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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
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
72
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 October 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 6.6%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Intel Server System is 4.1%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Power Systems6.6%
Intel Server System4.1%
Other89.3%
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

"It's outstanding, it's so reliable, I have customers that run it that never touch it, and it runs for 20 years by itself in a closet running their entire business."
"I can have what they call multi-tenancy, meaning that I can have multiple tenants within the same server."
"We've been using it for a long time, and it's stable."
"In general, I am 100% confident in the IBM Power Systems and I recommend them."
"The support provided by IBM Power Systems is very good."
"The pricing of the solution is very good because we can beat any other competitor with the pricing."
"POWER8 was a huge upgrade."
"Power uniquely positions our bank in the industry because we are almost 100% virtualized, so we're cloud-ready, if you will."
"The price is competitive and it uses well known architecture and it's easy to develop for."
"It is stable and easy to manage."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is more stable than AMD for VMware."
"I would recommend this product; it is stable with good performance, and we are satisfied with Intel's products."
 

Cons

"They can make it easier to do the patching and iFixes, which is especially important now, with all of the security issues."
"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."
"In East Asia, the support gets abysmal."
"The power supplies often need replacing."
"Sometimes, the availability of additional services can be a challenge. Certain IBM software takes time to deliver to the client. It can be slow."
"IBM Power Systems need to improve aspects such as power outage handling, simplifying the setup, and possibly lowering the price."
"Its management can be made easier because it is not easy to manage. They should also find a new way for migrating from an old Power Systems to a new one. The migration process is currently very complicated. It should be made easier to scale. Currently, its scalability depends on the initial sizing, whereas in Nutanix HCI, you can add whatever you need and whenever you need it."
"If you're not in the Advocate Program you have to go through the series of the lower-level tech support, and usually they're not really helpful."
"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."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When there is an error in the SAS drive of 10,000 RPM, my company buys support for 1,500 USD."
"It is designed for a large workload, as opposed to a small workload. For our circumstances, and even as an independent, I can't buy a Power system to experiment on. It can't happen. You cannot buy them."
"The price of IBM Power Systems is expensive and could improve."
"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."
"IBM Power Systems is very expensive."
"There is a yearly licensing cost, and it's an expensive solution."
"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."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"It is not expensive."
"I rate the pricing a ten on a scale from one to ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is very expensive."
"The price is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Outsourcing Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
8%
Retailer
6%
Insurance Company
6%
 

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: September 2026.
919,809 professionals have used our research since 2012.