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IBM PowerVM vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
7.0
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure reduces costs and improves efficiency by simplifying IT management and decreasing power consumption for better ROI.
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
8.1
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's support is praised for expertise and responsiveness, justifying its cost despite some language barriers.
IBM provides strong support.
IBM offers excellent customer support.
 

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
7.9
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure offers user-friendly scalability with easy expansion, efficiently supporting various workloads and business sizes.
An IBM server can handle up to sixty-four terabytes of RAM.
 

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
8.2
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure is highly stable, reliable, and scalable, offering exceptional uptime and support with minimal disruptions.
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.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM PowerVM needs better management tools, UI enhancements, cost reduction, improved cloud integration, and broader OS compatibility.
Enhancements are needed in setup, pricing, performance, network, integrations, migration, security, control, documentation, licensing, connectivity, and interface.
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.
 

Setup Cost

IBM PowerVM pricing is high and varies by project, offering reliability but requiring negotiation due to hardware and support costs.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure offers competitive pricing, flexible licensing, and significant ROI, appealing for its performance and simplicity in management.
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.
 

Valuable Features

IBM PowerVM offers stability, flexibility, and security with resource allocation, reduced costs, seamless migration, and robust performance control features.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure excels in performance, scalability, and ease of use, offering seamless multi-cloud integration and cost-effective virtualization.
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.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM PowerVM
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (10th)
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
196
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (3rd), HCI (3rd), Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (1st), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

IBM PowerVM and Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM PowerVM is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 1.3%, up 1.2% compared to last year.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), on the other hand, focuses on HCI, holds 8.0% mindshare, down 8.8% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
HCI
 

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.
MahendraPanchotiya - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a unified platform, reduces downtime, and simple updates
Nutanix offers a unified platform for managing databases, virtual machines, and applications. This simplifies management by consolidating everything into a single interface. While Nutanix may have a higher upfront cost compared to other hypervisors, it can significantly reduce the resources needed for infrastructure management. With our previous hypervisor, we needed nearly ten IT personnel. Nutanix has allowed us to streamline our team to just three members. We use a combination of database technologies, including SQL databases and web servers such as IIS, BHP, and NGINX. Nutanix features helped our organization reduce downtime. I don't recall the last time we had downtime related to Nutanix because it is such a stable product. Nutanix, a reliable product, helps us streamline our processes, which in turn improves company revenue. We began to see the benefits after two years, with a 40 percent reduction in operational costs. We migrated 200 servers from AWS to Nutanix. Nutanix may not consolidate applications, but it helps us run them more efficiently on its platform. Updating is simple with one click. I would rate the updating processes 10 out of 10. Adding compute and storage on demand is not difficult. However, we need to factor in the existing and new firmware and software requirements.
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Comparison Review

it_user244362 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 30, 2015
Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod
Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
35%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

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 ...
What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?
We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...
How do I choose between Cisco Hyperflex HX Series and Nutanix Acropolis AOS?
Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions from core to edge and multi-cloud environments. It helps IT and OT teams deploy hyper...
Which would you choose - Nutanix Acropolis AOS or VMware vSAN?
We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...
 

Also Known As

PowerVM
Nutanix Acropolis AOS, Nutanix AOS, Nutanix Acropolis
 

Learn More

 

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
St. Lukes Health System, the City of Seattle, Yahoo! Japan, Sligro, Empire Life, Hyundai AUS, and many others.
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831,071 professionals have used our research since 2012.