Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the NAS category. Dell Technologies is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8, while IBM is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2. Additionally, 96% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

IBM FlashSystem and Dell PowerStore are two leading enterprise storage solutions. Dell PowerStore appears to have the upper hand due to its scalability and advanced features.

Features: IBM FlashSystem's valuable features include exceptional integration capabilities, robust performance, and ease of setup. Dell PowerStore stands out with its scalability, automation, and advanced user-friendly features.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest IBM FlashSystem could enhance its documentation, customer training, and user support. Dell PowerStore users point to a need for more detailed error reporting, advanced analytics, and deeper insights.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FlashSystem is favored for its straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. Dell PowerStore is noted for its efficient deployment process and thorough customer support. Both products perform well, but Dell PowerStore edges out with its supportive infrastructure.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem is viewed as cost-efficient with a good ROI and lower setup costs. Dell PowerStore, although generally more expensive, offers superior features and long-term value, making it worth the investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell PowerStore vs. IBM FlashSystem Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerStore vs. IBM FlashSystem

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 868,759 peers since 2012

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

1.0

Organizations reduced costs and improved performance with Pure FlashArray X NVMe, achieving quick ROI and efficient resource management.

Sentiment score

6.6

Dell PowerStore reduces infrastructure costs, enhances data management, boosts performance, and streamlines operations with reliability and efficiency.

Sentiment score

6.7

IBM FlashSystem offers easy migration, improved performance, seamless integration, cost efficiency, and quick ROI, enhancing user satisfaction.

By opting for the gold subscription every three years, you get a free upgrade to the latest controller release.

SajithEruvangai

IT System Specialist - Operations & Infrastructure at Daman

If you wait more than seven years to buy another one, you get a return on your investment.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

If you purchase storage with 300 terabytes, you can easily achieve one petabyte of effective capacity.

AdnanAli Khan

Regional Sales Manager at New Horizon Computers

It's been trouble-free the entire time, with very high performance, as it has been designed and built properly.

reviewer2709102

Storage Engineer at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

We have seen a return on our investment in Dell PowerStore; definitely our cost per terabyte has been very good compared to some of the other vendors that we would have been using previously, and our performance benchmarks have exceeded what we were expecting.

Eoin O’Brien

Director of Global Platform at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

The solution can comfortably be stretched from five to seven years without any failures, ensuring a long-lasting return.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

We have seen return on investment compared to other OEMs, which took approximately three years after implementing IBM FlashSystem.

Ravikumar Boppani

Technical Lead at Tomia

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.1

Pure FlashArray X NVMe's technical support is praised for responsiveness, despite occasional follow-up issues, earning high customer satisfaction.

Sentiment score

6.2

Dell PowerStore's support is praised for responsiveness and professionalism, though some face language and time zone challenges.

Sentiment score

7.0

IBM FlashSystem support reviews are mixed, with praise for response speed but criticism for regional expertise and complex escalations.

We also had one outage where a controller of one of the products had failed and had to be replaced on-site.

reviewer943512

System and Network administrator at Vodafone

Customers always have their issues resolved promptly.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

Pure has good storage.

Gokhan Dikmen

Vice President of product at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

If necessary, they will search for a specialist within their Dell network who we can approach with our questions.

Sander

IT Consultant at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees

I would rate the technical support of Dell PowerStore between nine and ten out of ten.

Tiby Thomas

Solution Architect at CDA

They're responsive, knowledgeable, and have a quick turnaround.

reviewer2598762

Systems Engineer at a government with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

Customers of alternatives like Dell and Hitachi enjoy more reliable and comprehensive support services directly from vendors rather than third-party subsidiaries.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

I rate the technical support from IBM as a ten.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

IBM customer support is responsible, efficient, and responsive, though it is expensive.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

Pure FlashArray X NVMe offers scalable storage with low latency, easy upgrades, though capacity customization and high costs are noted.

Sentiment score

7.1

Dell PowerStore offers scalable, flexible architecture, supporting diverse business needs through easy expansion and integration of multiple appliances.

Sentiment score

7.3

IBM FlashSystem is praised for its scalable, flexible expansion, suiting diverse enterprises and integrating well with current systems.

It is highly scalable.

Joerg Utesch

Sales Director at systemzwo group

It is suitable for both medium-sized and enterprise businesses.

Jaka Demšar

VAD PLSM Storage - Slovenia & Croatia at ASBIS

It hasn't broken down anytime in the last six to seven years, despite hurricanes, earthquakes, and power outages.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

The solution's scalability is a ten out of ten.

Amjed Antari

Pre-Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The customer likely exceeds 20,000 users globally.

Hamed Mohamed

Adv. Service Manager at ECC Solutions

You can create as many tools as needed, providing scalability based on the use case.

