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Cisco UCS B-Series vs Lenovo Flex System comparison

Cisco and Lenovo are both solutions in the Blade Servers category. Cisco is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while Lenovo is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.7. Cisco holds a 8.2% mindshare in Blade Servers, compared to Lenovo’s 3.1% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Lenovo users who would recommend it.
Cisco UCS B-Series
Read 74 Cisco UCS B-Series reviews
  • 1,087 Views
  • 1,065 Comparison Views
98% willing to recommend
Lenovo Flex System
Read 10 Lenovo Flex System reviews
  • 390 Views
  • 390 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

Cisco UCS B-Series and Lenovo Flex System compete in the server systems category, with each known for scalability and performance. Cisco gains the upper hand in integration with virtualization and centralized management, whereas Lenovo is noted for user-friendly features and resource expansion.

Features: Cisco UCS B-Series offers scalability, virtualization integration, and centralized management capabilities, enhancing memory capacity and port reduction. Lenovo Flex System is praised for high performance, stability, and a robust storage system, allowing extensive resource consumption before upgrades.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS B-Series requires significant technical expertise, with users wanting easier initial setup and management interfaces, reporting high power consumption and complex licensing. Lenovo Flex System could benefit from enhanced management application integration and increased platform flexibility, with some integration challenges and a need for improved customer support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS B-Series supports diverse cloud models, with highly rated technical support known for quick responses and knowledgeability. On the other hand, Lenovo Flex System is more focused on on-premises deployment, facing some gaps in support services despite efficient issue resolution.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS B-Series is perceived as expensive, yet the high cost is offset by reliability and ROI, saving on operational and maintenance expenses. Lenovo Flex System is competitively priced and offers significant resource expansion, aligning with user expectations for value and performance.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System
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

Cisco UCS B-Series
Ranking in Blade Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Lenovo Flex System
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 8.2%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo Flex System is 3.1%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco UCS B-Series8.2%
Lenovo Flex System3.1%
Other88.7%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

DavidMbugua - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable product with efficient automation capabilities
Cisco UCS B-Series manages various processes, including handling payments for over 650,000 growers, running group financials, managing human resources, and operating our main ERP system, SAP. The servers' resilience was particularly impactful. Even during power outages, the servers resumed operations from the last saved point without human intervention. The enhanced processing speed also allowed us to complete tasks that took two days in just one hour. The automation capabilities enhanced efficiency and facilitated integration with our networking components, particularly since we also used Cisco switches. The servers' security was reliable, and formal training on Cisco products made management easier. I rate the product an eight.
Read full review
Syed Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a high initial ceiling before upscaling is required, user-friendly and rich in resources, but has occasional stability issues
The solution should come with cloud native applications to prepare for cloud based solutions. Forced restarts due to free upgrades is an issue that needs to be resolved. We can manage this as we have high availability and redundancy, but without that it could be a real problem. The level of customer support needs to be improved. There is currently an issue with Lenovo switching out SAN switches from the chassis, which will cause problems for people who already have a set up with the SAN switch connected to the central storage. This could require an entirely different network, adding an additional cost for the user.
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

"The most valuable feature that the B-Series has is related to the structure and architecture of the solution because in these solutions, you are using fabric interconnect as an interconnect device. The beauty of fabric interconnect is that it can work as in-house mode."
"The most valuable feature is definitely the service profile."
"The Dual Fabric design allows for online/in-service upgrades during production with no impact."
"The solution's most valuable feature is KVM Launch Manager."
"From a return on investment perspective, Cisco UCS B-Series is worth the money."
"The scalability is very good."
"In terms of the flexibility of the tool to adapt to technology needs, I think it is a very good solution."
"I can connect Cisco UCS B-Series to multiple chassis and rack servers using a unified platform, then manage them on a single console."
More Cisco UCS B-Series pros
"The functionality is reliable and requires minimal support."
"Flex System's best features are its performance and stability."
"We use the solution as a compute model to run the compute load on servers."
"It comes at a good price. We didn't face any problems with this product."
"The product is very user-friendly and has many resources at the enterprise level."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is its ease of use."
"The Lenovo Flex System is very stable."
"The stability and speed are always good. The processor is good and it's still working with our loads."
More Lenovo Flex System pros
 

