FlexPod XCS vs HPE ConvergedSystem comparison

NetApp and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. NetApp is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.0. NetApp holds a 12.6% mindshare in CI, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 12.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.

FlexPod XCS

Read 295 FlexPod XCS reviews

3,176 Views
1,493 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HPE ConvergedSystem

Read 21 HPE ConvergedSystem reviews

792 Views
713 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

FlexPod XCS

HPE ConvergedSystem

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

FlexPod XCS and HPE ConvergedSystem compete in the Converged Infrastructure category. FlexPod XCS seems to have an upper hand due to its tighter integration with Cisco and NetApp, which offers significant advantages.

Features: FlexPod XCS offers comprehensive integration, validated designs, and a unified support model, enhancing deployment and support. It is highly scalable and guarantees compatibility. HPE ConvergedSystem, valued for its simplicity, reduces the IT footprint with its turnkey approach and provides excellent hardware support.

Room for Improvement: FlexPod XCS could improve its unified management interface and vendor coordination, and accelerate adoption of new technologies. HPE ConvergedSystem should enhance the speed of supporting the latest versions and improve its integration with newer infrastructure components.

Ease Of Deployment and Customer Service: FlexPod XCS excels in deployment through validated design and enjoys a strong vendor collaboration for support. HPE ConvergedSystem benefits from simplicity in setup and hardware support but may lag in version support. Its customer service is proactive and responsive.

Pricing and ROI: FlexPod XCS is seen as expensive but offers high ROI through reduced operational costs and efficient resource management. Its pricing is justified by stable and unified architecture. HPE ConvergedSystem offers competitive pricing with ROI linked to lower data center costs and simplified management. Both systems stress the necessity of a thorough cost-benefit analysis based on organizational requirements.

To learn more, read our detailed FlexPod XCS vs. HPE ConvergedSystem Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. HPE ConvergedSystem

December 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

FlexPod XCS

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

295

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

HPE ConvergedSystem

Ranking in Converged Infrastructure

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Converged Infrastructure for SAP HANA (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 12.6%, up from 8.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ConvergedSystem is 12.3%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
FlexPod XCS	12.6%
HPE ConvergedSystem	12.3%
Other	75.1%

Converged Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

John Kevin

Deputy IT Manager at MBBank

Enforces standardized setup procedures following Certified Validated Design (CVD) guidelines and offers greater flexibility and control over the system compared to traditional systems

The GUI setup follows the right setup, meaning we have to follow the CVDi.e. Certified Validated Design. Everything is clear, because you can build CI yourself, but without rules, it can be messy. With FlexPod, there are rules to follow, making it more standardized. This helps with troubleshooting and compatibility assessments, simplifying troubleshooting significantly. We also use FlexPod pre-validated architectures to validate the design. It is very, very important to us because we had a bad case in 2015 where separate items integrated poorly due to no version or firmware compatibility certification. Troubleshooting became a nightmare. So, standards are crucial for us, and everything entering production should be verified or at least documented for certification.

Read full review

Pat Fogarty

Project Engineer at Astellas Pharma US

With good integration and expansion capabilities, the tool also offers good technical support

It is a solution that we could expand in our company. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten. Our company has 400 users, all of whom have used it at one point or the other. All of the departments are involved in the usage of the tool.

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

"ONTAP is the core of FlexPod, so its most valuable features are: FlexClone, Snapshot, and SnapCenter."

"The most significant benefit is storage flexibility. FlexPod is a reference design to build on and add the appropriate resources you need for your workloads. That's what differentiates it from something like HCI, where you have to buy certain size pieces when you want to expand."

"I would rate technical support as a 10 out of 10. They are good and responsive."

"FlexPod gives us the opportunity to deploy a product which is fully built and racked with minimal touch installation when it arrives onsite, so we can do all the configuration remotely."

"Integration is most valuable. This is a reference architecture. So, we don't have to design something from scratch and figure out how it is going to work."

