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IBM SoftLayer vs Microsoft Azure File Storage comparison

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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
19th
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
6th
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 November 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of IBM SoftLayer is 2.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure File Storage is 6.1%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure File Storage6.1%
IBM SoftLayer2.0%
Other91.9%
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.
Mohammad-Huda - PeerSpot reviewer
Data & Analytics Practitioner (BI Dw, Big Data) at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Centralizes data for analytics and reporting but has raised cost and support concerns
The main benefit of Microsoft Azure File Storage is that we have a lot of solutions from Microsoft. That was one of the reasons why we chose the Azure cloud because we have a lot of Microsoft stack and those can be integrated well within Azure. That is one of the architectural considerations we took into account when deciding to stay with Microsoft instead of going for GCP or AWS. The key benefit from Microsoft Azure File Storage is that we work in one Azure environment. We have Power BI and other Microsoft tools that are already well integrated within Azure, and since we purchased a lot of licenses, we get a discount along with various other architectural constraints. Existing tools might not integrate well, which might cause challenges if we go for another vendor. I really appreciate Microsoft Azure File Storage mostly because it is cheap to store the data. That is one of the reasons.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability is the solution's most valuable aspect for our organization."
"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 solution is highly stable."
"The solution can scale to fit any requirement."
"We have not explored the desktop performance analysis of the file storage, but the user interface, API, and the response that we receive over the file storage are very good. We have a lot of customers that connect to the client-side, click the images, and upload them. The beauty of the solution is that we can mount the file storage into a critical server as well as an external drive. The speed that we receive with the images is pretty good."
"I like that we can copy and download data using Azure. It's not just for file storage; we can also use it for large data sets or to host static web applications."
"While there are some areas for improvement, Azure File storage is, overall, a highly comprehensive solution which ticks all the boxes for us."
"Implementing Microsoft Azure has meant that we are using the same solution as our customers who use Azure Public Cloud, which allows us to integrate our application as well as provide the solution to them while visually representing data and giving clear metrics using their data."
"The profile management option is another valuable feature that allows us to manage the profiles and secure them."
"Overall, I think Microsoft Azure File Storage is workable, but you really need to make a design to make it redundant."
"What I like about Microsoft Azure File Storage is its convenience for customers, cost-effectiveness, and high availability."
 

Cons

"For us, the versioning was an issue."
"The interface is hard to use for us. It should be simplified."
"The provider needs to collect more information about the products."
"Considering the enterprise licensing required for the solution, the cost of the solution is an area where the product needs improvement."
"The pricing and technical support could be better."
"It's not very intuitive."
"There is room for improvement in helping customers understand and integrate Azure File Storage into their operations."
"I would like to see more updates around File Storage."
"The way retention policies are applied could be more optimized. Additionally, the pricing should be more competitive with other CHPs, and stability can be improved."
"The product name keeps changing. It can be confusing when product names change frequently, especially with Microsoft. Sometimes, if you refer to a product by a certain name last year, it might have a different name six months later."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price is comparable to other competitive solutions."
"We pay for both yearly and monthly licenses. The yearly one is cheaper than the monthly one."
"Microsoft Azure File Storage has a reasonable price."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. The pricing model is based on usage."
"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 pricing is usually dependent on your storage requirements. Overall, I believe Microsoft Azure File Storage's price is reasonable."
"We have Microsoft Azure File Storage's enterprise license."
"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being the most expensive. It's not cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise9
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: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.