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IBM PowerVM vs Nutanix AHV Virtualization comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.8
IBM PowerVM enhances ROI by reducing Oracle licensing costs, offering scalability, reliability, and ease of administration for large databases.
Sentiment score
6.3
Nutanix AHV Virtualization reduces costs by 45%, enhances performance, and improves agility with 30% less downtime in three years.
The return on investment is substantial, though other platforms may offer a better ROI, primarily due to lower costs involved in setup and maintenance.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
IBM PowerVM support is reliable and knowledgeable, but improvements are needed in hardware support without subscription, despite overall satisfaction.
Sentiment score
8.7
Nutanix AHV Virtualization is acclaimed for its responsive, knowledgeable 24/7 support, with generally positive feedback despite occasional response delays.
IBM provides strong support.
IBM offers excellent customer support.
They provide prompt and quality responses.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
IBM PowerVM offers exceptional scalability, handling large deployments, flexible adjustments, and high performance, though some users find it costly.
Sentiment score
8.4
Nutanix AHV Virtualization offers efficient scalability, easily expanding resources for diverse environments, making it ideal for growing businesses.
An IBM server can handle up to sixty-four terabytes of RAM.
We can scale our systems easily without any downtime, making it a highly effective solution for dynamic environments.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
IBM PowerVM is highly stable and reliable, offering strong security and performance, making it ideal for high-performance workloads.
Sentiment score
8.6
Nutanix AHV is praised for stability, reliability, seamless virtual management, proactive support, and integration with Nutanix infrastructure.
The stability of IBM PowerVM is exceptional, as industry reports have named IBM Power and Z as the most stable platforms globally for 15 consecutive years.
The solution is very stable.
Issues such as patch delays and the OVF format challenge affect its stability rating.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM PowerVM needs better management tools, UI enhancements, cost reduction, improved cloud integration, and broader OS compatibility.
Nutanix AHV requires improved integration, interface optimization, better documentation, disaster recovery, automation, Linux support, and competitive pricing.
We have a strong relationship with IBM, which aids decision-making in transitioning clients from mainframe to other platforms.
PowerVM should integrate some capabilities of VMware vCenter to improve its management features.
This delay in patching creates risk, especially for government projects that require timely updates.
These menus often show options like host, memory, and disk, however, they fail to provide insight into what's happening.
 

Setup Cost

IBM PowerVM pricing is high and varies by project, offering reliability but requiring negotiation due to hardware and support costs.
Nutanix AHV provides cost-effective virtualization with no hypervisor fees, though additional licenses and high initial prices may apply.
Pricing is a concern in Argentina due to the higher cost of mainframe solutions.
PowerVM itself is free with the purchase of an IBM server.
This has been advantageous as it does not require additional licensing costs for the hypervisor, contributing to overall cost savings.
The pricing was reasonable compared to other competitors, though the storage was expensive.
 

Valuable Features

IBM PowerVM offers stability, flexibility, and security with resource allocation, reduced costs, seamless migration, and robust performance control features.
Nutanix AHV excels in user-friendliness, cost-efficiency, scalability, flexible management, and robust data protection, enhancing virtual environment operations.
It supports specific workloads, like Oracle and SAP HANA, much better due to its shared processor pool feature which reduces licensing costs.
PowerVM excels in efficiently managing all systems and environments, including development, UI, and production.
The technology behind the backups is very efficient, enabling a reliable virtual environment.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM PowerVM
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Nutanix AHV Virtualization
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of IBM PowerVM is 1.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix AHV Virtualization is 8.9%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable system for high-end data processing with a great support structure
The only problem with the IBM system is improving its hardware licensing model. For example, when you procure a server with 40 physical codes, you must also procure licenses to activate the codes. In Dell or any system, you procure the hardware and have the full right to use the hardware. For IBM, it's different because when you procure a 40-code processor and have 40 physical codes, you only have a license to use 20. As a result, the 20 alert codes will always be in activated mode. Hence, the hardware licensing model could be improved because the licensing model is a bit different from the standard hardware procured.
Mithun Nidiyenga - PeerSpot reviewer
Achieves seamless upgrades and cost efficiency while managing virtualization
One issue we encountered is with third-party vendors who provide customized images in OVF format, a VMware virtualization format. When we customize these images for Nutanix AHV, some vendors refuse to support them, stating they've been altered. Another area for improvement is in the patching process. Nutanix releases product patches every three months, while the underlying systems like the backend operating system receive weekly updates, causing a gap. This delay in patching creates risk, especially for government projects that require timely updates.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
30%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM PowerVM?
Managing other operating systems is also straightforward with IBM PowerVM.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM PowerVM?
PowerVM itself is free with the purchase of an IBM server. However, I find that the overall cost is higher, however, the total cost of ownership is cheaper for larger workloads.
What needs improvement with IBM PowerVM?
PowerVM should integrate some capabilities of VMware vCenter to improve its management features. IBM should consider models that combine x86 and Power processors for versatility in running Windows ...
How does Nutanix AHV compare with VMware vSphere?
To understand which is better - Nutanix AHV or VMware vSphere - you need to do a product comparison. Both products support hypervisors. However, Nutanix supports some of the most popular ones and m...
What do you like most about Nutanix AHV Virtualization?
Integration is the most valuable feature of the product.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nutanix AHV Virtualization?
Nutanix offers a lower price compared to other solutions. This has been advantageous as it does not require additional licensing costs for the hypervisor, contributing to overall cost savings.
 

Also Known As

PowerVM
No data available
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sto, Soitec, SNO, Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH, Al Mansour Holding, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Huhtamaki, ELK Group, IT-Informatik, Arkansas Tech University, Pneuhage
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM PowerVM vs. Nutanix AHV Virtualization and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.