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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Power

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AThe IBM Power product line is a family of servers.N/A

    IBM Z

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AIBM Z is the company's mainframe enterprise server solution product line.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM PowerIBM Z
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM PowerIBM Z
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM PowerIBM Z
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    Chose IBM Power
    It really depends on each client and what they have regarding hardware and software. If the client has a partnership with IBM or is using IBM software, usually they go with IBM hardware. If the client is a Dell partner, it usually goes with Dell hardware running Linux, and so on.
    Incentivized
    IBM
    Chose IBM Z
    IBM Z is the winner when dealing with enormous transactions In terms of security as well IBM Z is a better option compared to other alternatives Excellent is dealing with large batch processing in multiple environments.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Z
    When it comes to deploying enterprise applications requiring serious resources that cannot be constrained, IBM Z and IBM Power 9 do a great job. However, they are in different classes of service. For high powered applications, we rarely utilize Intel architectures because the …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Z
    I have been working with Z Enterprise Servers for 30 years and they have been called many different things over those years: mainframe being the name I am still most comfortable with. I choose to work with them because of their high availability, transaction processing …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    165 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    154 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    15 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    171 Answers
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    18 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    147 Answers
    87%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    13 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    160 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    IBM PowerIBM Z
    Small Businesses
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Dell PowerEdge
    Score7.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Z
    Score9.4 out of 10
    IBM Power
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM PowerIBM Z
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (208 ratings)
    9.6
    (42 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.1
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (4 ratings)
    4.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.2
    (8 ratings)
    9.9
    (3 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM PowerIBM Z
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    I'd strongly recommend IBM Power servers to anyone who has the budget for it. A Power Virtual Machine, what is generally called FlexTB VM, can support as many small VM of 256GB, and scale up to 32TB on the fly. If IBM recommended architecture is combined with your organizational reference architecture, then forget about running into unplanned downtimes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    Most of the time, server utilization is reliable and stable during peak times. Truly amazing, this product offers a lot and gets it done in no time without any confusion.It is reliable, too accurate and the performance is top-notch. It seems to be competitive in all virtual energy systems and its connectivity is also good. It's available at a low cost, but it's enough to have as many low-cost, more efficient systems as possible. It's a minor thing, but very rarely, it can cause work interruptions while it can get stuck due to more frequent use such as restless work. These power servers are very efficient and really help when things go wrong. I am using this product to retrieve data much faster.
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • I love how it supports a mix of operating systems
    • protection of our sensitive energy data and ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
    • It provides a flexibility that ensures that we can accommodate increased workloads without a complete overhaul of our infrastructure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    • Virtualization for Scale-Out and Scale-Up in the same footprint
    • Security for different workloads: Large Confidential Computing and lightweight Secure Execution
    • Performance is a true game changer: extreme throughput powered by amazingly huge caches.
    • The one and only FIPS 140-2 Level 4 HSM on this planet
    • Quantum Safe Encryption NOW!
    • AI infusion to every transaction
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • A solid IDE for editing programs. SEU was simple and solid. Then it became outdated and support for it ended as the language continued to evolve. That's fine. But RDi is expensive and shaky at best, and VS Code, while free, is severely lacking even the modicum of features RDi has.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    • It would be good if IBM could demonstrate more use cases for Z to potential clients
    • A migration strategy from Open Systems to Z would be helpful
    • Any additional marketing to could explain the benefits of Z/Linux, especially now that RedHat is in the mix.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    This is one of the best systems on the market. You can have Flash/Copy which created another LPAR to look like the system you are copying. This takes seconds and not minutes. Then you can use BRNS to do full system backups nightly with no downtime. I am ready for us to upgrade to a Power 10.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    The IBM Z mainframe capabilities are unmatched for cloud readiness and optimization the learning capabilities are matched perfectly with Watson and the expandability of the cloud makes it a perfect choice.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    They are very easy to set up and use once you re knowledgeable enough to deal with it. They are continuously enhance the user experience on the HMC and operations on the systems. Once setup it's like a beast, going on and on. I have experience with servers that are not being rebooted for more than 1000 days
