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Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs HPE BladeSystem comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 E-Series Servers
Ranking in Blade Servers
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HPE BladeSystem
Ranking in Blade Servers
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
140
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Blade Servers category, the mindshare of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is 3.6%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE BladeSystem is 8.4%, down from 14.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Blade Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
HPE BladeSystem8.4%
Cisco UCS E-Series Servers3.6%
Other88.0%
Blade Servers
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Solution Architect at COPYCAT LIMITED
Automation and integration capabilities streamline IT infrastructure management
The most valuable feature of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is the Cisco interface. The server management and automation capabilities have been outstanding in automation, greatly benefiting our IT team. Pricing is acceptable, and these servers have had a significant impact on cost savings and operational efficiency. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies the IT infrastructure.
TA
CTO at Miraj
Centralized modular platform has improved data center management and supports mission-critical workloads
The main area for improvement I see is the training process. When you use anything, how easily it is to manage is very important in hyper-converged solutions. If you compare it with VMware, it is very familiar. HPE Converged, however, is very large to understand for a new person. I am talking about training and management perspective, and user management. A system integrator and any system engineer who will operate and manage the system should find it easy to understand any configuration part and understanding part, which is currently a little bit tough. In Virtual Connect, we need some improvement. If we are going to move to hybrid, we need to easily move VM transactions from on-premises to cloud. We require a good, more easy process for day-to-day activities. Performance-wise, HPE BladeSystem is good regarding its ability to support mission-critical applications. However, reliability is all dependent on the core and memories, which will centrally control the entire blade and hyper-converged. We require more reliable things because if something goes down in the controller and center control, it is very tough to manage. We require a centralized image that will be replicated to any other device immediately, and all configurations and everything will come as soon as possible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is overall stable."
"Stability-wise, it is a good product that remains stable."
"Cisco has better visibility and manageability for disaster recovery."
"They are really easy to maintain. I've added RAM to them. I've done a lot of other things with the virtualization."
"The most valuable features are that they are efficient and easy to setup."
"The product's most valuable features are stability, speed, and scalability."
"What I can advise other prospective customers is that they should not worry about Cisco's support, stability, and performance."
"Cisco UCS E-Series Servers have been reliable, and it took almost five years for any hardware failure, which was only about a $100 repair, so nothing too major."
"The solution is very easy to use."
"We get higher density and better hardware maintenance."
"HPE BladeSystem provides excellent technical support from their team."
"Users with feedback in terms of workload performance have reported that a job that typically took 3 or 4 hours to run took a few minutes."
"One of the most valuable features I have found to be the enclosure."
"It allows immediate access to the server management and immediate detection of the access logs, providing secure access to the console and reliable administration."
"We were using Cisco UCS and we recently made the change to HP BladeSystem because the Cisco UCS platform was more complex to run, and with my experience HP was really easy to set up, manage, and maintain."
"It's a good product, it's reliable, the performance is good."
 

Cons

"The processing capacity could be improved."
"One thing that could be improved is the cost - it is very high for this Blade chassis as compared to other vendors. Especially in Asia. Asian customers mostly prefer a cost effective, cheaper solution."
"The biggest pain point for us is the matrix for the firmware upgrades. It is a pain. You look at that thing, you might as well be reading Greek. It would be a whole lot better if they could clean up their documentation on it."
"The platform's pricing needs improvement. There could be more collaborative tools included."
"The product should also be available in a standard edition or a standard license since currently there is a need to pay for an extra license, which is very expensive, especially when considering the budgeting part of our company."
"The tool must be made compatible with multi-vendor ecosystems."
"I think that's probably one of the biggest failure points with Cisco, from their documentation all the way to their products."
"I am always asked to justify why we should purchase such expensive hardware when there are other brand names available with same capacity for a lesser price."
"HPE BladeSystem that we are using is currently very old. It's not too good. We haven't renewed it. I would like the solution to have more updates."
"Customers are always looking for more performance, just trying to get more out of them."
"We require more reliable things because if something goes down in the controller and center control, it is very tough to manage."
"It is lacking in the ability to replicate virtual machines more easily."
"Alerting management could be better."
"HPE BladeSystem can improve proactive monitoring."
"The solution could use better management capabilities. The interface in terms of management could be much more intuitive."
"I can see the BladeSystem is having some hardware failure issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing costs of the solution. The most expensive server from Cisco is Cisco UCS B-Series."
"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing of the solution is reasonable. From a commercial point of view, the prices are okay."
"It's expensive, they are quite pricey."
"I need to pay for the license, and it is expensive. We make yearly payments."
"The price of HPE BladeSystem is less expensive than some other solutions, such as Dell. The cost of replacement equipment is expensive."
"Its pricing was good. We selected this solution because it was within our budget. We paid just once when we bought it. We never bought any license."
"The price for HPE BladeSystem can vary between $100,000 to $1 million or above. The price can be high."
"The prices for the HPE Virtual Connect Modules are expensive compared to other I/O Modules available."
"We have been satisfied with the price. However, there are additional costs for support."
"It is not expensive, really, in this class of server products."
"I would recommend this solution for large enterprises. Medium-sized companies would find it difficult to afford the HPE BladeSystem's overall capital expenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
19%
Computer Software Company
9%
Wholesaler/Distributor
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Construction Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise104
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
The pricing of Cisco UCS E-Series Servers is okay, costing around 30,000 per year. Support is included in this cost.
What needs improvement with Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I would like to see improvements in VMware integration with Cisco, especially in terms of documentation and integration tools. Support of NVIDIA integration would also make it better.
What is your primary use case for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers?
I use Cisco UCS E-Series Servers ( /products/cisco-ucs-e-series-servers-reviews ) for managing our IT infrastructure and supporting AI-driven projects. The integration with Cisco routers simplifies...
How would you choose between HPE's Bladesystem and Synergy?
For me, choosing between HPE’s Bladesystem and Synergy came down to which solution was more powerful, reliable, and stable. It turns out Bladesystem was the winner. Bladesystem is excellent because...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE BladeSystem?
With around 19 years of exposure in working with various servers, including HPE, I encounter challenges in identifying reasonable prices during the setup cost and licensing process, especially for ...
What needs improvement with HPE BladeSystem?
The main area for improvement I see is the training process. When you use anything, how easily it is to manage is very important in hyper-converged solutions. If you compare it with VMware, it is v...
 

Also Known As

UCS E-Series Servers
HP ProLiant BL Series Servers, HP ProLiant BladeSystem
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Navaho,  MiroNet AG, Columbia Sportswear
EMIS Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco UCS E-Series Servers vs. HPE BladeSystem and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.