IBM FlashSystem vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800 comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. IBM is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2, while NetApp is ranked #25 with an average rating of 9.0. IBM holds a 5.8% mindshare in AFS, compared to NetApp’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

IBM FlashSystem and NetApp NVMe AFF A800 are high-performance storage solutions. IBM FlashSystem is preferred for pricing and support, while NetApp NVMe AFF A800 has an edge in features despite higher costs.

Features: IBM FlashSystem offers efficient data reduction capabilities, high performance, and scalability. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 provides superior throughput, low latency, and comprehensive data management features.

Room for Improvement: IBM FlashSystem could improve its integration processes and analytics capabilities. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 users suggest enhancements in software updates and reducing complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FlashSystem is noted for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 has mixed feedback on customer service with some indicating longer response times.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem is viewed favorably for its better pricing and quicker ROI. NetApp NVMe AFF A800, despite higher costs, offers long-term value due to its extensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

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

6.3

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

Sentiment score

4.8

NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is cost-effective, offering ROI in 18 months, but requires strategic use in academic settings.

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

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

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 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

6.9

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

Sentiment score

6.5

NetApp NVMe AFF A800 customer service is praised for professionalism, effective problem resolution, and meeting SLA across time zones.

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

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

They don't exceed the predicted SLA times.

Helder-Valente

IT Director at affidea

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 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

7.3

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

Sentiment score

6.6

NetApp NVMe AFF A800 offers high scalability with minimal effort, despite challenges choosing between on-premises and cloud deployments.

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

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

We already had some challenges with escalating the volumes and adding more cabinets, but we discovered it is possible.

Helder-Valente

IT Director at affidea

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 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

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

Sentiment score

7.7

NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is highly stable and reliable, receiving praise for uptime, swift support, and data integrity features.

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

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

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 report

Room For Improvement

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

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

The NetApp NVMe AFF A800 needs improvements in cost, setup, support, stability, speed, UI, cloud integration, and connectivity.

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

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

The dashboard is not user-friendly.

Helder-Valente

IT Director at affidea

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 report

Setup Cost

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

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

NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is seen as high-priced yet offers enterprise value with manageable costs and standard annual payments.

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

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

The solution is affordable.

Helder-Valente

IT Director at affidea

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 report

Valuable Features

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

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

NetApp NVMe AFF A800 excels in performance, stability, low latency, and efficient multi-application handling with enhanced encryption and space management.

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

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

It helps prevent being hacked, and so far we don't have any issues. We can do the encryption of the data.

Helder-Valente

IT Director at affidea

For more quotes and insights, download the NetApp NVMe AFF A800 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 IBM FlashSystem is 5.8%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp NVMe AFF A800 is 0.9%, down from 1.0% 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%
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.4%
NetApp NVMe AFF A800	0.9%
Other	91.9%

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.

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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

Helder-Valente

IT Director at affidea

Has improved data efficiency and application performance while supporting encryption and fast access to imaging workloads

We use it quite extensively because with this we have more space and the information can be read without wasting time. We are satisfied with this. The performance is quite good. We don't have any issues regarding the applications that use fat clients. It helps prevent being hacked, and so far we don't have any issues. We can do the encryption of the data. The solution performs quite well. It helps us maintain our systems. Since we have many applications that use images for streaming, it works exceptionally well. We don't have any issues, and this helps us with the service we provide to the hospital.

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

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Educational Organization

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	47
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	59

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	1
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

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 ...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem?

It is simple to make an update.

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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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

The solution is affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

For NVMe, the reporting and consolidation dashboard could be improved. The dashboard is not user-friendly. It should ...

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What is your primary use case for NetApp NVMe AFF A800?

We continue with NetApp NVMe AFF A800. We are the client. It is used for storage and backup. Regarding equipment mode...

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

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe 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

Dell PowerStore vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 18% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 11% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 9% of the time

NetApp ASA vs NetApp NVMe AFF A800

Compared 9% of the time

More NetApp NVMe AFF A800 Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

January 2026

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

January 2026

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp NVMe AFF A800

January 2026

Download NetApp NVMe AFF A800 product report

Also Known As

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

IBM Storwize

No data available

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

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

Your data is a gold mine. Get the most out of it - faster - with AFF A800. Designed for NVMe media, further accelerated with NVMe/FC connectivity to the host, AFF A800 all-flash systems deliver an incredible sub-200 microsecond latency. Providing more than 11.4M IOPS and 300GB/s throughput in a single cluster, AFF A800 redefines the limit of what’s possible with artificial intelligence and deep learning.

NetApp

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800

December 2025

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Find out what your peers are saying about IBM FlashSystem vs. NetApp NVMe AFF A800 and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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We monitor all All-Flash Storage reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.