Marc Gaethofs

ICT manager at Thys Bouwprojecten

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

For larger enterprises, scalability is an issue as the price becomes prohibitive.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

The problem arises when migrating data to a later IBM FlashSystem version due to issues with firmware compatibility.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

The scalability of IBM FlashSystem is exceptional, and I rate it as a nine.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Pure Storage offers exceptional stability and reliability with outstanding support, consistently achieving high user ratings for performance and service.

Sentiment score

7.6

Dell PowerStore is generally reliable, though update-related bugs can cause minor concerns among users despite consistent stability.

Sentiment score

7.6

IBM FlashSystem is generally stable and reliable; however, some users experience issues due to specific configurations or hardware conditions.

During the eight years, there have been no problems such as hardware failure or stopping.

Gokhan Dikmen

Vice President of product at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I would rate the stability of the solution as a ten out of ten.

SajithEruvangai

IT System Specialist - Operations & Infrastructure at Daman

I would rate the stability of the product at seven out of ten.

Gary Cheung

Project Manager at a government with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

When I removed all the cables, it failed over within five minutes.

reviewer2707638

Consultant

There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.

Hamed Mohamed

Adv. Service Manager at ECC Solutions

I would rate the stability of Dell PowerStore as ten out of ten.

Sander

IT Consultant at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

Customers have infrastructure that is 100% stable.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

The firmware and software engine have fewer bugs, which enhances operational efficiency.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Room For Improvement

Pure FlashArray X requires cost-effective improvements in UI, integration, cloud features, multitenancy, analytics, backup, AI, and scalability.

Dell PowerStore needs improved integration, features, and support, focusing on UI, stability, pricing, and cybersecurity enhancements.

IBM FlashSystem needs improvements in capacity, GUI, support, data reduction, cloud integration, and stability for better competitiveness.

We would appreciate a built-in transparent failover in the next release to eliminate the need for a separate metro cluster.

Joerg Utesch

Sales Director at systemzwo group

I'm eagerly anticipating the roadmap's promise of introducing multiple controllers, which could significantly boost scalability and resilience.

SajithEruvangai

IT System Specialist - Operations & Infrastructure at Daman

We mostly rely on long-term releases. We don't need the most up-to-date features, but we need a reliable environment.

reviewer943512

System and Network administrator at Vodafone

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

If you want to delve into where your I/Os are going, the reporting might need more in-depth information to make informed decisions.

Marc Gaethofs

ICT manager at Thys Bouwprojecten

In my organization, we have had to go through two weeks with no replication, which is not very handy for our production environment.

reviewer2318379

Coordinator Team Infrastructure at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Something needs to be done with the caching to ensure that if some issue occurs, there needs to be an ability to disable caching during maintenance to make it static, safe, and good.

reviewer2402940

CISO Admin at a analyst firm with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

Despite marketing promises, these features do not function effectively and can impact performance.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

There is room for improvement in the troubleshooting part, specifically related to IBM Spectrum for Insight.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

An additional function that could be helpful is reducing the time it takes to delete volumes, especially if they are compressed or deduplicated.

Subodh Jaiswar

Storage Specialist at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers see Pure FlashArray X NVMe as a justified premium investment due to performance and comprehensive licensing.

Dell PowerStore offers strong value with competitive pricing, straightforward licensing, and favorable price-to-performance compared to other NVMe options.

IBM FlashSystem pricing is competitive but can be higher; users stress evaluating total costs, including software and support.

While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits.

Enes SUZER

Manager, System Infrastructure & Security at Organik Kimya San. ve Tic. A.S.

The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

I would give it a nine out of ten in terms of costliness.

SajithEruvangai

IT System Specialist - Operations & Infrastructure at Daman

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

Likely the cost is $400,000 whereas IBM may be $250,000.

Hamed Mohamed

Adv. Service Manager at ECC Solutions

Based on my experience, the cost of Dell PowerStore for around 500 GB of capacity is very competitive compared to any other platform in the market.

SachinSharma4

Deputy General Manager at HCLSoftware

There's no need to pay for a license; it's all-inclusive.

Marc Gaethofs

ICT manager at Thys Bouwprojecten

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

To install or upgrade any software features, the cost is high, which makes it challenging for smaller companies who do not require advanced features like deduplication or compression typically needed by larger organizations.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Valuable Features

Pure FlashArray X NVMe offers exceptional performance, reliability, scalability, and seamless VMware integration, enhancing workload efficiency and user experience.

Dell PowerStore provides seamless management, impressive performance, intelligent optimization, and strong cybersecurity with ease of deployment and scalability.

IBM FlashSystem, known for high performance and reliability, excels in storage virtualization and advanced features, enhancing data efficiency.

Pure Storage has signature security technology, which cannot be deleted, even if you are an administrator.

Gokhan Dikmen

Vice President of product at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

The platform's robust features include excellent sustainability tracking, and a comprehensive dashboard offering insights into IOPS, bandwidth, performance, and virtual activities.

SajithEruvangai

IT System Specialist - Operations & Infrastructure at Daman

Its data compression feature is the best that we have ever seen.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

For more quotes and insights, download the Pure FlashArray X NVMe report

The solution promotes data reduction, often meeting the compression ratio.