"The guides that we use to install FlexPods are always up-to-date. This is really helpful, especially if there is a new product with NetApp moving so far forward and Cisco as well. For them to join together and update a centralized document for the install process, it is really good. It helps us understand if there are features from the first version that we installed while upgrading that we need to implement. Those are in the document. So, we find that document useful and helpful when moving forward."

"The most valuable feature is that it is all-in-one, and it is easy to get support on it."

"I am happy with the stability. I haven't had any major issues with it in four years. This includes upgrades."

More FlexPod XCS pros

"This is a scalable solution. Our customers begin with an initial configuration and later add more servers, memory and other options to meet the demands of increased processing."

"The solution's technical support was good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten."

"The tool's most valuable features are stability and scalability."

"The user interface, reporting, and management are good, and we are quite happy with the performance."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its ability to restore lost machines. Essentially its high availability capabilities are extremely valuable to us."

"Most of the HP products I come across are they are easy to install. That's not very complex."

"Consolidation and duplications features."

"The flexibility is the most advantageous aspect of the solution. Our system has a very big environment. Due to this, the replication and backup operation is not an easy task. We prefer HPE SimpliVity modules in our environment, even when we have some different cases in operations."

More HPE ConvergedSystem pros

Cons

"They should have an easier user interface to get it up and running."

"Hyper-V is not as well supported by NetApp and Cisco as VMware is, which is something that should be improved."

"It would be helpful if they sold a pre-boxed option so that you can buy a rack and everything's already there, everything's connected."

"Hardware stability needs improvement. We replaced a lot of RAM this past year. We had to replace the complete blade once after extensive troubleshooting. Any given time, we have approximately one blade down within the entire infrastructure, unfortunately."

"We have had bugs which have been released, even though they have been minor."

"I have noticed a lot of customers, they will kick it over the fence. It is FlexPod; it is that mystery animal. The room for improvement is to better present it to those users, so they will not have to be afraid of it."

"Compatibility issues with replication. The Oracle table formats were not working and storage replications did not work as well, until we had to introduce other components to make it work."

"The upgrades should be improved. We would like to have the ability to do unified upgrades of the whole infrastructure from beginning to end."

More FlexPod XCS cons

"The solution needs to add NFS features."

"Pricing is an area of concern in the solution where improvements are required."

"The solution has a complicated front-end."

"The MTG inside HP could be improved."

"The tool has shortcomings in its performance monitoring part."

"Features that should be addressed concern the HPE functionality and the interaction with VMware."

"HPE ConvergedSystem needs to improve its management. I would like the tool to add cloud management features so that the system can be accessed anywhere from the cloud."

"I would like to see monitoring solutions included, as well as brand support."

More HPE ConvergedSystem cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not cheap, but there is a return on investment in time saved and efficiency."

"We would like everything in one piece of hardware. This way we can just sell the product like a silo by putting everything in a stack together."

"It created lower total cost of ownership. Previously, we had disparate storage and servers, and there were bits of kits everywhere. Now, we have two data centers with almost identical setups in both."

"We have saved time and money for new service deployments. Without FlexPod, it probably takes about ten hours. With FlexPod, within two hours, we are up and running. So, we have seen about an 80 percent time decrease."

"The FlexPod licensing can adjust to your purse, i.e. there are different levels available for businesses of all sizes."

"We can just swap in new equipment or hardware as we need, which has probably saved us several weeks."

"The main return on investment would be that instead of having to refresh all of our desktop hardware we have been able to go reimage existing machines and use those as thin clients, then also purchase new thin clients rather than buying actual hardware. It also reduces the overhead of having our technicians deploy those systems and maintain them."

"As a startup, for the amount of budget we have and the amount we spend, we are getting what we expected."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"This is an expensive solution."

"There are some extra costs in addition to the licensing costs for the yearly maintenance from professional third-party services."

