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Cisco UCS B-Series vs Lenovo Flex System comparison

Cisco and Lenovo are both solutions in the Blade Servers category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Lenovo is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.7. Cisco holds a 8.3% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Lenovo’s 3.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Lenovo users who would recommend it.
Cisco UCS B-Series
Read 73 Cisco UCS B-Series reviews
  • 1,135 Views
  • 742 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
Lenovo Flex System
Read 10 Lenovo Flex System reviews
  • 392 Views
  • 240 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Cisco UCS B-Series and Lenovo Flex System compete in the server systems category, with each known for scalability and performance. Cisco gains the upper hand in integration with virtualization and centralized management, whereas Lenovo is noted for user-friendly features and resource expansion.

Features: Cisco UCS B-Series offers scalability, virtualization integration, and centralized management capabilities, enhancing memory capacity and port reduction. Lenovo Flex System is praised for high performance, stability, and a robust storage system, allowing extensive resource consumption before upgrades.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS B-Series requires significant technical expertise, with users wanting easier initial setup and management interfaces, reporting high power consumption and complex licensing. Lenovo Flex System could benefit from enhanced management application integration and increased platform flexibility, with some integration challenges and a need for improved customer support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS B-Series supports diverse cloud models, with highly rated technical support known for quick responses and knowledgeability. On the other hand, Lenovo Flex System is more focused on on-premises deployment, facing some gaps in support services despite efficient issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS B-Series is perceived as expensive, yet the high cost is offset by reliability and ROI, saving on operational and maintenance expenses. Lenovo Flex System is competitively priced and offers significant resource expansion, aligning with user expectations for value and performance.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System
June 2025
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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

Cisco UCS B-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lenovo Flex System
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 8.3%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo Flex System is 3.2%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

DavidMbugua - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable product with efficient automation capabilities
Cisco UCS B-Series manages various processes, including handling payments for over 650,000 growers, running group financials, managing human resources, and operating our main ERP system, SAP. The servers' resilience was particularly impactful. Even during power outages, the servers resumed operations from the last saved point without human intervention. The enhanced processing speed also allowed us to complete tasks that took two days in just one hour. The automation capabilities enhanced efficiency and facilitated integration with our networking components, particularly since we also used Cisco switches. The servers' security was reliable, and formal training on Cisco products made management easier. I rate the product an eight.
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Syed Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a high initial ceiling before upscaling is required, user-friendly and rich in resources, but has occasional stability issues
The solution should come with cloud native applications to prepare for cloud based solutions. Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem. The level of customer support needs to be improved. There is currently an issue with Lenovo switching out SAN switches from the chassis, which will cause problems for people who already have a set up with the SAN switch connected to the central storage. This could require an entirely different network, adding an additional cost for the user.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very unified and the technical team is very supportive, no help is needed from outside vendors."
"It is a very robust and reliable solution."
"Overall service and support from Cisco is very good."
"The most valuable feature is the service profile."
"Cisco UCS B-Series is scalable."
"The GUI makes is simple to use and deploy."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to replace a server with another one, simply by applying the profile"
"Some of the features I like from this solution are it has a fast configuration, it is not complex, and has high availability."
More Cisco UCS B-Series pros
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is its ease of use."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"Flex System's best features are its performance and stability."
"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."
"The product is very user-friendly and has many resources at the enterprise level."
"It comes at a good price. We didn't face any problems with this product."
"The functionality is reliable and requires minimal support."
"The stability and speed are always good. The processor is good and it's still working with our loads."
More Lenovo Flex System pros
 

