Dell ObjectScale vs IBM Cloud Object Storage comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the File and Object Storage category. Dell Technologies is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.3, while IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 9.3. Dell Technologies holds a 7.7% mindshare in FaOS, compared to IBM’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 26, 2025

IBM Cloud Object Storage and Dell ObjectScale are competitors in cloud storage, both offering scalable solutions tailored for enterprises. IBM has the upper hand with pricing and strong customer support, while Dell excels with its robust features and perceived value.

Features: IBM Cloud Object Storage is known for its scalability, security, and integration with IBM services. It also offers S3 protocol support, effortless data scalability, and strong security measures. Dell ObjectScale offers advanced analytics, easy management, and high performance. It integrates seamlessly with other Dell solutions, providing excellent data compression and power-efficiency.

Room for Improvement: IBM could enhance their analytic capabilities and performance features. More automation in management tasks would also be beneficial. Dell ObjectScale might improve its multi-tenancy features and streamline its setup processes. Offering more flexible pricing plans could also be considered.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both IBM and Dell offer flexible deployment options. However, IBM is often recognized for its smoother deployment experience and reliability in support services. Dell provides effective support via their integrated systems, though it may require more detailed initial setup.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Cloud Object Storage provides competitive pricing with flexible plans, ideal for reducing long-term costs. Dell ObjectScale, while having higher initial setup costs, delivers greater ROI over time due to its comprehensive features and performance advantages. The choice often depends on the organization's specific needs and budget priorities.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

July 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

Pure Storage FlashBlade

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the File and Object Storage category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 5.8%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell ObjectScale is 7.7%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Cloud Object Storage is 1.1%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

File and Object Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell ECS	7.7%
Pure Storage FlashBlade	5.8%
IBM Cloud Object Storage	1.1%
Other	85.4%

File and Object Storage

Featured Reviews

Eric Black

Solutions Architect at Recovery Point Systems

The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us

The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.

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SamuelThomas

Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.

Managing efficiently with user-friendly interfaces for monitoring and managing resources

We normally recommend Dell ECS to enterprise customers and government customers Dell ECS is very easy to handle, primarily because the web UI dashboard and everything is very easy to manage for every customer. They can monitor the DPS, access failures, bandwidth, failed requests, and latency.…

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Steve Qualls

Senior Storage Engineer at Q & Q IT Consulting

Offers the ease with which you can move data between on-premises storage and the cloud and then retrieve it back on-premises when necessary

IBM Cloud Object Storage supports big data and analytics workflows. However, I usually have to refer to my documentation for that. Cloud environments are part of almost every project I've been involved in over the last few years, but I rely heavily on documentation whenever I need to do anything in the cloud. I know the basics, but the technical details always need refreshing. I create the drawings or diagrams of how the on-premises and cloud environments interact. So, visual representations are helpful. I'll diagram the on-premises environment, the cloud environment, and any appliances in between and then work from there. The integration capabilities simplified our data workflows. Like, the integration itself is pretty easy. The access appliances create the connection between both environments.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would rate Pure Storage FlashBlade a ten out of ten."

"The most valuable features are the Metro clustering, and disaster recovery."

"Speed and ease of use are the two most valuable features."

"The initial setup is pretty quick."

"The solution is able to handle workloads and is easy to use. It allows us to actually manage the boxes in less time."

"It has also helped to simplify storage for us in the way that it's easy to manage. Their automatic monitoring really helps when things break or are about to break. They see a problem coming and alert us even before our own system does."

"The ease of deployment and management has helped us simplify our storage. We also do not have to worry about capacity management as much. A lot of these things are native to Pure Storage."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is user-friendly. It's replication feature is great because it has active replication and active DR. That's the beauty of the product. It's a perfect solution for block storage."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros

"I would rate scalability ten out of ten since you buy what you want."

"Dell ECS is a very stable solution and most of the S3 APIs are supported."

"This solution is very easy to use, and is very reliable."

"It is a stable platform."

"Dell ECS is very easy to handle, primarily because the web UI dashboard and everything is very easy to manage for every customer."

"We face very few hardware failures."

"The support is good."

"The stability is the most valuable aspect of the solution."

More Dell ObjectScale pros

"The capability to replicate data in different locations is valuable since it enables customers to have a cluster over various sites."