Marc Gaethofs

ICT manager at Thys Bouwprojecten

The PowerStore's compression ratio is even higher than the Unity system.

Sander

IT Consultant at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees

The deduplication part of the solution is valuable since, as a user, you get more space for less money.

Fred Berg

Coordinator at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell PowerStore report

There is a significant amount of data reduction, achieving a ratio of one to three.

Subodh Jaiswar

Storage Specialist at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

There is built-in compression, a data reduction feature, and artificial intelligence-driven insights that calculate warnings and errors to redirect to customers automatically.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Categories and Ranking

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

Read full review

Eoin O’Brien

Director of Global Platform at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Improves cost efficiency and significantly while boosting workload performance

We have realized several benefits from using Dell PowerStore; we migrated to the current Dell PowerStore models from tiered storage, and now we're using all flash. The dedupe and compression has been a big benefit for us versus the old storage that it was running, and we've seen the performance of all flash for our storage services. My company finds particular features within Dell PowerStore valuable, primarily the cost benefits for the performance that we get out of the platform. We've definitely seen the benefit on that side of it, including the cost per terabyte, and the support from Dell has been excellent as well. We haven't had any issues with it, so it's been very reliable as a platform for us. The performance metrics I use to measure success with Dell PowerStore are all IOPS and throughput. We are not using it with AI workloads on Dell PowerStore, so it's primarily just customers running IaaS, however, it is important that it's reliable and performs well, and we get that from Dell PowerStore. Dell PowerStore has supported growth and operational success for my business; a key driver at the moment is consolidation, and the dedupe and compression ratios allow us to standardize on a single platform. This has helped improve our operational metrics and overall operations, as we now have only one vendor to support and one set of storage arrays to manage. We have a very clear path into support and escalation if there is an issue, and we are not dealing with multiple vendors.

Read full review

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs

The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem is its robust back code. When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand. Additionally, IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing and reliable performance. The hardware is dependable, ensuring that it functions effectively when the setup is done correctly.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	41
Midsize Enterprise	27
Large Enterprise	61

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	47
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	57

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

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What do you think about Dell EMC PowerStore? Is it actually a new product?

PowerStore is flexible, scalable, simple, and performant with market-leading economics for a wide range of legacy and...

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How does Dell's EMC PowerStore compare with its EMC Unity XT?

Dell EMC PowerStore is a unified storage platform that has the added benefit of being scalable. The automated managem...

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What's the difference between DELL EMC Powerstore and Powermax NVMe?

Dell PowerStore is an all-solid-state midrange storage system. It has many internal elements taken from other Dell of...

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What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem?

It is simple to make an update.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem?

The pricing is reasonable for IBM FlashSystem.

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What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

Some improvements are required in IBM regarding response time and resolution time, though not about competence. Produ...

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Comparisons

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Compared 16% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 14% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 4% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

HPE Alletra Storage vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 14% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerVault vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 11% of the time

NetApp AFF vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 8% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs Dell PowerStore

Compared 7% of the time

More Dell PowerStore Competitors

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp AFF vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

September 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerStore

September 2025

Download Dell PowerStore product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

September 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

PowerStore

IBM Storwize

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

Dell PowerStore is a scalable, high-performance platform supporting both modern and traditional workloads, enhancing IT operations with AI-driven automation and advanced data reduction features.

Designed for flexibility, Dell PowerStore integrates seamlessly with VMware, providing robust security and high IOPS. Users benefit from fast NVMe storage, intelligent data management, and scalable performance to handle diverse workload demands. However, improvements are needed in replication, enterprise functionalities, and UI complexity. Stability and support issues highlight the need for enhanced monitoring and pricing strategies.

What are the key features of Dell PowerStore?

Advanced Compression: Optimizes storage capacity effectively.
Data Deduplication: Reduces redundant data, improving efficiency.
Scalability: Easily adjusts to growing business needs.
VMware Integration: Enhances virtualization performance.
AI-Driven Management: Simplifies IT operations.
NVMe Storage: Provides fast, reliable access to data.
Robust Security: Ensures data protection.

What benefits does Dell PowerStore offer?

High Performance: Supports demanding applications with high IOPS.
Flexible Design: Adapts to changing workload requirements.
Cost Efficiency: Promotes ROI through data reduction and scaling.
Enhanced Management: Streamlines operations with AI and integrations.
Improved Data Handling: Efficiently manages databases and storage.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and IT, Dell PowerStore is critical for VMware virtualization, high-performance databases, and backup storage. It supports hosting virtual machines, mirroring storage, and handling SAP and Oracle databases effectively. Its role in hybrid and on-premises setups showcases its adaptability and integration capabilities for mission-critical tasks.

Dell Technologies

IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

IBM

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerStore vs. IBM FlashSystem

September 2025

Free Report: Dell PowerStore vs. IBM FlashSystem

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerStore vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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