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IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Ser...
Ranking in Rack Servers
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 6.5%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 8.9%, down from 15.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Power Systems6.5%
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers8.9%
Other84.6%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
Has empowered enterprises with secure and cost-effective solutions
When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would not really call a challenge, is that initially people have the notion that IBM Power Systems is quite expensive. However, IBM does not lose deals based on price. This is a message we need to keep communicating to people who feel that IBM is on the high side in terms of cost. We encourage them to have a discussion with us about their total cost of ownership over three or five years. There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false. However, once we engage and show them their return on investments and their total cost of ownership savings, they tend to embrace IBM.
Mike Bellemans - PeerSpot reviewer
Project manager at Sopraco NV
One of the products in the market that is the easiest to set up and maintain
Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently. In general, it is a normal product that is good enough for our company. For the time being, my company does not need any extra features.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Power uniquely positions our company in the industry because of the unlimited growth."
"IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors."
"We've been very satisfied with the solution's capabilities."
"Our clients choose Power because they trust the platform; they trust IBM i, they are really comfortable with it, and even new customers that had not previously used Power's servers or IBM i are moving to the platform because of trust in the hardware, in IBM, in their delivery, and in their support."
"The installation is easy."
"The Power hardware is rock-solid and reliable; you can't really ask for better hardware support, software support and reliability of the equipment."
"The uptime feature is great, and their availability is very high, and since we have been using it, we have not experienced any downtime."
"We use it to run our important systems and applications."
"The product is very user-friendly."
"Technical support was very good. IBM support is very helpful."
"The pricing is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"The hardware is good."
"It's very easy to set up and energy-efficient; it's very compact and has enough connections on the front and back of the rack."
"It is a stable solution."
"The product is designed to make adding RAM and disk space easier for users."
"The installation and configuration are a bit difficult but the product's performance is unbeatable."
 

Cons

"Better manage heterogeneous footprints of all the different operating systems that are out there across one common interface."
"For the i customers, I think that Power, the horsepower, has always been there. So, I would like to see something more on the lower end, where they would make it more cost effective for the small guy, rather than the big guy."
"Regarding the OpenPOWER Foundation, at first I was kind of skeptical."
"The HMC and PowerVM need a more catchy graphical interface."
"Unfortunately, the hardware models and all those things have gone down a little bit, and there's no such diversity of models, and again, IBM is getting more and more expensive."
"The pricing is high."
"Its pricing could be better."
"Sometimes, the availability of additional services can be a challenge. Certain IBM software takes time to deliver to the client. It can be slow."
"I definitely suggest potential users skip Lenovo and go for Dell EMC, which has good hardware, and great internal security components."
"For the price my company pays for Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers, we can have more from other vendors offering the same functionalities that are present in Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers at a lower price."
"Upgrading firmware is easier in Dell than in Lenovo."
"The RAID Management and the RAID Configuration tools need to be improved."
"I have a few notification alerts about PCI cards but it's rare."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers does a very good job. However, what could be improved can be their Configurator because it's very bulky and it sometimes gives logical errors."
"Improvements could be made in the network cards, particularly by offering options for higher-speed cards beyond the current 10 GB."
"It is too expensive. Because we are a university and we have to look for our money, many times we buy some refurbished machines or equipment at reasonable prices from IBM or Lenovo."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The additional software costs are high."
"Its price is too high."
"The licensing costs are okay. With IBM Power Systems, it's inclusive, so you can differentiate the price of the hardware from the software itself."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
"The solution's pricing is very, very high compared to other platforms."
"It's more about the value you get for the price. Considering its stability and performance, the pricing is good."
"The price of the solution could be somewhat better and this is what lowers my rating of it to a seven or eight out of ten."
"IBM Power is more expensive than other rack-mount servers, and you have to have a license for everything, including cores and memory."
"It is the cheapest solution we have seen on the market."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers can be categorized as a product falling under an affordable price range but more expensive than its competitors."
"As the costs got high, we had to use the virtualization feature to consolidate the server farm.​"
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is highly competitive. Many customers prefer this solution because of the price. However, the price could be reduced."
"Other than the standard licensing fees there are no other additional costs. The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could be better, and the availability of the solution could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."
"It costs around $8,000. There is an additional cost for the support for a year."
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is competitive."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
University
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise42
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
In my opinion, the product can be improved by maintaining it and not sunsetting it; that would be my recommendation for IBM. I used to work for IBM for nineteen years, and I know, unfortunately, I ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
I am an architect and system administrator, and I'm responsible for anything related to IBM Power Systems. In IBM Power Systems, I have found a lot of valuable features such as LVM, TCP, ODM, RSCT,...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Power Systems?
I would recommend IBM Power Systems to others. I have given this review a rating of ten out of ten.
How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?
Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like that Lenovo blends outstanding performance, reliability, and manageability. The bi...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
 

Also Known As

IBM OpenPOWER LC
SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cipher
immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Power Systems vs. Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.