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Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs IBM Power Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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 C-Series Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.8
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.2%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 8.7%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Power Systems8.7%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers5.2%
Other86.1%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Berthold Manz - PeerSpot reviewer
Seamless server transitions enhance IT infrastructure for AI projects and improve management capabilities
If you are integrated into the Cisco management solution, it is very easy to handle. The performance aspects of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers are very strong. The ability to move from one server to another without changing anything is excellent. We can transfer all the identity of the servers between the servers.
Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support from Cisco is fine."
"In terms of the features that I have found most valuable, that is basically the hardware, which is more dynamic."
"The server can be configured easily."
"Excellent server solution with incredible network throughput."
"The processors are so strong that they can deliver AI solutions without any additional GPU card, but we are also using some GPUs, which surely gives even better results."
"The product doesn't take up too much space on the rack and I like that."
"What I really like about the Cisco USC Server is its service profile."
"The VIC card is the most important feature."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that the hardware is really good and reliable."
"Power Systems' best features include its user-friendliness and self-checking/self-healing abilities."
"IBM Power Systems' best features are its reliability, resilience, and performance per rack unit."
"The main feature that I have found most valuable is PowerVM - its virtualization feature which is the most powerful."
"On the security side, we get regular security patch updates and system hardening. There are free tools available to harden the system."
"The availability of a solution depends on the requirement of the customer. The most valuable feature is the virtualization. You can have this one system or you can use it for many. They were using almost 120 servers within that specific service."
"Power Systems is like a dream solution for every IT person because it has redundancy, and it doesn't stop. It doesn't get affected easily. I don't see any weaknesses in this solution. At the moment, we have Power8. It is stable and runs smoothly. We have a big load, and it is working very well. It can be customized based on our needs. Flash copy is helping us amazingly. We have virtualization for vDisks, which is again very helpful. We are working on this virtualization technology, and we have a team that is working on redundancy and architecture."
"IBM Power Systems are secure and have fast processing."
 

Cons

"The warranty and support periods should be extended."
"The price of the solution is problematic, not the solution itself. It could be less expensive."
"Some customers have complained about delivery time. So, the main weakness is the lead time."
"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers can improve by providing customization features to allow us to deploy them on the cloud. For example, we need VMware to allow us to accomplish a cloud deployment."
"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers could improve integration with third-party solutions."
"The improvement should be done as per customer requirements."
"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."
"One of the main challenges with IBM Power Systems is the functionality of live partnership mobility."
"The scalability process should be simplified."
"The pricing is high."
"It does not offer the ability to run any X86 or X64 Intel architecture-based application on Power Systems. There are a lot of applications, lots of business use cases that do not support this architecture as of now. If somehow application tasks can be ported on to IBM Power Systems, that would be a big improvement."
"Better manage heterogeneous footprints of all the different operating systems that are out there across one common interface."
"The pricing of the product could always be lowered."
"I would like to see firmware available to all of the systems."
"Its pricing could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."
"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis, which is only $2,000 or $3,000."
"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."
"The solution requires an annual licensing fee."
"If they plan to expand their infrastructure in periods, then simply Cisco is not a good choice."
"Cisco is expensive, but we didn't look at the cost of the product. We were looking at reliability and support."
"This solution is a little expensive."
"This product is quite expensive and it would be better if it were cheaper."
"When there is an error in the SAS drive of 10,000 RPM, my company buys support for 1,500 USD."
"The cost model is great. There is so much built in to the technology, that if you know how to use it you can save yourself a lot of money."
"The additional software costs are high."
"Its price depends on the sizing."
"Why should I be charged for that use rather than a single CPU, a single socket?"
"The price of IBM Power Systems is expensive and could improve."
"The price of the solution could be somewhat better and this is what lowers my rating of it to a seven or eight out of ten."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?
I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack serv...
What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
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 n...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems are used mainly in large organizations, generally in the financial industry, government, telecommunications, oil and gas sectors for their high availability environment. These sys...
 

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Artoni Transporti, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, City of Mississauga, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Kind en Gezin, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Nationwide, Quest, Talbots, University of St. Gallen
Cipher
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.