BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs CloudStack comparison

BMC and Apache are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. BMC is ranked #38, while Apache is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. BMC holds a 0.9% mindshare in CM, compared to Apache’s 4.7% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of BMC users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Apache users who would recommend it.

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Read 5 BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management reviews

476 Views
267 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

CloudStack

Read 32 CloudStack reviews

2,031 Views
1,848 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

CloudStack

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

CloudStack and BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management compete in cloud infrastructure management. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management has the upper hand due to richer features, although CloudStack benefits from pricing and support advantages.

Features: CloudStack integrates well with OpenStack, offers extensive hypervisor support, and manages large-scale deployments effectively. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management provides automated provisioning, policy-driven governance, and integrated monitoring capabilities.

Room for Improvement: CloudStack could enhance advanced feature integration and professional support options, while BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management might benefit from simplifying deployment processes and reducing costs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: CloudStack's straightforward deployment and community support make it appealing for initial setup. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management, though complex to deploy, offers extensive documentation and professional support, aiding smoother operations.

Pricing and ROI: CloudStack is preferred for lower setup costs and faster ROI due to its open-source nature. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management incurs higher upfront expenses but provides significant long-term ROI through advanced management solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. CloudStack Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. CloudStack

July 2025

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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

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management

Ranking in Cloud Management

38th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Monitoring Software (45th)

CloudStack

Ranking in Cloud Management

10th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CloudStack is 4.7%, down from 6.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

Entprssol67

Enterprise Solution Architect at Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA

Helps design blueprints in a cloud environment but the support is a major problem

One of the major problems is that support is not so good. I used to have a support expert in Spain but they left two years ago. BMC doesn't invest a lot in network automation but network automation is a major point in CLM. There aren't any experts here in Europe, maybe they have in America, I don't know. The main problem is the support in Europe. We had a lot of problems with the people who got put on our cases. The agents that we were assigned to were not so capable. They wanted to replicate the problem. If you have an incident, it takes a lot of time to troubleshoot the problem. The incident support is not so good. The technicians don't know the platform well. BMC doesn't want to invest in CLM. Two years ago we had a lot of problems. Maybe BMC realized that CLM is an end of life product.

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Nelson Marcos

Engineer Manager at Globo.com

It's easier to provision VMs than other solutions and you can customize it to integrate with load balancers

My teammates have complained about the upgrade. The source code had massive files that had to be merged with our own development to upgrade to the latest version of CloudStack. It was quite painful for them. CloudStack could add some cost management tools to give me some control over the costs associated with the number of users of my services.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Supports unattended installs and image-based, script-based, or template-based provisioning."

"You can tie together your public and private cloud infrastructure into a "single pane of glass"."

"By allowing end users to request their own services, the request process for systems is much quicker and more accurate."

"CLM has a multi-cloud portal because they have the resources to implement in various environments in various ports."

"Automates Java EE Application Deployment from an SCM system."

"Assesses change impact or completes an audit using multiple dashboard views."

"Integrates role-based access control with pre-configured policies for CIS, DISA, HIPAA, PCI, SOX, NIST, and SCAP documentation and remediation."

"I have been impressed by CloudStack's most recent updates around Kubernetes. In particular, they have worked with Kubernetes to support the Cluster API, and you can now easily integrate Kubernetes into CloudStack and get access to a lot of good features."

"We had a relevant reduction of bureaucracy tasks."

"I liked the separation of the isolated network versus the shared network."

"It is very easy to install and manage. It has the all modules in one node, unlike other software (OpenStack). The product allows a customized look and feel, and the ability to add custom workflows."

"We like the virtualization capabilities."

"The most valuable feature from my point of view is access to environment via console through separate browser window."

"The initial implementation process was quite good."

"It has become easy to deploy new devices with no or minimal hardware changes. Now, a user can be ready to use a firewall within a few minutes, as compared to the traditional physical model which involved purchase, shipping, hardware configuration, cabling, power, etc."

More CloudStack pros

Cons

"The installation and configuration can be tricky due to it being built on Remedy."

"Needs integrations with other providers to provide a custom public cloud environment."

"One of the major problems is that support is not so good."

"It would be great to have a couple of “external” networks for VPC and have the possibility, for each domain, to choose they type of “external” network."

"The user can't upload SSH keys from the UI. We have to use the API for this, and it is not always convenient."

"My teammates have complained about the upgrade. The source code had massive files that had to be merged with our own development to upgrade to the latest version of CloudStack. It was quite painful for them. CloudStack could add some cost management tools to give me some control over the costs associated with the number of users of my services."

"This product needs a lot improvement on the development side. Every new version introduces new bugs. It lacks many features needed for NFV like DPDK, SR-IOV support, etc."

"Lack of support for third-party software vendors such as Veeam and Zerto creates limitations on comprehensive offerings which would include backup and disaster recovery."

"Accounts, domains, and user accounts are set up with public cloud in mind, not private."

"The numerous, multi-layered drill-down menus make it difficult to find one simple knob to turn."

"The main reason why we started looking for another solution: backups, replication, HA, and dependency on secondary storage. CS is quite sensitive for infrastructure, and any kind of network disruption between CS and secondary storage leads to VM hanging."

More CloudStack cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"It is a 100% open-source solution needing just an Apache license. Also, there are no hidden fees to be paid."

"The solution is open-source and free."

"Give an effort to planning. If possible, contract a specialized consultant company for the initial setup and knowledge transfer."

"There is no license, so the product is free unless you are buying professional technical support services."

"The Apache CloudStack is open source, so you do not have licenses to purchase."

"CloudStack is an open-source product."

"As far as I know, CS is still free of charge. If you want to pay some money, Citrix Cloud Platform is based on CS, I think. As for hypervisors – everything as usual, you need to pay for VMware and vCenter. As for XenServer, recently they changed the free feature list, so you may need to pay some money to get useful features like XenMotion."

"CloudStack is an open source solution, so you don't need to pay anything for it. When our company develops something specially for CloudStack, it is donated to the Apache Software Foundation and provided to anyone that wants to use it."

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Top Industries

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Computer Software Company

19%

Educational Organization

12%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

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Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about CloudStack?

The initial implementation process was quite good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CloudStack?

CloudStack is open-source, so there is no cost apart from learning. Billing solutions, if outsourced, come at a moderate cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with CloudStack?

CloudStack lacks a billing solution which would complete it as a full 360-degree product. Additionally, more themes and drag-and-drop interfaces could enhance the user experience. Improved document...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Management

July 2025

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Buyer's Guide

CloudStack

August 2025

Download CloudStack product report

Also Known As

BMC CLM

Vmops, Cloud.com

Overview

BMC's cloud management platform drives digital innovation with agile, full-stack service provisioning across cloud and traditional platforms. BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management scales easily while integrating with essential compliance and governance policies to reduce risk.

BMC

Apache CloudStack is open source software designed to deploy and manage large networks of virtual machines, as a highly available, highly scalable Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud computing platform.

Apache

Sample Customers

JDA Software, Morningstar, Orange Business Services, Wipro

GreenQloud, Exoscale, TomTom, ASG, PC Extreme, ISWest, Grid'5000

Buyer's Guide

BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. CloudStack

July 2025

Free Report: BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management vs. CloudStack

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