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Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs IBM Power Systems 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers strong ROI with improved performance, reliability, and cost savings compared to cloud services.
Sentiment score
3.1
HPE ProLiant DL Servers show mixed ROI, with quick returns from reliability but unrealized potential due to partial utilization or costs.
Sentiment score
6.2
IBM Power Systems deliver enhanced performance, reliability, and scalability, offering significant ROI through cost savings and efficient workload management.
By not having to worry about it, I would estimate we save two to four hours a week, depending on what's happening, such as if we need to spin up a new server, which would contribute to more time if done the old way.
Manager, Systems & Desktop Support at Tilson Home Corporation
In my immediate case for antenna analysis, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers offer a reduction from days of computing to half a day or hours.
Senior Radio Frequncy Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The value of uptime to us is critical.
VP IT Operations at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In terms of percentage, I am saving from 5 to 10%.
IT Consultant at SPE
The return on investment is very high.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series boasts highly rated customer service, praised for knowledgeable support despite occasional delays and suggested improvements.
Sentiment score
6.7
HPE ProLiant DL Servers' support is praised for responsiveness but can improve documentation and initial response times.
Sentiment score
3.0
IBM Power Systems' customer service is commended for its responsiveness and expertise, despite occasional issues with first-level support.
I would give Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten because they're always able to answer all the questions we have; they reach a solution no matter how long it takes, and they don't give up.
Manager, Systems Security at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
It has always been scheduled maintenance, which says a lot for a production environment, as we haven't had to call in a trouble ticket for the actual hardware during its entire run.
Manager, Systems & Desktop Support at Tilson Home Corporation
Typically, the contacts we have on-site are very knowledgeable, they come in within a day and usually have it fixed and taken care of if there are issues.
Senior Systems Engineer at Federal Data Systems
I feel very confident with HPE ProLiant DL Servers regarding reliability.
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
We do not communicate directly with HPE's technical support because our local support company is primarily responsible.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
I try to get my support calls pre-routed to the US; I'd rather wait a couple of hours for support becoming available there than going to support somewhere in the Philippines or Indonesia.
Principal Architect IBM Systems, Storage & AI at TD SYNNEX
Technical support from IBM is excellent.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
I would rate the technical support by IBM for IBM Power Systems as excellent.
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers strong scalability and adaptability, seamlessly supporting diverse environments and future expansion needs.
Sentiment score
5.7
HPE ProLiant DL Servers offer strong scalability and adaptability, supporting seamless expansion and modular upgrades for growing businesses.
Sentiment score
4.8
IBM Power Systems is a scalable platform, ideal for enterprises needing flexibility and dynamic resource addition without downtime.
The scalability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is excellent.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Any outages or blackouts are limited to particular servers, not affecting the whole chassis or enclosures.
Senior Systems Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We bought our product with scaling involved, and we've been scaling it up anytime we've needed more storage.
Director, Information Technology at TEXAS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION
From our usage point of view, we rely less on onboard storage, depending instead on SANs and NAS, and the fiber connections and throughput are satisfactory.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
I cannot give high marks for scalability since servers are designed to be standalone.
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
IBM Power Systems is a completely scalable solution.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Dell PowerEdge R-Series is highly reliable, offering excellent uptime, robust support, and durability, ideal for demanding IT infrastructures.
Sentiment score
5.8
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are praised for their reliability, stable performance, and minimal hardware issues compared to competitors.
Sentiment score
4.4
IBM Power Systems are lauded for reliability, high performance, minimal maintenance, and stability, ideal for mission-critical operations.
Over four years, we've had less than 1 percent downtime.
It support lead at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
There is a feature to update the server while it is running, so there is no need to restart.
Manager, Regions Information Technology Security at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
We have truly not had any downtime on the infrastructure at all.
Director, Information Technology at TEXAS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION
I can give HPE ProLiant DL Servers a rating of 10 for stability and reliability.
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Since the distributors are not physically present in Pakistan, that creates a risk for long-term large customers.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
IBM just released IBM Power11 last month with significant improvements, eliminating the need for downtime in your environment.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerEdge R-Series faces challenges with outdated tools, high pricing, limited scalability, and declining system reliability.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers need better boot times, power monitoring, software integration, scalability, cost-efficiency, and global support enhancements.
IBM Power Systems need better pricing, cloud integration, user-friendliness, and marketing to attract smaller businesses and address performance issues.
We need to know about any upcoming updates so that we can plan accordingly.
End User Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The beneficial aspect of that feature was that we could skip the PowerStore and just have the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers alone, as they also served as storage, which helped us save money.
Director of IT at Star Kay White
This forces you to go up to a larger server to get the desired processor, which increases the cost.
Team Lead Infrastructure at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Improvements could be made in database engine hosting services because, as it stands, the pricing of Oracle is too high from both the service and software solution perspectives.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
Dell is much better, especially when configuring the internal storage of the server.
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
If you could do a fully re-entrant kernel, if the kernel is developed to be fully re-entrant, that would not restart the operating system at all.
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
IBM gives customers peace of mind.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers competitive pricing, perceived as cost-effective due to durability and transparent licensing; customization may increase costs.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are often seen as expensive, but valued for remote management and competitive overall cost-benefit.
