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Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop vs IBM Spectrum Computing comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Cloudera Distribution for H...
Ranking in Hadoop
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
NoSQL Databases (8th)
IBM Spectrum Computing
Ranking in Hadoop
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Management (28th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Hadoop category, the mindshare of Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is 14.1%, down from 27.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Computing is 4.8%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hadoop Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop14.1%
IBM Spectrum Computing4.8%
Other81.1%
Hadoop
 

Featured Reviews

SA
Head of Advaced Analytics & Intelligence; AGM at Alinma Bank
Integration of multiple features supports data analytics and processing
Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop provides numerous features and capabilities combined into one platform.The solution offers power processing and supports different file systems and query engines. It provides parallel processing for handling many requests. The platform includes role-based access control in Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop. It secures the data itself and provides users with different roles and privileges.
OmarIsmail1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group
Senior Technical Specialist appreciates intelligent workload management, strong support, and scalability
The best features of IBM Spectrum Computing are common across many of their storage products. The software is solid, meaning that the code is stable. They take business seriously, which is what IBM stands for - International Business Machines. They always maintain a business-oriented approach in their software development. It's not simply clicking through interfaces; in IBM software, they consider their actions, process flows, and workflows around business processes. It requires understanding IBM and their methodology, as the software operates accordingly. I have utilized IBM Spectrum Computing's intelligent workload management feature. We use Insights, which is connected to the cloud. This provides AI capabilities for analyzing the configuration, offering smart recommendations on new code, warning about bugs in current code, and suggesting configuration improvements through its advisor tool. The predictive analytics feature in IBM Spectrum Computing enables optimal software performance through Insights. However, being a storage administrator requires foundational knowledge and understanding beyond these tools. For troubleshooting, it's efficient in spotting bottlenecks, but understanding the terms and metrics is essential as it provides answers that need interpretation.

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 is that I can use CDH for almost all use cases across all industries, including the financial sector, public sector, private retailers, and so on."
"The scalability of Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop is excellent."
"The tool can be deployed using different container technologies, which makes it very scalable."
"Cloudera is a very manageable solution with good support."
"The most valuable feature is Impala, the querying engine, which is very fast."
"The product as a whole is good."
"We also really like the Cloudera community. You can have any question and will have your answer within a few hours."
"It is helpful to gather and process data."
"I have utilized IBM Spectrum Computing's intelligent workload management feature through Insights, which is connected to the cloud."
"IBM's ability to cluster compute resources is impressive, with built-in support for scenarios like VR and active-active configurations,"
"The best features of IBM Spectrum Computing are common across many of their storage products."
"This solution is working for both VTL and tape."
"The most valuable aspect of the product is the policy driving resource management, to optimize the computing across data centers."
"The comparison was challenging, but the IBM Spectrum Scale offered a balanced solution. Our engineers rated itsanalytics capabilities equally high as Pure Storage. For workload management, Spectrum Computing provided effective solutions that met our needs. Workload management is part of a complete solution that uses different tools. There were the cloud and HPC parts; within HPC, there were parts like liquid cooling, simple computing, storage, and orchestration. The orchestration team handled the workload management."
"Easy to operate and use."
"The most valuable feature is the backup capability."
 

Cons

"The performance can be improved. We have experienced some performance issues."
"The price of this solution could be lowered."
"There are better solutions out there that have more features than this one."
"If they could support modifying the data more easily than the current implementation, it would be beneficial."
"We experienced many issues when we started working with Hadoop 3.0 in the Cloudera 6.0 version, so there are a lot of things that need to improve."
"It has compatibility issues if installed in specialized hardware such as EMC Isilon or if node manager and data nodes are not co-located."
"It is quite complicated to configure and install. Integrating the platform into an information system is always a challenge, especially when starting with on-premise implementation."
"On same ground I didn't see much training materials from Cloudera."
"Lack of sufficient documentation, particularly in Spanish."
"We have not been able to use deduplication."
"SMB storage and HPC is not compatible and it should be supported by IBM Spectrum Computing."
"In Pakistan, IBM's disadvantage is the lack of OEM support and presence."
"This solution is no longer managing tapes correctly."
"This solution is no longer managing tapes correctly."
"The deduplication software isn't quite up to speed with the market. While IBM has excellent compression technology, specifically on their FlashCore modules, they lag behind competitors such as NetApp in deduplication capabilities."
"Spectrum Computing is lagging behind other products, most likely because it hasn't been shifted to the cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cloudera requires a license to use."
"It is an expensive product."
"The tool is expensive...For the SMB market or customers whose environments are not that complex and do not have multiple systems running, Cloudera might not be a good option."
"I haven't bought a license for this solution. I'm only using the Apache license version."
"The tool is not expensive."
"I believe we pay for a three-year license."
"The price is very high. The solution is expensive."
"The solution is expensive."
"Spectrum Computing is one of the most expensive products on the market."
"This solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Marketing Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Performing Arts
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
The tool can be deployed using different container technologies, which makes it very scalable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
The price for Cloudera is average, yet it is very good compared to other solutions. It can be deployed on-premises, unlike competitors' cloud-only solutions.
What needs improvement with Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop?
If they could support modifying the data more easily than the current implementation, it would be beneficial.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Computing?
IBM Spectrum Computing consistently offers competitive pricing. When solutioning new implementations, IBM always presents the best solution and price. In a recent comparison with Pure Storage and N...
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Computing?
IBM Spectrum Computing had limitations with remote copy services between head office and disaster recovery sites. In the last year, IBM has improved the code by re-engineering it to policy-based re...
What is your primary use case for IBM Spectrum Computing?
The typical use case for IBM Spectrum Computing is that it's an all-rounder. It can be used in various scenarios, such as the retailer I work for that has batch processing. It's on-demand when perf...
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Platform Computing
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

37signals, Adconion,adgooroo, Aggregate Knowledge, AMD, Apollo Group, Blackberry, Box, BT, CSC
London South Bank University, Transvalor, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Genomic
Find out what your peers are saying about Cloudera Distribution for Hadoop vs. IBM Spectrum Computing and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.