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IBM Spectrum Virtualize pros and cons

Vendor: IBM
4.4 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

IBM Spectrum Virtualize offers advanced storage virtualization, enabling seamless migration without disrupting users.
It enhances scalability, accommodating everything from small environments to large enterprise setups.
Reliability and flexibility are standout features, saving time and resources.
The software's ability to efficiently manage and optimize performance autonomously sets it apart.
IBM Spectrum Virtualize excels in customer support and technical assistance, ensuring excellent service.

CONS

Integration with multiple sites needs improvement due to challenges with large-scale environments.
Expanding volumes in a global mirror environment requires stopping operations, leading to frustrations.
NBME support and support for higher Fibre Channel lengths need enhancement, although plans exist.
Adding disks to existing arrays is a high-demand feature yet not feasible due to current restrictions.
Improvements are necessary for tighter integration with cloud storage as a target for various use cases.
 

IBM Spectrum Virtualize Pros review quotes

it_user672330 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Administrator at a university with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
Being able to move things around from one array to the other has been the biggest feature for us.
KC
Storage Architect at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
We have reduced a lot of power and cooling requirements in the data center.
it_user672342 - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead for Storage and Backup at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
May 25, 2017
I think Spectrum Visualize is a very good product to address a lot of problems.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Spectrum Virtualize. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user672360 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage administrator at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
Stability has been outstanding.
it_user672372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Storage Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 25, 2017
It improves a lot of functions for our clients, the high availability is the best thing, I have been working with it for 15 years, and it's one of the most stable products that IBM has.
it_user672399 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 25, 2017
Good luck finding anything that does half of what it does.
it_user672405 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 25, 2017
I would recommend it, for sure, because it offers supportability, reliability, and some scalability, and the vendor is there as a partner.
it_user672411 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
We have all the tools in one place.
it_user672414 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Admin at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 25, 2017
It has significantly lowered management cost, overhead, and everything else.
it_user672417 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical analyst 3 at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 25, 2017
It's got full features, so we can compress volumes. We can do thin volumes and we can change them on the fly.
 

IBM Spectrum Virtualize Cons review quotes

it_user672330 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Administrator at a university with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
It's been pretty stable, but we've had some issues. I wouldn't say it's poor, but the resiliency has been less than what we expect from an enterprise class product.
KC
Storage Architect at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
We've had some issues with the production rate behind SVC.
it_user672342 - PeerSpot reviewer
Team Lead for Storage and Backup at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
May 25, 2017
Technical support is sometimes good and sometimes it is low.
Learn what your peers think about IBM Spectrum Virtualize. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user672360 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage administrator at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
The expense for support and maintenance is a little bit on the heavy side.
it_user672372 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Storage Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 25, 2017
There are a few little GUI issues and stuff like that, but nothing major.
it_user672399 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 25, 2017
I had a couple isolated problems with reliability, mostly related to replication, but I have been able to work through them.
it_user672405 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 25, 2017
Technical support at IBM is actually not as great as it used to be. It seems like IBM has decreased the number of people who can support this environment.
it_user672411 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Engineer at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
May 25, 2017
We are not happy with the technical support. In the last seven or eight years, I honestly think that IBM's technical support has gotten way worse.
it_user672414 - PeerSpot reviewer
Storage Admin at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 25, 2017
There are some caveats with scalability, such as volume count. We are highly limited by volume count at this point in time.
it_user672417 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical analyst 3 at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
May 25, 2017
The integration would be an option that we would like, but I understand that's not how it's going to be implemented.