IBM Power Systems is costly and complex but offers value through performance and features for knowledgeable users.
They have been stable and running for years without performance downtime or significant disc failures.
Product manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Some customers find it cheaper due to contractual agreements, while others find it expensive, especially when scaling up.
System Administrator at Tigs
The software associated with servers, like VMware subscription licenses, drives costs.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Initially when sizing it, people perceive IBM Power Systems as quite expensive.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Valuable Features

The Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers remote management, scalability, security, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, appealing to diverse organizational demands.
HPE ProLiant DL Servers are praised for reliability, scalability, remote management, performance, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and broad compatibility.
IBM Power Systems offers reliability, flexibility, robust performance, and advanced features, making it ideal for high-demand enterprise environments.
They keep running for at least five to seven years without any issues.
IT Manger at Dubai precast LLc
With PowerEdge Servers, I don't need a one-to-one ratio redundancy, which leads to about eighty percent downtime reduction.
Product manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
One of the valuable features is Active Directory, which helps in managing the network.
IT Manager at Misrconsult
The price-performance ratio is better than IBM counterparts, which is why we have opted for these solutions.
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
The most useful functions in HPE ProLiant DL Servers are its reliability and quick availability.
Technical Support at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
I assess the role of IBM Power Systems in managing my complex data analytics as excellent; it's an excellent platform, very robust and very reliable.
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
For over 13 years, IBM systems have been the most secure in the industry.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 25.4%, down from 27.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE ProLiant DL Servers is 20.2%, down from 21.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 7.0%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series25.4%
HPE ProLiant DL Servers20.2%
IBM Power Systems7.0%
Other47.400000000000006%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Tom van Mil - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at Lico Innovations B.v.
Supports flexible hosting needs through seamless upgradability and strong monitoring capabilities
The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge R-Series for me are the feature richness and the upgradability. I really love the way that it is so dynamically applicable for every situation, and they manage to have an all-in-one solution for every single situation. Dell PowerEdge has supported the growth and operational success of my company through its great compute power and price-to-performance ratio. Every time Dell is at the top of its game for us, and there is just no other brand for us that is able to reach that kind of price-to-performance ratio. Dell PowerEdge R-Series has features that specifically cater to the needs of my small company, such as iDRAC. The iDRAC system is a complete feature set for managing servers and hardware technically and monitoring-wise. It really fits in our system and our ecosystem, and monitoring-wise, it is excellent. They have all these sensors available via different protocols and end points, which I love, and the ability to manage and control everything via the iDRAC interface is just a welcome bonus. In our use case, Dell PowerEdge R-Series is very flexible. It is another computer which helps a lot because of the durability over time. They keep running, making scalability for getting more of those resources in our environment so easy.
ArifSheikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Director / Chief Business Artchitect at SMARIF
High availability servers have boosted hosted payment services but still need better local support
We are not using PowerVM because of certain limitations; it is on a back-end engine. However, we are using other components such as vSphere for some small interfaces, and those are the main components we are utilizing. Since these servers are fully dedicated to various high-end solutions, they have some embedded features that their kernel and applications are using, which are bound to that functionality. We may not provide an exact assessment on its usage, but we are considering those products for some AI solutions; however, we are currently in the review stage and have not concluded our evaluation on how those are utilized yet. We are aware of the pricing of HPE ProLiant DL servers, but not off the cuff. We have obviously acquired those solutions ex-Pakistan, so they are on the rise, and while we do not remember those prices offhand, they are generally better than the IBM series, although they are becoming slightly pricey in Pakistan due to processor shortages and demand. Improvements could be made in database engine hosting services because, as it stands, the pricing of Oracle is too high from both the service and software solution perspectives. If pricing can be reduced, especially for DB servers, that could have a direct positive impact on the overall solution. Regarding reliability, it has been satisfactory so far, but since the distributors are not physically present in Pakistan, that creates a risk for long-term large customers. They provide import-based services, necessitating us to over-invest in backup stock and offline servers. If there was a market presence from those players in Pakistan, it could benefit both clients and distributors by reducing the need for investment in backup inventory.
Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business98
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise113
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise98
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers ...
What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
I do not see any area for improvement in Dell PowerEdge R-Series, particularly nothing very significant. I do not kno...
How do Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers compare with HPE ProLiant DL servers?
Lenovo ThinkSystem rack servers offer flexibility and efficiency in order to meet mission-critical demands. I like th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
The pricing of HPE ProLiant DL Servers depends purely on the configuration, and it is not affordable. However, if you...
What needs improvement with HPE ProLiant DL Servers?
We are not using PowerVM because of certain limitations; it is on a back-end engine. However, we are using other comp...
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
In my opinion, the product can be improved by maintaining it and not sunsetting it; that would be my recommendation f...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
I am an architect and system administrator, and I'm responsible for anything related to IBM Power Systems. In IBM Pow...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Power Systems?
I would recommend IBM Power Systems to others. I have given this review a rating of ten out of ten.
 

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
HP ProLiant DL series, HP ProLiant DL
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
AmeriPride Services, iSource, Bolagsverket, BlueShore Financial, British Columbia Assessment Authority, National Stock Exchange, Cardlytics
Cipher
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and others in Rack Servers. Updated: March 2026.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.