Cons

"The aggregation in the data center is beneficial."
"Cisco UCS B-Series competitors have similar features as they do, Cisco needs to make some changes to make their offering better."
"The price of the solution could improve."
"It should be more user-friendly."
"It is more expensive than the competitors."
"The initial setup and service profile deployment can be tricky and should be improved for ease of use."
"The cost of the solution has room for improvement."
"The product could be made more secure."
More Cisco UCS B-Series cons
"The solution's firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult."
"The solution could improve by providing more integration with other platforms."
"It does not have the same module flexibility that was present in IBM Blade. On the Blade System, I was able to choose between the Cisco module, or BMC module. Since the switch to Lenovo, I have not had the same choice of modules, only the BMC modules."
"Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem."
"The product could improve its integration capabilities."
"Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved."
"The user-interface needs improvement, because they have an application from which we have to manage the whole system and all the infrastructure. This application is not working at our premises, because of some problem with the hardware itself. So although we brought it with our systems, and we used it to manage all the systems: the storage, the switches, and everything, nevertheless we have to support every part alone and enter the interface in one-by-one."
"Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo."
More Lenovo Flex System cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is highly-priced."
"Pricing will be based on your requirements so it is important to plan, engage, and negotiate directly with the Cisco Account Manager."
"It is not a yearly subscription but a yearly support renewal that you need to do for Cisco UCS B-Series."
"From a business point of view, the price is on the higher end."
"The cost of the blade servers is okay, but the cost of Fabric Interconnects ends up increasing the overall costs. For example, suppose it costs 3,500 USD per blade server. When you include the Fabric Interconnects, you could pay up to 30,000 USD. Therefore, compared to the cost of servers from Lenovo, Huawei, Dell, or HP, the cost of Cisco servers can be high. However, Cisco gives good discounts (about 90% to 94%) to partners and to customers who are already using Cisco servers. New Cisco customers do not get the level of discount that an existing customer does. Because you can get discounts with Cisco, I would give pricing a rating of four out of five."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution on a yearly basis. Price-wise, it is an expensive product"
"It makes much more sense for individual licenses for distributed environments"
"Cisco UCS does not require a license. However, this license is not specific to users."
More Cisco UCS B-Series pricing and cost advice
"We are just paying the operational cost, which is not much."
"The price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."
"The 14 blade server allows significant room for upscaling before having to invest in another chassis. You would have to purchase another chassis much sooner in the case of an eight or nine blade server."
"The is an annual license cost to use the Lenovo Flex System. If the price was less expensive and flexible overall and for additional features, our customers would be happier."
"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."
"We have the whole maintenance for the 3 years, starting the deployment. We also have the VMware license for 3 years and I think we have another license to buy. There are no additional costs besides licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
16%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS B-Series?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is easily scalable.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS B-Series?
The licensing cost for three years, followed by an AMC for two years, is reasonable. However, the management software, Cisco One, is priced a bit high but still considered reasonable. No additional...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS B-Series?
Last year, we faced challenges with firmware upgrades, but they were quickly resolved with assistance from Cisco TAC.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo Flex System?
Compared to its quality, the pricing is very reasonable and represents good value.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Lenovo Flex System?
Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Lenovo Flex System?
We are using Lenovo Flex System on the server for our VMware environment, which includes our VMs and all our servers, Linux and Windows. It manages the daily operation efficiently.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Dell PowerEdge M vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 18% of the time
Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series Logo
Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 17% of the time
HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series Logo
HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 16% of the time
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Cisco UCS B-Series Logo
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 16% of the time
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HPE Superdome X vs Lenovo Flex System Logo
HPE Superdome X vs Lenovo Flex System
Compared 58% of the time
HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System Logo
HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System
Compared 42% of the time
More Lenovo Flex System Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco UCS B-Series
June 2025
Cisco UCS B-Series reportDownload Cisco UCS B-Series product report
Buyer's Guide
Blade Servers
May 2025
Lenovo Flex System reportDownload Lenovo Flex System product report
 

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series
Flex System Blade Servers, Flex System SN Series
 

Overview

Based on Intel Xeon processor E7 and E5 product families, Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers work with virtualized and non-virtualized applications to increase: Performance, Energy efficiency, Flexibility and Administrator productivity.
Cisco

Flex System is Lenovo’s proven, 2nd generation blade, that efficiently runs your infrastructure applications with up to 80% better density than standard rack server deployments.

Lenovo
 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Anonymous Banking Group, Artoni Transporti, Bellevue, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Hertz, Houston Methodist, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co.KG, Outscale, Sony Corporation, Talbots
Information Not Available
Buyer's Guide
Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System
June 2025
Free Report: Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System
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