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IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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
3rd
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
4th
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 March 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 7.0%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 12.2%, down from 16.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Power Systems7.0%
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers12.2%
Other80.8%
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.
Adalberto Giaretta - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology director at Infodive Representações e Serviços ltda
Reliable with an easy setup and good support
These are rack servers. We use them for applications. It stores everything including VM servers, application servers, Windows, et cetera The reliability is great. The solution is like any other commodity like Dell or HPE. These are all very similar.  Setting up the solution is easy. It is stable.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 virtualization and the quality you get from it is one reason we like the solution."
"Reliability would be the strongest thing, and stability is 100%."
"Using the Power system gives us a leg up."
"Power runs our resilient data systems, our high-end databases, stuff that can't go down."
"The most valuable features of the solution are disaster recovery, replication, and the ability to migrate to another location."
"We have done testing with Intel, we have done testing with POWER, and the performance we were getting with POWER is actually very good compared to what we were getting on the other systems."
"PowerVM."
"The product scales well."
"The product is very user-friendly."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The IMM tool is great because we can upgrade different views and device versions very quickly. We can upgrade everything from a single point through a single dashboard, which is great for us because we also have Lenovo storage. Lenovo ThinkSystem also has Xclarity built into the system."
"It is a stable solution."
"The product is designed to make adding RAM and disk space easier for users."
"The initial setup of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is straightforward. The process of implementation took me approximately two to three days. We only had to install the hardware for the installation."
"Technical support was very good. IBM support is very helpful."
 

Cons

"Better manage heterogeneous footprints of all the different operating systems that are out there across one common interface."
"IBM should be more flexible with marketing or offer marketing events themselves and invite the partners to attend. That might be far more productive."
"The pricing is high."
"It would be ideal if the solution was more simple to work with."
"The number of times IBM refreshes its operating system appears to be very slow."
"I would say the cost. They need to work on the cost because I think it's quite expensive and that's a changing trend in the industry, to be more focused on the product."
"Everyone likes speed. Not that speed has been an issue up until now but you can never be too fast."
"IBM could perhaps be a bit more aggressive in terms of marketing, and let customers really know that they're out there and can offer a helping hand to move them along, to implement all these great features."
"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."
"It was complex to get this started because the Lenovo and VMware are not very compatible. We had to get some updates in order for it to be implemented."
"IBM hardware takes time for building/assembling."
"It is quite an expensive product. Its price can be improved."
"I would like the solution to be improved by having more advanced utilities."
"Improvements could be made in the network cards, particularly by offering options for higher-speed cards beyond the current 10 GB."
"Its price could be better. Its price is sometimes an issue for our clients. XClarity Controller is a very good feature, and Lenovo should include the XClarity Controller license without any additional cost. It should be integrated within the product."
"There are other solutions that are less expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"IBM Power Systems is a really expensive product."
"The solution's pricing is very, very high compared to other platforms."
"The cost model is great. There is so much built in to the technology, that if you know how to use it you can save yourself a lot of money."
"When there is an error in the SAS drive of 10,000 RPM, my company buys support for 1,500 USD."
"Power Systems is very cheap and provides good value for money."
"IBM Power is more expensive than other rack-mount servers, and you have to have a license for everything, including cores and memory."
"The price of the solution depends upon the configuration part of it. Based on what configuration you want to go for it, there is a range like IBM Power Systems POWER9 and IBM Power Systems Power10."
"The price of the solution is very expensive when compared to other solution like HP or Dell."
"I don't know the exact amount of money, but when I compared it to Dell or HPE, Lenovo was the best when it comes to price and equipment."
"As the costs got high, we had to use the virtualization feature to consolidate the server farm.​"
"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."
"Its pricing is very competitive."
"In India, the solution is cheap compared to its competitors."
"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. We are a little bit limited in terms of money, and we buy as much as we can. If they were cheaper, we would buy more."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
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: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.