Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs IBM Power Systems comparison

Cisco and IBM are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Cisco is ranked #5 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5. Cisco holds a 5.3% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to IBM’s 7.5% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

Read 31 Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers reviews

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2,158 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

IBM Power Systems

Read 73 IBM Power Systems reviews

3,565 Views
3,565 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Ser...

IBM Power Systems

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers and IBM Power Systems compete in the server solutions category. Cisco UCS C-Series shows advantages in cost-effectiveness and ease of management, while IBM Power Systems have the upper hand in terms of performance and reliability.

Features: Cisco UCS C-Series offers integration capabilities, flexibility, and ease of management, enhancing operational efficiency. IBM Power Systems highlights include reliability, high processing power, and scalability, supporting demanding workloads efficiently.

Room for Improvement: Cisco UCS C-Series could enhance performance under heavy workloads, improve support for high-demand applications, and optimize hardware resources. IBM Power Systems require simpler configuration processes, streamlined management tools, and more intuitive interface options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco UCS C-Series is straightforward in deployment with responsive customer service, facilitating adoption and integration. IBM Power Systems may have a longer deployment curve but are supported by a knowledgeable team for handling complex queries.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco UCS C-Series offers competitive pricing and favorable ROI, appealing to budget-conscious businesses. IBM Power Systems, despite a higher setup cost, deliver robust long-term ROI through superior performance and reliability.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems

December 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 C-Series Rack Ser...

Ranking in Rack Servers

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Density Optimized Servers (2nd)

IBM Power Systems

Ranking in Rack Servers

4th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is 5.3%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 7.5%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Power Systems	7.5%
Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers	5.3%
Other	87.2%

Rack Servers

Featured Reviews

reviewer1441011

Sr, Manager- Network Solution Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Comprehensive support and integration ensure smooth cloud infrastructure operations

I may not be the right person to comment on advanced improvements because we are just using basic functionalities. We are getting all the functionalities which we used to get in other OEM rack servers. Potential areas for improvement may include a more flexible pricing model, better technical support, or tutorials from the vendor for users.

Read full review

Foluso Jibowo

Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd

Has empowered enterprises with secure and cost-effective solutions

When discussing disadvantages, I do not see many areas for improvement because we have received good testimonies from every client. IBM gives customers peace of mind. One challenge, which I would not really call a challenge, is that initially people have the notion that IBM Power Systems is quite expensive. However, IBM does not lose deals based on price. This is a message we need to keep communicating to people who feel that IBM is on the high side in terms of cost. We encourage them to have a discussion with us about their total cost of ownership over three or five years. There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false. However, once we engage and show them their return on investments and their total cost of ownership savings, they tend to embrace IBM.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco rack servers are very easy to integrate with other products from different vendors."

"The C-series is the most valuable."

"In terms of the features that I have found most valuable, that is basically the hardware, which is more dynamic."

"It is very nice and stable with an easy administration GUI."

"The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is server management."

"We have many people in my organization using Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers in the administration."

"The technical support from Cisco is fine."

"The solution is reliable and easy to use."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers pros

"The solution does not require any maintenance."

"The most valuable feature of our machines is their ability to replace faulty parts without causing any downtime."

"From a software developer standpoint, virtualization is really the key, as we can more easily spin up a new partition, virtual instance of IBM i."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten."

"IBM Power Systems are more capable because they have their own file system, CPUs, and accelerators, making them more capable than the other OEMs."

"The technical support that clients get from IBM is excellent."

"Power VM gives us the flexibility to increase or decrease machine resources when required."

"They are reliable, their availability is very good, and their scalability is second to none; I can go from really small to very, very large, and still stay on the same platform, still go with a single server, rather than using multiple boxes and clustering them."

More IBM Power Systems pros

Cons

"The only thing I would change is to provide more proactive support."

"The solution can be improved by adjusting the cost."

"The hard drive of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is not very good. I have already replaced three of them."

"I would like to see a little more integration with VMware."

"Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers can improve by providing customization features to allow us to deploy them on the cloud. For example, we need VMware to allow us to accomplish a cloud deployment."

"The pricing is too high and no discounts are available for our country."

"Definitely the support area needs improving. Especially the time response in case of hardware failure."

"Technical support could be more responsive."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers cons

"Its price can be improved. It is too high."

"The scalability process should be simplified."

"Unfortunately, the hardware models and all those things have gone down a little bit, and there's no such diversity of models, and again, IBM is getting more and more expensive."

"In my country, there are power supply interruptions. IBM could find ways to make the product stable through these interruptions."

"There are improvements that can be made on the technical side."

"IBM should provide a platform where users can learn about the storage and security of IBM Power Systems."

"I think the cost should be cheaper."

"IBM Power Systems could improve by having a cloud feature."

More IBM Power Systems cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is high."

"The solution is expensive and I give the price a four out of ten."

"This product is slightly more expensive when compared to others."

"The price of the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack could improve. It's a little more expensive in comparison with Dell or HPE solutions."

"We have to pay for the VMware and Cisco licenses."

"The price of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers is approximately 20 percent more than other solutions."

"Cisco is expensive, but we didn't look at the cost of the product. We were looking at reliability and support."

"The pricing is expensive."

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers pricing and cost advice

"When there is an error in the SAS drive of 10,000 RPM, my company buys support for 1,500 USD."

"Power Systems is very cheap and provides good value for money."

"The solution's pricing is very, very high compared to other platforms."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"I give the cost a one out of ten."

"IBM Power Systems is a really expensive product."

"The machine is good and has a comparatively good price."

"The pricing of the solution is very good because we can beat any other competitor with the pricing. Lately, they have offered good pricing for their customer."

More IBM Power Systems pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

University

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	42

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?

The C-series is the most valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?

The solution is moderately priced.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers?

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?

IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?

IBM Power Systems are used mainly in large organizations, generally in the financial industry, government, telecommunications, oil and gas sectors for their high availability environment. These sys...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 48% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 19% of the time

Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 5% of the time

HPE Synergy vs Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers Competitors

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs IBM Power Systems

Compared 25% of the time

Intel Server System vs IBM Power Systems

Compared 22% of the time

Oracle SPARC Servers vs IBM Power Systems

Compared 17% of the time

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs IBM Power Systems

Compared 17% of the time

Huawei KunLun Mission Critical Server vs IBM Power Systems

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Power Systems Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers

January 2026

Download Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Power Systems

January 2026

Download IBM Power Systems product report

Also Known As

Unified Computing System C-Series, Cisco UCS C-Series

IBM OpenPOWER LC

Overview

UCS C-Series Rack Servers deliver unified computing in an industry-standard form factor to reduce TCO and increase agility. Each server addresses varying workload challenges through a balance of processing, memory, I/O, and internal storage resources.

Cisco

IBM Power Systems are built to crush the most advanced data applications - from the mission-critical workloads you run today to the next generation of AI.

IBM

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Aegean Motorway, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Artoni Transporti, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, City of Mississauga, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Kind en Gezin, Kuwait Petroleum Italia, Nationwide, Quest, Talbots, University of St. Gallen

Cipher

Buyer's Guide

Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems

December 2025

Free Report: Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers vs. IBM Power Systems

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