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IBM SoftLayer vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 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 SoftLayer
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure File Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of IBM SoftLayer is 1.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 6.5%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure File Storage6.5%
IBM SoftLayer1.9%
Other91.6%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1032702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Principal Cloud Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Stable with excellent speed and agility
The most valuable aspect of the solution is simply to have the ability to host in a cloud form and out of the data center - the IBM big iron solution. It's the speed and the agility that really sell SoftLayer. The ELT versus ETL extract, transform and load versus extract, load, and then transform, the ELT method is what really sells SoftLayer. The ability to extract act from your current location, load into your future location, with limited change, and then be able to take the transfer actions slowly and methodically after you're in your new location is the part that really makes this awesome. The stability and scalability are quite good.
Karthik-A - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Has simplified customer data management and improved file transfer workflows
We are using AWS as well, and the main difference is that Microsoft Azure File Storage is more user-friendly for configuration-related and admin-related activities. We do not have to perform many complex activities, making it simpler compared to AWS. Security-wise, there are some concerns because it is in the cloud. The customers need to double-check, and they are not giving complete approval when it comes to security. I would rate Microsoft Azure File Storage's security compliance features seven or eight out of ten. It is secure, but since it is in the cloud, we have to convince customers when providing solutions. Many questions were raised while providing the architecture and solution for this file transfer management system. We convinced them because we have the feature and showed a demo, but it is still a prototype. We have to get approval before starting the work. The data redundancy options in Microsoft Azure File Storage are good. I am facing some challenges in convincing customers, and additional information would be helpful to address these challenges. Microsoft Azure File Storage saves time compared to AWS. We tried the prototype in AWS as well, but Azure is easier. Regarding cost, it is slightly less compared to AWS. The functionality of Microsoft Azure File Storage does not pose any issues, though basic users find it complex and require training. Regarding stability, I would rate Microsoft Azure File Storage 8.5 to 9. Scalability in Microsoft Azure File Storage is impressive. We recently handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any problems.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ability to extract from your current location, load into your future location with limited change, and then be able to take the transfer actions slowly and methodically after you're in your new location is the part that really makes this awesome."
"The ELT versus ETL extract, transform and load versus extract, load, and then transform, the ELT method is what really sells SoftLayer."
"The stability is the solution's most valuable aspect for our organization."
"The solution is highly stable."
"The solution is user-friendly and integrates easily with web apps."
"The beauty of the solution is that we can mount the file storage into a critical server as well as an external drive."
"Very user-friendly and intuitive."
"Implementations with other products are easy."
"It helps us with geo-redundancy."
"Scalability in Microsoft Azure File Storage is impressive; we recently handled a huge transaction during an iPhone launch without any problems."
"I would recommend file storage because there are no issues, it is simple, easy, and stable, and it is suitable for medium-sized and enterprise companies."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage is very useful for application integration, making it great for integrating any application to dump data and collect data on the fly, with no issues accessing it, which is beneficial for us and for the end user, as they can centralize their data in a single location with multiple users able to access the same."
 

Cons

"The interface is hard to use for us. It should be simplified."
"For us, the versioning was an issue."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage should improve its pricing."
"Considering the enterprise licensing required for the solution, the cost of the solution is an area where the product needs improvement."
"They can improve the ability to assign permissions to different groups or users."
"The solution should support all the legacy storage systems."
"I have used the file storage explorer in multiple systems, and it seems a bit cumbersome and not very efficient, particularly with authentication. It can be tricky to set it up."
"It would be helpful if we could remove data that we don't frequently access to reduce the cost of the storage."
"The integration of the site storage with SQL was not completely seamless."
"The product must provide better security functions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The licensing cost for Microsoft Azure File Storage comes with an agreement from Microsoft."
"I give the pricing of the solution a seven out of ten."
"We pay for both yearly and monthly licenses. The yearly one is cheaper than the monthly one."
"There are fewer hidden costs involved compared to other solutions, and when our customer is already a Microsoft partner, they typically have access to more affordable fees."
"The price of Microsoft Azure File Storage is expensive, we do not know exactly how the price is calculated."
"The product must improve its price."
"For one terabyte of data, we are spending about 150 Euro every month."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. The pricing model is based on usage."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

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Which file storage system is better - Amazon EFS (elastic file storage) or Azure File Storage?
Amazon EFS is easy to set up: you can use the AWS management console, API, or command-line. Amazon EFS can grow to petabytes and deliver consistent low latencies and high levels of throughput. This...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure File Storage?
The cost of Microsoft Azure File Storage depends on the storage account, whether it is premium or standard; there is a cost difference, with the cost being higher for premium and lower for standard...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure File Storage?
In my opinion, Microsoft can improve Microsoft Azure File Storage by closing the open questions that a lot of customers have raised. There were previously some issues that I cannot recall exactly. ...
 

Also Known As

CloudLayer
MS Azure File Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Whogohost Ltd., Skypicker, Infinity Computers and Communications Company, Grace Co. Ltd., Keyword, Uvionics Tech, Tennis Australia, immixGroup, Salesbox, Cxense ASA, Avnet Inc., Komsomolskaya Pravda, Seekr
Talon, Camden
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SoftLayer vs. Microsoft Azure File Storage and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.