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Cisco UCS B-Series vs Lenovo Flex System comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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
5th
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
8th
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 March 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS B-Series is 7.2%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo Flex System is 4.6%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco UCS B-Series7.2%
Lenovo Flex System4.6%
Other88.2%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

MB
Head of IT Operations at NCC BANK LIMITED
Efficient server management reduces costs and supports seamless operations
Cisco UCS B-Series has reliably sustained smooth operations without the need for significant maintenance. Its administration capabilities provide easy access to performance reports, logs, and utilization data, which are essential for effective server management. Additionally, the integration capabilities are seamless, and the power consumption and heat generation are low, resulting in reduced cooling costs and increased financial benefits.
FA
Senior System Administrator at Khushhali Microfinance Bank
Used to run the compute load on servers, but firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult
We use the solution for multiple purposes, such as in the virtualization cluster and the standalone applications We use the solution as a compute model to run the compute load on servers. The solution's firmware and driver upgrades are a bit difficult. I have been using Lenovo Flex System for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability of Cisco UCS B-Series is impeccable, as it has been running smoothly without any need for maintenance."
"Faster deployments of new and replacement hardware compact footprint saves valuable space on the rack."
"The scalability is very good."
"The scalability, high availability, and security all combined is a good offering."
"The product is easy to use."
"The Dashboard is quite impressive and is, so far, the best based on my experience."
"Dell has a huge portfolio of products."
"For UCS B series, its integration with devices like FI, N5K, and UCSM where we can configure Service Profile and the way it combines LAN, SAN, and the server on the blade is something I love."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage system."
"The product is very user-friendly and has many resources at the enterprise level."
"The Lenovo Flex System is very stable."
"It comes at a good price. We didn't face any problems with this product."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is its ease of use."
"The stability and speed are always good. The processor is good and it's still working with our loads."
"We use the solution as a compute model to run the compute load on servers."
 

Cons

"The solution is expensive."
"Cisco products are technically quite bulky if you ask me. You really need to be very proficient technically to deploy it and to understand the assignment of the service profiles before you can really make the most of it."
"This product uses a converged network adapter because it is the only way to provide flexibility with both fiber and ethernet connections."
"Stability of some of the old versions has a few bugs."
"The server system can be very daunting for an untrained system administrator to configure."
"Next generation support for VMware needs to be introduced as it does not support eighth-generation VMware."
"This model does not support virtualization of the switch."
"Right now, the market is rapidly transitioning to solid-state media and the Cisco options tend to be less varied and more expensive than a broader slate of products from HP, Dell or IBM."
"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 user interface needs improvement because they have an application from which we have to manage the whole system and all of the infrastructure."
"Flex System's integration with the XClarity Management System could be improved."
"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."
"The product could improve its integration capabilities."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of the Lenovo Flex System is the storage 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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Make sure you work with a vendor partner than can get you a substantial discount off of list pricing."
"Pricing with Cisco is very high."
"It is highly-priced."
"Compared to the more in-demand hyper-converged environments such as Nutanix or DVX rail, Cisco UCS B-Series is even more costly due to the expensive fabric interconnects."
"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 pricing for Cisco products is always high."
"UCS is expensive, and we will be migrating to the cheaper HP servers."
"The product cost is high."
"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."
"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."
"There is a one-off payment to buy the equipment and the support is purchased annually."
"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 price is interesting. I am able to quote a client based on their needs and offer them either Lenovo or Dell."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Performing Arts
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
University
7%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
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.
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...
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...
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.
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.
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.
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS B-Series vs. Lenovo Flex System and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.