HPE Primera vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.9, while IBM is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 3.1% mindshare in AFS, compared to IBM’s 5.8% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise 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 HPE Primera represent two leading competitors in enterprise storage solutions. IBM FlashSystem seems to have the advantage in terms of pricing and support, while HPE Primera’s features make it a superior choice for many users who find it worth the higher cost.

Features: Users notice the performance and scalability of IBM FlashSystem, highlighting its ability to handle high workloads efficiently. HPE Primera is appreciated for its robust reliability and advanced data protection features, making it a preferred choice despite its higher price. Both products are highly effective with HPE Primera standing out for those who prioritize advanced functionality over cost efficiency.

Room for Improvement: IBM FlashSystem reviews often mention the need for enhanced analytics and better integration capabilities. HPE Primera users note a steep learning curve and express a desire for more comprehensive support documentation. IBM FlashSystem users seek more advanced technical enhancements, while HPE Primera’s areas for improvement generally relate to user onboarding.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FlashSystem is generally easier to deploy, with straightforward setup processes and responsive support. HPE Primera, while offering extensive features, can require more effort and time to deploy correctly. IBM FlashSystem users report quicker resolutions and more effective support interactions compared to HPE Primera.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem is noted for its competitive pricing and quicker return on investment (ROI), making it a cost-effective choice for many organizations. HPE Primera commands a higher setup cost, but users feel the long-term ROI justifies the initial investment due to superior performance and functionality.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem

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:

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

1.0

Increased productivity, cost-efficiency, scalability, reliability, and simplified management led to higher return on investment and better business operations.

Sentiment score

6.3

IBM FlashSystem offers high ROI with efficient migration, scalability, and performance, despite post-acquisition price increases; valued for reliability.

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

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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

5.1

HPE Primera's customer service is mixed, with praise for support but concerns about delays, inconsistency, and communication.

Sentiment score

6.9

IBM FlashSystem's customer service is responsive, yet technical expertise and support vary by region, with contract complexities noted.

Customers always have their issues resolved promptly.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

Technical support is good at least through vendors, not directly with the principal.

Shakeel Qureshi

Infrastructure Specialis at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

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

We could not get a genuine explanation for why systems were failing under certain conditions.

reviewer1599129

Solution Consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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

4.2

HPE Primera offers scalable storage, easily expands capacity without downtime, and effectively supports medium-sized organizations' growing data needs.

Sentiment score

7.3

IBM FlashSystem offers scalable storage solutions with dynamic upgrades and flexibility for medium to large enterprises despite some hardware limitations.

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

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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

HPE Primera offers high stability and reliability with 100% availability, excelling in mission-critical environments despite minor HDD issues.

Sentiment score

7.6

IBM FlashSystem is praised for stability and resilience, with minor issues resolved quickly, earning high feedback for reliability.

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

The system operates smoothly even with a greater IOPS capacity enabled by using SSD disks.

reviewer1599129

Solution Consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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.

HPE Primera needs improvement in affordability, usability, integration, support, pricing, reliability, security, training, and user interface.

IBM FlashSystem requires enhancements in scalability, integration, user interface, and support, with better deduplication, monitoring, and streamlined processes.

One way to improve the product is to add an operational assistant that doesn't depend on VMware.

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

I would like to see some AI features that would allow arrays to intelligently identify threats or unusual behavior in the data pattern and give an alert.

Santhosh Sridhara

Cloud Architect at DXC Technology

Storage replication should be essential.

Shakeel Qureshi

Infrastructure Specialis at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

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

The user interface is friendly, yet it does not cover all steps that can be performed via direct port connections on storage.

reviewer1599129

Solution Consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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.

HPE Primera offers cost-effective, flexible pricing for enterprises, balancing cost and value, with configurable and optional feature costs.

IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing, but evaluating long-term needs and negotiating discounts is crucial to manage costs effectively.

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

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

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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

The pricing is high; storage solutions are always expensive.

reviewer2775885

Freelancer at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees

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.

HPE Primera offers excellent performance, integration, scalability, and AI-driven analytics with all features included for cost-effective reliability.

IBM FlashSystem delivers high performance, user-friendly management, and scalable efficiency with robust features like deduplication and virtualization.

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

Eugene Hemphill

Sales Manager at Multicomputos PR

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed.

Enes SUZER

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

We are satisfied with the performance as it is significantly faster compared to traditional storage options.

Gary Cheung

Project Manager at a government with 11-50 employees

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

We have more capacity than expected, and even if we face issues with one or two disks, the system maintains the same performance.

reviewer1599129

Solution Consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE Primera 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

The most valuable features are performance and reliability.

reviewer2775885

Freelancer at a logistics company with 10,001+ 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

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Categories and Ranking

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Primera is 3.1%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 5.8%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM FlashSystem	5.8%
HPE Primera	3.1%
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.4%
Other	89.7%

All-Flash Storage

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

Roberto Rodrigues

Solution Consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Used for shared storage and has good scalability

Recently, we had many issues with HPE Primera storage, mainly in the leveling process, which caused many problems for the customers. In this architecture, the full application running over this storage gets stuck when one disk fails. We noticed that one leveling process, ungrouping process, and grouping process took around 12 hours to conclude. It was not a good experience. The main issue was that we dimensioned the solution to 1,300 IOPS. The solution has 10 + 2 spare disks, and when one disc fails, the application gets stuck because the IOPS moves to 5,000 IOPS when it happens. We noticed some specific limitations with the solution's graphical interface, which was not rich. The solution's main problem was the grouping and ungrouping process. We confirmed that the problem was with HPE Primera by stopping the whole application while labeling. No IOPS was consumed from the application to the storage, even though the IOPS was 5,000. This means that 5,000 was just for the leveling of one disk. If two disks had failed, the problem would have been bigger than we experienced.

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

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

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	19
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	47
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	59

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...

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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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Which would you choose - HPE Nimble Storage or HPE Primera?

HPE Nimble is a versatile synced WAN San solution. It is easy to use and doesn’t require much training for admins. Th...

See all answers

What's the difference between HPE 3PAR StoreServ and HPE Primera?

HPE Primera has many great features but one of the best is that it is very easy to deploy. From an overall perspectiv...

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What do you like most about HPE Primera?

For over a year, I have not seen any downtime in the product.

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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 high; storage solutions are always expensive. I do not know if the price needs to be reviewed, but it ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

As far as I know, IBM FlashSystem has already improved, but I do not see room for improvement. It is simple to use an...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 18% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 12% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 10% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 5% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

HPE Alletra Storage vs HPE Primera

Compared 29% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE Primera

Compared 25% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs HPE Primera

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs HPE Primera

Compared 6% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs HPE Primera

Compared 3% of the time

More HPE Primera Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 19% of the time

NetApp AFF vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

January 2026

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera

January 2026

Download HPE Primera product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

January 2026

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Also Known As

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

Primera

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

HPE introduces HPE Primera, a new storage platform designed to deliver superior simplicity, availability, and performance for mission-critical applications
HPE Primera advances the HPE Intelligent Data Platform, a portfolio of products and solutions designed to help customers transition from delivering storage to unlocking business value with intelligent data

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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

HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem

December 2025

Free Report: HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem

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