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Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs IBM Power Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 30, 2025

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
6.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series enhances stability and cost-effectiveness with reliable performance, reduced maintenance, and extended hardware lifespan.
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
The return on investment is very high.
Product Manager at Hiperdist Ltd
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Dell PowerEdge R-Series support is effective and responsive, despite occasional delays, offering tailored experiences with high customer satisfaction.
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 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
The Dell PowerEdge R-Series provides scalable and flexible options, accommodating organizational growth with adaptable hardware despite potential cost hurdles.
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
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 and durable, offering stable performance with minimal downtime and effective workload handling.
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
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 needs performance, documentation, interface improvements, enhanced GPU, faster delivery, energy efficiency, support, compatibility, and cost reduction.
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
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 with reliable performance, justified costs, and robust support ideal for enterprises.
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

Dell PowerEdge R-Series delivers scalable, high-performance solutions with reliable management, robust security, and customizable design for demanding applications.
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
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
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
268
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (2nd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (4th)
IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 26.4%, down from 27.8% 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
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series26.4%
IBM Power Systems7.5%
Other66.1%
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.
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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Answers from the Community

LS
Owner at Euritex
Jan 16, 2022
Jan 16, 2022
IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Server IBM Power Systems is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) system that contains 8 threads or over per core. This processor performs super-fast due to the RISC algorithm technology than any other Intel-based hardware (e.g., Dell, HPE, Cisco). In Intel, there are only 2 or 4 threads per core and it performs according to CISC (Complex Instructi...
2 out of 3 answers
SR
Manager at Mutural Trust Bank
Aug 16, 2021
IBM Power Systems vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Server IBM Power Systems is a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) system that contains 8 threads or over per core. This processor performs super-fast due to the RISC algorithm technology than any other Intel-based hardware (e.g., Dell, HPE, Cisco).  In Intel, there are only 2 or 4 threads per core and it performs according to CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer). IBM Power system is a sustainable, reliable and obviously costly solution compared to any other Intel-based solution.  Generally, IBM Power system is used in mission-critical systems. 
Nicolae - PeerSpot reviewer
System and Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Jan 3, 2022
IBM Power comes with virtualization integrated (PowerVM), highly optimized (practically with no performance impact) - no need for VMWare, HyperV etc.  For database it is the recomended platform - even is Hana, Oracle (best combination with AIX) or DB2 (DB2 for me is the most autonomous database that you can have).  The downside of IBM Power could be the lack of support for Windows and the initial cost. 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business95
Midsize Enterprise59
Large Enterprise112
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 were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
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 have anything that I believe could be improved about Dell servers. However, I would like to see a range for AI that is more accessible for companies that do not have significant budgets. T...
What do you like most about IBM Power Systems?
IBM Power Systems provides very good performance and stability compared to other brands or processors.
What needs improvement with IBM Power Systems?
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 n...
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...
 

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Cipher
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