Cons

"The integration is an area where Cisco UCS B-Series needs to provide users with more details."
"Cisco is not going for perpetual licensing."
"Dell should address the issue of direct support and spare parts availability in our region."
"The graphic code that UCS can support is limited and less accessible than other systems."
"Previously, the unified port functionality allowed the same port to function as both FC and Ethernet, however, this has now changed."
"The cost is expensive and has room for improvement."
"It is more expensive than the competitors."
"We have to have Java to manage the infrastructure. It would be great if we can manage the infrastructure through a web browser."
More Cisco UCS B-Series cons
"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."
"It does not have the same module flexibility that was present in IBM Blade. On the Blade System, I was able to choose between the Cisco module, or BMC module. Since the switch to Lenovo, I have not had the same choice of modules, only the BMC modules."
"I had some difficulties with the initial setup."
"The user-interface needs improvement, because they have an application from which we have to manage the whole system and all the infrastructure. This application is not working at our premises, because of some problem with the hardware itself. So although we brought it with our systems, and we used it to manage all the systems: the storage, the switches, and everything, nevertheless we have to support every part alone and enter the interface in one-by-one."
"Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo."
"Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved."
"The solution's firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult."
"The solution could improve by providing more integration with other platforms."
More Lenovo Flex System cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution on a yearly basis. Price-wise, it is an expensive product"
"The licensing cost is a little bit expensive because by default, it depends on your fabric interconnect model. Most of the time, however, Cisco provides a lot of promotions to the customers, so the cost can be waived for many projects. The price of the chassis itself is fair."
"Every three years, I need to renew my license and support the product...Every time I have to opt for the renewal of the license, I am shocked to learn about the increase in the price of the product."
"From a business point of view, the price is on the higher end."
"The price of this solution is a little bit higher, but given that this system is Cisco, it feels more secure and dependable."
"The cost of the blade servers is okay, but the cost of Fabric Interconnects ends up increasing the overall costs. For example, suppose it costs 3,500 USD per blade server. When you include the Fabric Interconnects, you could pay up to 30,000 USD. Therefore, compared to the cost of servers from Lenovo, Huawei, Dell, or HP, the cost of Cisco servers can be high. However, Cisco gives good discounts (about 90% to 94%) to partners and to customers who are already using Cisco servers. New Cisco customers do not get the level of discount that an existing customer does. Because you can get discounts with Cisco, I would give pricing a rating of four out of five."
"The product is expensive."
"The pricing for Cisco products is always high."
More Cisco UCS B-Series pricing and cost advice
"We have the whole maintenance for the 3 years, starting the deployment. We also have the VMware license for 3 years and I think we have another license to buy. There are no additional costs besides licensing."
"We are just paying the operational cost, which is not much."
"The is an annual license cost to use the Lenovo Flex System. If the price was less expensive and flexible overall and for additional features, our customers would be happier."
"The 14 blade server allows significant room for upscaling before having to invest in another chassis. You would have to purchase another chassis much sooner in the case of an eight or nine blade server."
"The price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."
"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Performing Arts
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise41
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS B-Series?
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is easily scalable.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS B-Series?
Comparing Cisco UCS B-Series with traditional servers, while its initial cost may be slightly higher, it is not as expensive as Oracle Exadata, making it a worthwhile investment. It pays off in the...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS B-Series?
There is a need for Cisco UCS B-Series to evolve and scale vertically, particularly with the increasing data demands and the integration of AI, ensuring the solution remains certified and capable u...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lenovo Flex System?
Compared to its quality, the pricing is very reasonable and represents good value.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Lenovo Flex System?
Continuing the production of this product is necessary. It is currently out of support, and we are seeking support from other sources besides Lenovo.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Lenovo Flex System?
We are using Lenovo Flex System on the server for our VMware environment, which includes our VMs and all our servers, Linux and Windows. It manages the daily operation efficiently.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 24% of the time
HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series Logo
HPE BladeSystem vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 17% of the time
Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series Logo
Supermicro SuperBlade vs Cisco UCS B-Series
Compared 16% of the time
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HPE Superdome X vs Lenovo Flex System Logo
HPE Superdome X vs Lenovo Flex System
Compared 53% of the time
HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System Logo
HPE Synergy vs Lenovo Flex System
Compared 47% of the time
More Lenovo Flex System Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco UCS B-Series
August 2025
Cisco UCS B-Series reportDownload Cisco UCS B-Series product report
Buyer's Guide
Blade Servers
August 2025
Lenovo Flex System reportDownload Lenovo Flex System product report
 

Also Known As

UCS B-Series, Unified Computing System B-Series
Flex System Blade Servers, Flex System SN Series
 

Overview

Based on Intel Xeon processor E7 and E5 product families, Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers work with virtualized and non-virtualized applications to increase: Performance, Energy efficiency, Flexibility and Administrator productivity.
Cisco

Flex System is Lenovo’s proven, 2nd generation blade, that efficiently runs your infrastructure applications with up to 80% better density than standard rack server deployments.

Lenovo
 

Sample Customers

Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Anonymous Banking Group, Artoni Transporti, Bellevue, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Hertz, Houston Methodist, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Lufthansa Systems GmbH & Co.KG, Outscale, Sony Corporation, Talbots
Information Not Available
Buyer's Guide
Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System
July 2025
Free Report: Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
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