"The standout feature of IBM Cloud Object Storage is its top-notch security, making it ideal for sensitive applications like mobile financial transactions."

"One of Cloud Object Storage's best features is infinite capacity. This is one of the main advantages if you don't want to use your own storage. You also have the ability to write only, write once, and read many. It's like tape storage but software-based. This feature is essential for financial institutions that require that kind of protection if you write backup or data there."

"Overall, I rate IBM Cloud Object Storage a ten out of ten."

"IBM Cloud Object Storage integrates well."

"The most valuable feature I like is when you connect it via CLI plug-in...It is a stable solution."

"IBM has the most number of additional services, this is the main advantage."

"The integration itself is pretty easy. The access appliances create the connection between both environments."

Cons

"The Pure Storage Orchestrator is our biggest pain point at the moment. If we can have more say in future developments of feature sets that we will need to support for our use case, that would be pretty beneficial to us."

"To improve FlashBlade, some analysts suggest enhancing its handling of relational database management systems and SQL queries."

"I would like to see better integration."

"Its configuration should be easier."

"The feature that we're waiting on is better integration with the cell services."

"It would be nice if you could store file-based in the same box with the same technology."

"I would like to see more deduplication."

"The solution is expensive."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons

"They do not have complete documentation, which is very weak and could be improved."

"The solution needs to provide better integration between this solution and all other kinds of systems."

"In Taiwan, they don't have professional technical support."

"Dell EMC ECS could improve by having Relational Database Services(RDS) to review progress. Additionally, if the training was provided it would be a benefit, it would be good for our engineers."

"The solution could be more cost-effective and secure."

"We have concerns about the write performance. We would also like it to be easier to scale out, to add more boxes to the system. And we want improved performance, to use a next-generation NFS service."

"The graphical user interface should offer more options, and the documentation with respect to administration could be improved, as it is quite weak in this product."

"They need to ensure that the system will work if a site goes down."

More Dell ObjectScale cons

"IBM has limited cloud storage."

"One area where IBM Cloud Object Storage could potentially improve is in modernizing its underlying codebase."

"One improvement could be incorporating a feature similar to Dropbox's version history. This would allow users to track modifications made to files over time, which is particularly important for maintaining a record of changes. While the free version might not include this feature, it could be included in the paid version to provide added value to clients. Additionally, having a version history feature that allows users to access modifications made to files over the past three months could be beneficial."

"IBM Cloud storage is not cheap, but it could be."

"Sometimes technical support lacks a comprehensive understanding of the entire solution, only focusing on the product they support."

"The performance could improve in IBM Cloud Object Storage. The throughput or objects per second can have degradation."

"Room for improvement depends on customer needs. Some customers prefer pure Object Storage using the S3 protocol, while others use a gateway in front of the storage grid to enable CIFS or NFS."

"If I had to choose one area, it would be making the consoles more intuitive would be helpful. Sometimes, they can be a little complicated if you're not familiar with them."

More IBM Cloud Object Storage cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I feel that the price could always be lowered."

"Pure Storage FlashBlade is a hardware appliance, and it's very expensive if you compare its price with other solutions. You can get the same features and benefits from its competitor, VAST Data, but for half the price of Pure Storage FlashBlade."

"Our licensing is renewed annually."

"It's a costly solution, but Pure Storage FlashBlade doesn't require additional licenses. All of the software is combined into one bundle."

"It is within reason for what you get. From what we have found comparing it to other vendors, it is in the same range as others. Given the choice, we would definitely redeploy it based on the cost."

"The price is a little high."

"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."

"I have seen ROI. It has allowed me to increase the density of my VMs without having to purchase anything additional."

More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice

"The solution could be cheaper."

"Dell EMC ECS is too expensive."

"The price of Dell ECS should be reduced."

"The solution's cost is quite reasonable."

"It is an expensive solution. There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the product."

"We initially purchased all of the licenses at the same time."

"The price of Dell ECS should be reduced."

"It's a lease-based model, so it's capacity-based. We already negotiated the price a lot, but we're still doing that with Dell because somehow the product was not installed successfully, so there was a lot of struggle in the distributor territory between Dell and the environment itself. I would give the solution a 6 out of 10 for the pricing. There's a little room for improvement."

