other89.5%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
Has empowered enterprises with secure and cost-effective solutions
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would not really call a challenge, is that initially people have the notion that IBM Power Systems is quite expensive. However, IBM does not lose deals based on price. This is a message we need to keep communicating to people who feel that IBM is on the high side in terms of cost. We encourage them to have a discussion with us about their total cost of ownership over three or five years. There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false. However, once we engage and show them their return on investments and their total cost of ownership savings, they tend to embrace IBM.
SA
Servers Senior Network Administrator at Dukat d.d.
A stable product that constantly enhances its functionalities like multithreading and caching
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is more stable than AMD for VMware. Intel Server System has a good track record for the last 20 years. Multithreading and caching are areas where improvements keep increasing. If you look at the last four years, you will see a big difference when it comes to the area concerning processors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The performance and stability are great."
"The most valuable feature of IBM Power Systems is its performance."
"It's a great system."
"IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors."
"With IBM Power11, downtime is virtually eliminated because the system has been fully optimized."
"We like the resiliency, we like the flexibility, the speed of the processor."
"The uptime feature is great, and their availability is very high, and since we have been using it, we have not experienced any downtime."
"Our clients choose Power because they trust the platform; they trust IBM i, they are really comfortable with it, and even new customers that had not previously used Power's servers or IBM i are moving to the platform because of trust in the hardware, in IBM, in their delivery, and in their support."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is more stable than AMD for VMware."
"The price is competitive and it uses well known architecture and it's easy to develop for."
"It is stable and easy to manage."
"I would recommend this product; it is stable with good performance, and we are satisfied with Intel's products."
 

Cons

"Price and complexity related to the management of the solution are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required."
"I think they could use a little more work in the upgrading of the OS, how that could happen as non-interrupting, but I think they are working on that."
"In Power6, latency was an issue, but nowadays, we are on Power8, which doesn't have any such problems. Sometimes, we have issues when we are moving to a new version, which is the case with almost every company. Some new issues or problems show up suddenly, and you do not have the time to research and find the solution. That's when we contact IBM technical support."
"They can make it easier to do the patching and iFixes, which is especially important now, with all of the security issues."
"Licensing is always going to be a problem, because it used to be based on, "This is a CPU, this is the memory, this is your footprint." Now, with virtualization, that one CPU can be carved up 100 different ways, so why should I be charged for that use rather than a single CPU, a single socket?"
"The number of times IBM refreshes its operating system appears to be very slow."
"Better manage heterogeneous footprints of all the different operating systems that are out there across one common interface."
"Licensing has always been an issue, but with IBM machines a serial number is licensed with support."
"When you have an Intel Server System, the prices may be much higher since it is a different processor, making the solution's pricing part one of its shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The shipment time can be improved. When we order Intel products, we have to wait for a long time. They can increase the local services and engineers in China. Local engineers will be able to know and understand customer problems much better."
"I give it five out of 10 because, although they're well known, the system isn't really advanced compared to some of the competitors."
"We have to scale it ourselves but it scales. It depends on the software because it's mostly the hardware platform that Intel is managing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing costs are okay. With IBM Power Systems, it's inclusive, so you can differentiate the price of the hardware from the software itself."
"The pricing of the solution is very good because we can beat any other competitor with the pricing. Lately, they have offered good pricing for their customer."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"IBM Power Systems is very expensive."
"It's more about the value you get for the price. Considering its stability and performance, the pricing is good."
"When there is an error in the SAS drive of 10,000 RPM, my company buys support for 1,500 USD."
"The price of the solution depends upon the configuration part of it. Based on what configuration you want to go for it, there is a range like IBM Power Systems POWER9 and IBM Power Systems Power10."
"There is a yearly licensing cost, and it's an expensive solution."
"I rate the pricing a ten on a scale from one to ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is very expensive."
"It is not expensive."
"The price is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise42
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
In my opinion, the product can be improved by maintaining it and not sunsetting it; that would be my recommendation for IBM. I used to work for IBM for nineteen years, and I know, unfortunately, I ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
I am an architect and system administrator, and I'm responsible for anything related to IBM Power Systems. In IBM Power Systems, I have found a lot of valuable features such as LVM, TCP, ODM, RSCT,...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Power Systems?
I would recommend IBM Power Systems to others. I have given this review a rating of ten out of ten.
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Also Known As

IBM OpenPOWER LC
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cipher
Emerson, Baosight, Pentamaster
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Power Systems vs. Intel Server System and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
911,039 professionals have used our research since 2012.