IBM Power Systems Reviews

We use the solution as a database server. The core banking database runs on IBM Power LAPR with terabytes of memory (20 TB of database size). Performance and availability is top-notch. With database clustering, we ensure the high availability of our database. Runtime resource allocation made life easy when required.

It can be used as an application server as well. With the application server's HA (IBM Power HA) clustering, we ensure the high availability of our application.

We also used IBM power for CBS application for banks and for IBM MQ for Messaging.

IBM Power system is the most reliable server in terms of RAS (Reliability, Availability, Sustainability). These features give us a boost of performance in our application which in terms runs our business. 

Performance, uptime, manageability, runtime resources allocation (Using Power VM), and longevity are other key features that ensure our business application runs smoothly.  

Also, Power VM gives us the flexibility to increase or decrease machine resources when required. this gives us the benefit of growing or shrinking in terms of scalability over time, ensuring ROI.

The most valuable features include:

• RAS (Reliability, Availability, Sustainability)
• Reliability (Reliable on performance, uptime, and  longevity)
• Availability (Available for applications running on it)
• Sustainability (Sustainable for backward compatibility of application growth and parts availability)
• Accessibility (The server gives performance even if the CPU is 100%. No new user can connect, however, the existing user will not understand that the server CPU is 100% full)
• Machine Performance, Uptime, manageability, and runtime resource allocation (Using Power VM) are highly beneficial.

Feature-wise, the power system is great, however, IBM should work on pricing. No available price list is on the web. Due to this, the customer cannot compare pricing and have a perception that IBM Power server price is high. Also customer wants to have a comparison with RICS server with INTEL server which never should be done we can not compare Mango with Apple. So in my opinion price transparency should be there, so people can understand. No new feature is not in my mind which may be add in IBM Power.

I've used the solution for 13 years. I've used it from IBM Power 5 to IBM Power 10.

The stability is great.

The scalability is great.

We did not use a different solution. 

The initial setup is complex for the machine setup potion. 

We implemented the solution with the vendor. They were good.

We have witnessed an ROI of 130%.

The setup cost, pricing, and licensing are high. That said, you will get your ROI if you are in a CAPEX model operation. If your operation runs on an OPEX model, this is not an ideal option.

We did not evaluate other options. 

We use IBM Power Systems for bank systems and databases. All banking systems use IBM Power Systems. Our additional operating and virtual and vRO systems, expansion systems, everything is IBM.

IBM Power Systems get updated every two years and are scalable and stable. It is 99.99% easy to update.

Power VMA integrations are unique to IBM in that they are free.

In my country, there are power supply interruptions. IBM could find ways to make the product stable through these interruptions.

Also, each time we have to go outside the storage, it fails.

We've used IBM Power Systems for about 12 years.

The product is stable.

I rate the scalability an eight out of ten.

The service and support are up-to-date.

Positive

The initial setup is not complex. You just connect it to the systems, the PCs, and all the laptops before starting.

We deployed the product ourselves.

The machine is good and has a comparatively good price.

A second option after IBM Power Systems is HP Unix servers.

IBM is better than HP Because IBM is a product where all things have to be integrated, including the operating system. But HP is just software.

The IBM product is one of the first power supply systems in the world, and the second is HP. I rate IBM Power Systems a ten out of ten. The only issue is that my country has unreliable power systems.

My company uses IBM Power Systems for databases with Oracle and some IBM solutions.

The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that the hardware is really good and reliable.

Speaking about the disadvantages, the tools available to manage IBM Power Systems are not that good. My company also uses VMware, which is easy to use. In IBM Power Systems, things can get complicated when you try to manage the platform.

Price and complexity related to the management of the solution are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required.

I have been using IBM Power Systems for fifteen years.

Even though my company does have connections with a local partner of IBM, whenever we need direct support from IBM, it can be difficult to get support because even though they say that they support technologies from other vendors, we face a lot of issues in my company when we try to deploy machine since there are a lot of issues in this software of those machines provided by other vendors.