More Dell ObjectScale pricing and cost advice

"Like most cloud providers, IBM likely charges based on storage capacity, typically per gigabyte or terabyte. Their pricing is competitive when compared to AWS or Microsoft."

"IBM Cloud is cheaper than AWS. If you want to scale your cloud infrastructure, it can be bought at almost the same price."

"Pricing is not cheap."

"You have the option of a monthly or yearly license. Most customers choose the monthly option. I understand what you would like to say. IBM also lets you choose among four types of Cloud Object Storage. The difference is usage, performance, etc. Of course, high-performance storage is more expensive, while low-performance storage is for cold data, and it's really cheap."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

20%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Financial Services Firm

28%

Computer Software Company

18%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	20

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power out...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?

The pricing of Pure Storage FlashBlade is expensive compared to other products I used from other companies in the pas...

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What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?

I believe there is not much improvement needed because they have everything we need, but the interface is a little bi...

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What do you like most about Dell EMC ECS?

The tool is easy to use.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC ECS?

The pricing is moderate and at par with the market. As a service provider, we receive good margins, indicating a favo...

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What needs improvement with Dell EMC ECS?

It's difficult for me to comment on improvements for Dell ECS because we typically do not engage in those areas. We h...

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What do you like most about IBM Cloud Object Storage?

The integration itself is pretty easy. The access appliances create the connection between both environments.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Object Storage?

In general, Object Storage should be a cheaper solution.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Object Storage?

The interface can feel clunky and outdated compared to AWS S3 or Azure Blob Storage. While scalable, latency can be...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 19% of the time

MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 10% of the time

Qumulo vs Pure Storage FlashBlade

Compared 3% of the time

More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 16% of the time

NetApp StorageGRID vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 13% of the time

MinIO vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 10% of the time

IBM Storage Fusion vs Dell ObjectScale

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell ObjectScale Competitors

MinIO vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 35% of the time

Red Hat Ceph Storage vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 21% of the time

IBM Spectrum Scale vs IBM Cloud Object Storage

Compared 12% of the time

More IBM Cloud Object Storage Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure Storage FlashBlade

August 2025

Download Pure Storage FlashBlade product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale

August 2025

Download Dell ObjectScale product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Cloud Object Storage

August 2025

Download IBM Cloud Object Storage product report

Also Known As

No data available

EMC ECS, Dell EMC Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS)

Cleversafe

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

Dell ObjectScale is a next-generation S3 object storage platform known for scalability, performance, and efficiency. It integrates with Dell EMC products, combining hardware and software for seamless user experience in the AI era.

Dell ObjectScale implements the S3 protocol, integrating smoothly with Dell EMC solutions like ISILON. Its architecture supports data compression and interoperates with multiple protocols for enhanced performance. Enterprise features include immutability, geo-replication, and user-friendly management. However, it needs better integration with other systems, enhanced security, and disaster recovery. Write performance and scalability improvements, competitive pricing, and documentation enhancements are key areas for progress. The interface could be more straightforward, with more remote management features and native analytics.

What features does Dell ObjectScale offer?

S3 Protocol Implementation: Brings industry-standard access with wide application compatibility
Seamless Dell EMC Integration: Ensures stability and ease of use with existing systems
Data Compression and Protocol Interoperability: Enhances performance and storage efficiency
Immutability and Geo-Replication: Provides enterprise-level data protection
Optimized Pricing: Balances cost with comprehensive support

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Scalability: Supports expanding data requirements effectively
Integration Flexibility: Works with many existing systems for better interoperability
Ease of Management: Streamlines hardware and software operations
Enterprise-Level Features: Delivers advanced protection and efficiency

Industries leverage Dell ObjectScale for cloud-based object storage, archiving, and backups. It's favored for unstructured data management, CCTV integration, and document archiving. Strong in data analytics, it integrates well with high-capacity applications, enhancing data retention strategies across fields.

Dell Technologies

IBM Cloud Object Storage is a web-scale platform that stores unstructured data - from petabyte to exabyte - with reliability, security, availability and disaster recovery without replication.

IBM

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL

Atos

Bitly, Dreamstime, Prime Research

Buyer's Guide

Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

July 2025

Free Report: Dell ObjectScale vs. IBM Cloud Object Storage

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