"Pricing is good. We have not calculated what hyper-converged infrastructure has brought us but I think there has to be some lower cost for us, compared to the public cloud. Obviously, there would be a lower cost, probably by more than half."

"This is an expensive system and not every customer has the kind of budget to support it."

"My company has a five year contract for HPE ConvergedSystem. The contracts depend on companies and sometimes it can be three years. The solution is worth its price."

"The pricing is competitive. Not a major problem. We have a subscription model."

"I rate the product price an eight and a half on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

More HPE ConvergedSystem pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user244362

Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees

Aug 30, 2015

Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod

Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

20%

Performing Arts

10%

Educational Organization

Transportation Company

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	34
Midsize Enterprise	66
Large Enterprise	182

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	13

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about FlexPod?

The system is designed for easy scaling. Because we define everything clearly. So when we plug the system in, we apply the profile, and it scales easily.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FlexPod?

The pricing is not cheaper, but stability is more important for us now. We focus on business gains, not static numbers. Following XCS rules ensures a stable environment, which is crucial. For me, C...

See all answers

What needs improvement with FlexPod?

FlexPod should focus more on automation. Integrating an automation tool with FlexPod would enable customers to leverage automation capabilities. More automation would be helpful. Currently, we cont...

See all answers

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Comparisons

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Compared 17% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 8% of the time

Fujitsu PRIMEFLEX vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 8% of the time

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Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 19% of the time

Oracle SuperCluster vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 15% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 14% of the time

Rackspace OpenStack vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 13% of the time

VxRail vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 11% of the time

More HPE ConvergedSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

January 2026

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE ConvergedSystem

January 2026

Download HPE ConvergedSystem product report

Also Known As

No data available

HPE ConvergedSystem 700, HPE ConvergedSystem for SAP HANA, CS500, HPE ConvergedSystem 900, HPE ConvergedSystem 500, HPE ConvergedSystem 300

Overview

FlexPod XCS is the secure platform your applications need from edge to cloud. Easily manage your suite of cloud-native, edge, and enterprise apps. Integrate advanced cloud services without compromising performance, security, reliability, or scale.

NetApp

HPE ConvergedSystem is designed for high availability, scalability, and seamless integration with HPE software and devices. It is valued for its stability, performance, and cost-efficiency, especially in areas such as power and cooling, making it suitable for diverse IT environments.

HPE ConvergedSystem offers a flexible and compact design, making it manageable even for IT novices. It serves multiple purposes, including server provisioning, container hosting, and recovery and backup operations. Users appreciate its capability to optimize virtual environments and its compatibility with VMware hosting and on-premises deployments. The system's seamless operation with HPE software and devices like Serviceguard, Synergy, and SimpliVity supports complex IT tasks. However, challenges include pricing and compatibility with new software versions, with room for improvements in scalability, full flash arrays, and monitoring tools. Enhancements in integration with third-party tools, remote copy functionality in low-bandwidth environments, and cloud management features are desired for better performance.

What are the key features of HPE ConvergedSystem?

High Availability: Ensures continuous operation of IT environments.
Scalability: Allows easy expansion to meet growing IT demands.
Easy Integration: Seamlessly works with HPE and third-party software.
Simplicity and Flexibility: User-friendly for IT novices with adaptable configurations.

What benefits should users look for when evaluating HPE ConvergedSystem?

Cost-Efficiency: Reduces expenses in power and cooling.
Performance: Provides stable and efficient IT operations.
Backup Capabilities: Supports robust data recovery processes.
Security: Delivers secure IT environments for complex tasks.

HPE ConvergedSystem is implemented in industries such as government, healthcare, and education. Consulting firms, resellers, and integrators use it to meet diverse client requirements, benefiting from its efficiency in virtual machine scaling and exceptional user experience delivery.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Sample Customers

University of Sao Paulo, WD-40, The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group

FAW-Volkswagen, NICS, NBrIX, Pinpoint, HPE Technology Services, SWS, Ko Sistem, HPE

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. HPE ConvergedSystem

December 2025

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