FlexPod XCS vs HPE ConvergedSystem comparison

NetApp and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Converged Infrastructure category. NetApp is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.3, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0. NetApp holds a 10.3% mindshare in CI, compared to Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s 16.6% 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

2,096 Views
859 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HPE ConvergedSystem

Read 21 HPE ConvergedSystem reviews

691 Views
622 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: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS vs. HPE ConvergedSystem

September 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

3rd

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

1st

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 October 2025, in the Converged Infrastructure category, the mindshare of FlexPod XCS is 10.3%, up from 9.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ConvergedSystem is 16.6%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Converged Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HPE ConvergedSystem	16.6%
FlexPod XCS	10.3%
Other	73.1%

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.

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Fatai Akinwande

Specialist Datacenter and Server at IHS Towers

Has the ability to easily scale resources and redistribute workloads across multiple hosts

HPE ConvergedSystem could be enhanced by improving the built-in backup solution, as the current one fell short of our needs and led us to opt for third-party tools like Veeam. Additionally, addressing challenges related to remote copy functionality, especially in low-bandwidth conditions, would significantly improve the overall usability and effectiveness of HPE solutions in our setup.

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

"One of the easiest solutions to implement, maintain, and scale."

"I see the most value in the UCS portion. I love Cisco UCS."

"The agility is probably the most valuable feature for us. It's very easy to send out resources."

"Software flexibility. Everything is fully configurable. The reliability results from the design. Elements are well projected (disks, blade, network, etc.). No single point of failure is identifiable."

"Our footprint is lower than it used to be."

"This solution has helped to make more things consistent within our organization."

"Not a perfect ten because it could use better integration on the network side between UCS and the switching layerKnowing that everything works, having a single place to be able to find out compatibility and things like that are the biggest benefits of this solution. The fact that LACP is not supported on UCS blades isn't so great. It would be nice if it was."

"We have seen a 20 percent improvement in application performance."

More FlexPod XCS pros

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

"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."

"We use the solution for DDI."

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

"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."

"The most valuable features of HPE ConvergedSystem are scalability and resilience."

"The most valuable features of the solution are the flexibility and the availability of the machines."

"This solution is very simple to use."

More HPE ConvergedSystem pros

Cons

"It would be helpful to have more flexibility for adding other components."

"I would like them to scale more to rack unit servers instead of blade servers."

"We would like one-click upgrades."

"Possibly the UCS could get a bit better. Other than that, overall I don't necessarily have any sorts of constraints or issues with it. It's done the job that it's been bought to do."

"As we do much of the Tier-I support ourselves, and thus don't normally need it, there is time wasted in moving up to the next level."

"The biggest problem we have seen is, we were using the vStorage which comes with the NetApp environment, a kind of fiber connect. We were missing fibre channel connectivity and we got lots of I/O errors."

"I would like them to simplify the UCS configuration. I appreciate that they have about a billion options and a million switches that you can mess with, but this creates a lot of confusion sometimes. I feel like you almost need a Master's course to figure out what you're doing with UCS."

"We have experienced issues with patching. When there are Cisco releases, there are some vulnerabilities, i.e., security vulnerabilities. We are as a financial company and need to be on top patching. As a company, we cannot have continuous downtime to do patching, which is a challenge that we have faced."

More FlexPod XCS cons

"This is an expensive solution."

"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."

"HPE ConvergedSystem needs to improve its price."

"Perhaps they can work on providing faster allocation of memory or storage."

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

"I would like to see better manageability and integration with third-party tools."

"The solution needs to add NFS features."

"There is some scope for improvement in support. The response time could be better."

More HPE ConvergedSystem cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is kind of expensive even from an entry-level standpoint. I would say FlexPod would be the way to go if you are a larger business or one with large data volume."

"The cost is a little high."

"We have saved money using FlexPod. We have saved time and money for new service deployments."

"We have seen our data center rack space collapse about 90 percent. We have a data center which only has two racks now out of the 20 that were there previously."

"We have saved time, money, space, and power consumption on new service deployments. We have a data center in Toronto which had ten racks on one of the new servers. This was all reduced to two racks with six chassis, which is amazing."

"We have saved time and money for new service deployments."

"We have seen an 80 percent improvement in application performance."

"It seems very cost effective once it's in place, and it's easy to expand and easy to add capacity without a lot of extra money."

More FlexPod XCS pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

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

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

"The pricing is sensitive."

"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."

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

22%

Educational Organization

11%

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

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...

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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

What do you like most about HPE ConvergedSystem?

The most valuable features of the solution are the flexibility and the availability of the machines.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ConvergedSystem?

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HPE ConvergedSystem?

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

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerFlex vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 30% of the time

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 14% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 13% of the time

HPE Hyper Converged vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 12% of the time

VxRail vs FlexPod XCS

Compared 10% of the time

More FlexPod XCS Competitors

Oracle Private Cloud Appliance vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 45% of the time

Dell VxBlock System vs HPE ConvergedSystem

Compared 28% of the time

More HPE ConvergedSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

FlexPod XCS

September 2025

Download FlexPod XCS product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE ConvergedSystem

September 2025

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

September 2025

Free Report: FlexPod XCS vs. HPE ConvergedSystem

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