I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

Positive

Oracle SPARC is one of the solutions with which my company has some experience. My company switched from Oracle to IBM since we faced some problems with Oracle, from whom we had purchased eight SPARC T4-1 Servers. The problem arose when we had to create a new contact to support Oracle SPARC T4-1 Servers, and Oracle never cared to help us. Rather than resolving our issues, Oracle told my company that we could either migrate to the cloud or buy new servers from them.

The initial setup of the product is complex. In our company, we had an instructor from IBM who told us IBM prefers to make the setup phase difficult. In other platforms, the deployment phase can be completed with a few clicks, but with IBM, you need to do a lot of steps even though the end result may not be as good as you expected.

IBM Power Systems is a really expensive product.

With IBM Power Systems, you get to use IBM PowerVC, which allows you to automate the deployment process of virtual machines in the platform, especially those virtual machines that are a mix of virtual and physical machines. The definition of virtual machines may seem illogical since we also use physical machines.

I rate the overall product a nine out of ten.

Most of our landscape is on IBM Power Systems.

IBM Power Systems' best features are its reliability, resilience, and performance per rack unit. IBM Power Systems gives a 75% reduction compared to Intel.

One of the main challenges with IBM Power Systems is the functionality of live partnership mobility. When you're running an L4 on one physical machine, and you want to migrate to another physical machine running live, it's very cost-intensive. In addition, IBM Power Systems is less user-friendly than competitors like VMware or Hyper-V. With IBM Power, you have to go to a command line and configure things one by one. In the next release, I would like IBM Power Systems to include a visual operational management console where I can manage all my IBM Power machines end-to-end. I would also like to see hyperconverged systems with their own storage.

I've been using IBM Power Systems for a year and a half.

IBM Power is pretty stable - I would rate its stability at 4.5 out of 5.

IBM Power is scalable - the amount of memory and number of CPU codes that one system can host is twice that of an Intel machine.

IBM takes its support very seriously - whenever you contact them for support, the people who onboard will know how to resolve the issue smoothly. Also, because IBM owns all the hardware in its machines, they don't refer you anywhere else, they take care of everything themselves.

Positive

IBM Power is a bit complicated to set up compared to Intel-based hypervisors. 

Everything that is available on the cloud version is available on-prem as well. IBM Power is more expensive than other rack-mount servers, and you have to have a license for everything, including cores and memory.

I would give IBM Power a rating of nine out of ten.

We use the solution for Oracle databases mostly. We are trying to bring in some new workloads, like Open Shift and Linux. 

It's been very reliable for Oracle databases. The performance has been very good. 

The reliability and availability are both excellent.

It offers very good security.

The performance and stability are great.

Technical support is helpful.

The solution can scale well. 

They simply need to promote or provide more support to open applications like .NET.

We'd like to see the solution support skill servers. 

The pricing is high.

I've used the solution since 1990.

I'd rate the stability ten out of ten. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It is very reliable and offers very good performance.

I'd rate the scalability ten out of ten. 

We do have plans to increase usage in the future. 

Technical support has been excellent so far.

Positive

The initial setup was very easy to set up. It's not a complex process. 

We have witnessed an ROI while using the solution. 

The pricing is a little high. Some models have a good price. However, many are expensive. We do have a lot of taxes in our company, and that adds to the cost.

I would rate the solution ten out of ten. 

I'm using a variety of versions of the solution. I use Power nine, six, five, ten, et cetera.

I'd recommend the solution to others. The performance is great, and it offers excellent reliability. It is a very good platform. However, it is expensive. 

Using IBM Power Systems, one of our latest resolutions was with POWER9. In our organization, we use IBM Power Systems S922 and S924. S924 is a basic database server with 5200 storage. So, that's the server acting as a database server. S922 is for IBM Spectrum Protect and backup. In the solution, an identical product means hardware production, and DR. HA is then implemented.

IBM's pricing and distribution policies differ from those of Dell, making it challenging for partners to adjust. IBM's approach to managing its partners and securing deals is looser than Dell's. As a result, IBM's partners find it challenging to navigate their policies. Although our company also has a partnership with Dell, there is a significant difference in how the two companies manage their respective partners. Nowadays, we are convinced that when we work on a particular opportunity or a deal, IBM pushes it away from us and presents it to a different partner.