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    Once you learn how, it easy. It's different than most other systems
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    In all of the years I have used various Power System, I have never had any problems at all. Even when hackers were attacking our email servers and many users PCs, the IBM Power System came out completely unscathed. I haven't even had any application errors that were able to take the system down. Nor have I ever experienced an unplanned outage
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    The Z in IBM Z is for zero down time. If you configure your system according to IBM's best practices, you can achieve zero downtime
    Incentivized
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    Performance
    IBM
    The IBM Power System is built for integration. It supports multiple operating systems and you can run multiple OS's on the same box with no problems at all. It also supports a number of open source languages such as PHP, Java, Python, and Perl which helps you continue to grow and integrate with lots of other systems.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    Performance is a major part when you configure your system. IBM has many tools to study your system and suggest the appropriate configuration. With the right contract, you can add processing power dynamically and remove it when no longer needed
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    IBM
    On large-scale systems, the rating would have been 10. However, I have seen some cases in more rural areas where the IBM onsite support is not as available or of the highest quality as in the past. For software support, there are sometimes instances of language barriers.
    Read full review
    IBM
    Support is usually superb, only occasionally dropping to very good. We participate in some of the CD (Continuous Delivery) aspects of z/OS, IMS, MQ, and DB2.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    Over my 33 years on this platform, I attended many in person courses, conferences, and other training opportunities.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    There are many online courses from both IBM and other vendors. Most are great. All of the documentation is available online.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    Systems are robust and you need to know exactly what your are going to do with them. There are multiple configurations possible and you need to gather your requirements first, before going on with the implementation. Tuning is a must before migrating production systems
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    I do not personally have any key insights regarding implementation of IBM Z Enterprise Servers as that is what our mainframe architects do.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    Power server do not need a stack of software for viruses, spam and others... Power server do not need to have release often power server are much more strong then other manufacturer Power server do not need to restart offen
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    IBM Z is the best storage solution as it provides the best in class data protection with the cryptographic hardware keys, no loss in data while migration, and a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for develops to understand and has less of a learning curve. This makes it well above the competition.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    IBM
    This system can work in a small factory with a few users and easily scale out to thousands of users. It is truly amazing on how much you can throw at this box and it will just keep humming. It is great for use across multiple departments and even across multiple corporations. I worked at one company where we were hosting multiple corporations on just one large Power System and had ZERO problems.
    Incentivized
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    IBM
    If you need more processing power, just add more CPU's or memory. The largest system can have close to 200 CPU's and 40 TB of memory. If that is not enough, you can add more physical computers, and connect them using a sysplex
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • In the event of a crash, IBM Power servers offer a variety of simple options to recover the operating system.
    • With the flexibility offered by IBM Power servers, the production business can be improved by making the most of its physical servers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    • With IBM Z we really feel a different positive impact on our company. A trustworthy and the most powerful place we have ever.
    • A unique computing platform that helps a lot for the progress of our company.
    • It keeps our data save, encrypted.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    IBM Power Screenshots

    Screenshot of IBM Power E1180Screenshot of IBM Power E1150Screenshot of IBM Power S1124Screenshot of IBM Power S1122

    IBM Z Screenshots

    Screenshot of IBM z17™ single-frame 

This configuration is optimized for enhanced modularity and is available in a traditional factory-frame setup. It provides advanced capabilities and is ideal for environments requiring a robust and scalable solution within an industry-standard footprint.  

IBM z17™ single-frame 

This configuration is optimized for enhanced modularity and is available in a traditional factory-frame setup. It provides advanced capabilities and is ideal for environments requiring a robust and scalable solution within an industry-standard footprint.Screenshot of IBM z17™ multi-frame 

This configuration is designed for general-purpose use, offering a balance of performance, scalability and security suitable for a wide range of applications.Screenshot of IBM z17™ rack mount 

This rack-mounted configuration allows for installation in existing data center rack infrastructures, providing flexibility and integration with current systems. It combines IBM Z's strengths with the convenience of modern rack-mounted hardware.