The number of times IBM refreshes its operating system appears to be very slow. This case is true when compared to other tools like VMware, Red Hat, or any other Linux products. In general, the updates or the latest versions of other products are much faster than IBM Power Systems, creating an impression in the market that AIX will perish. Even though IBM might be spending time and money on the products, when it comes to the implementation part involving products from IBM or Oracle, they usually don't have a compatible version that works well with Power Linux. Also, compatible versions are mostly available in AIX. From 2017 to 2023, there has been no significant increase in the number of updates or versions from IBM.

I have experience with IBM Power Systems for eleven to twelve years. My company has a partnership with IBM.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

It was not me but one of my customers who used a different solution before choosing IBM Power Systems.

Price-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten. It's a costly solution that needs a lot of effort to convince the customer to choose it.

Our company did compare Intel with IBM during our internal evaluation process.

Speaking about the stability of the solution's system once we configure it, if the system goes down, then it takes time for us to bring it back to normalcy is minimal compared to any other enterprise product we've seen in the market. Also, the features in the solution work well. The number of crashes we experience with IBM is minimal. We anticipate that the rest of the features in the solution will work in the background.

Owing to IBM's pricing and lack of support for their partners, particularly their weak partner support policies, we often encounter difficulties, especially when dealing with larger customers. When navigating through their policies, it can feel like we hit a brick wall. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We've been very satisfied with the solution's capabilities. 

The installation is easy.

It's very stable. There is less downtime.

The product can scale. 

The compatibility with other products could be better. They have a proprietary package to install on the server. With the application or the database, you can install on top of it.

Some competitors may have more features or a certain advantage over this product.

The solution is quite expensive.

We'd like the solution to have a cloud base. Most of it is on-premises.

I've used the solution for almost ten years.

It's very stable. They have a different Hypervisor compared to an Intel-based Hypervisor, like VMware or Red Hat. The Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is like an embedded Hypervisor, so you don't have to rest up the server. If you ever install the packets or any update, it does not require you to rest up the server. It's more stable, and you don't need more downtime.

Maybe the entry level is not very scalable. However, if you are using the enterprise level, like Power E-series, the enterprise series, not the entry-level, it's very scalable. Within the core or maybe the memory, and also the IO, it's very scalable.

In Indonesia, they have local support, however, maybe for certain products, the support is just not as good as the main product, like the Power System or Storage. Maybe for another product, the support is very limited.

We worked with IBM products, among others. 

The installation is very simple. 

From the installer, you install the machine. Maybe you want to install the operating system. It's quite different from Windows or Linux since this is Unix-based.

Compared to Intel, IBM Power Systems is more expensive compared to Intel. Still, if you compare the TCO or the license that you can save using IBM Power, the pricing is almost the same with the Intel base, however, it depends on the application license or the database license. 

In general, the pricing is quite high.

I manage the product at the company. I'm a consultant. We deal mostly with enterprise-level organizations. I'm an IBM partner.

If a company wants to implement the IBM System, maybe it has to check the compatibility of the apps and the DB. Also, if they want to implement the TCO, they have to check the TCO compared to the Intel base. Sometimes, they are only checking the base hardware installation. If they implement the DB or the apps, the pricing may be reduced since the core in Power System is more powerful than the Intel base.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

We use it to run our current infrastructure and its core and resource planning applications.

The uptime feature is great, and their availability is very high. Since we have been using it, we have not experienced any downtime.

We have been using this solution for more than ten years and are using the Power8 version. It is deployed on-premises.

It is stable, and it has 100% uptime.

It is scalable, and we have a process on demand. Whenever we need additional resources, we pay for the activation. We have close to 10,000 users, and we do not have any plans to increase our users.

The technical support is a direct line, and they are responsive.

We found IBM to be more robust and able to meet our use cases.

The initial setup took us time because we migrated from a legacy to a power system. The migration took us about one week. The OEM IBM provided the consultant that did the installation.

The solution is quite expensive, and deploying it was also expensive. The pricing could be lower.

I rate this solution a nine out of ten.