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Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs IBM Power Systems vs Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 22.9%, down from 27.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 6.8%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is 9.9%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series22.9%
IBM Power Systems6.8%
Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers9.9%
Other60.4%
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.
Mike Bellemans - PeerSpot reviewer
Project manager at Sopraco NV
One of the products in the market that is the easiest to set up and maintain
Performance and scalability-wise, there are certain areas where the product lacks and needs improvement as it does not provide a lot of fancy features presently. In general, it is a normal product that is good enough for our company. For the time being, my company does not need any extra features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We do not have much workload right now. We are happy with whatever we have tested."
"However, I have had very good experiences with Dell systems, and the price-performance ratio has always been great."
"Dell PowerEdge R-Series is more than capable of supporting those systems, and that has been really important."
"Using PowerEdge helped to reduce unplanned production downtime by 20% to 25%."
"The management portal is essential because it gives you a lot of flexibility. You don't have to be at the location to manage the server. You can power it on and off remotely or start an installation remotely. All you need to do is connect it to the network and you can do things from thousands of miles away."
"We were running out of memory, and that was the first time we heard of a solution that supports a terabyte of core memory. That was the primary reason we got the first box. We've stayed with it since then because we have so many Dell workstations."
"The most valuable aspect of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is that they don't require support for card installation and offer extensive diagnostic software."
"The most valuable feature is standardization because we have a small group of IT resources that need to do the operational tasks."
"The improvement was quite noticeable when we did the upgrade; we had faster service, better internet connection, a more stable internet connection, and a very stable active directory with no delays when users wanted to log in or access services such as Outlook or the internet."
"What our customers appreciate most is that they can save space, since Power is high performance, you can have fewer machines, fewer servers, and good performance in your environment."
"Scalability is great; with the VIOS, the Power and the Power platform, we can virtualize and create many more LPARs, making it definitely a more flexible solution compared to earlier versions."
"The best features of the solution are its robustness and service level."
"The pricing of the solution is very good because we can beat any other competitor with the pricing."
"We have done testing with Intel, we have done testing with POWER, and the performance we were getting with POWER is actually very good compared to what we were getting on the other systems."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"We've been very satisfied with the solution's capabilities."
"Easy integration with UPS systems provides added convenience and efficiency for our operations."
"We have not experienced any issues with the Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers' performance, as it is stable."
"Technical support was very good. IBM support is very helpful."
"The most valuable aspect of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is the brand name and the service relationship we have with Lenovo."
"It's very power-efficient and allows you to access the rack server directly without accessing the operating system on that server."
"The server itself covers all of the bases — my clients are really happy with it."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers are scalable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is the easiest product to set up and maintain."
 

Cons

"On the negative side, I must say that the price of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is an issue."
"The versions that I work with, they used to max out on memory, on RAM, quickly, so I'd want to think in the newer versions, they actually allocate more processing power and more RAM to them."
"When integrating the PowerEdge rack, we needed help from all the different companies to combine it with the servers. Each company has a system, and things must align with the server."
"The only challenge we have with the product is keeping it in line with VMware, knowing that VMware has now gone with a different provider."
"We do encounter power supply failures from time to time."
"Unfortunately, PowerEdge Rack Servers do not support NVMe storage."
"Customer service receives a rating of eight out of ten. A perfect ten cannot be given because there is always something that can be improved."
"I have used these servers in a government project along with Nutanix, and there is a security restriction. I do not know if it is from Dell's side or Nutanix's side. From the host, you cannot read the external hard drive data inside a VM."
"The solution is highly-priced."
"In Power6, latency was an issue, but nowadays, we are on Power8, which doesn't have any such problems. Sometimes, we have issues when we are moving to a new version, which is the case with almost every company. Some new issues or problems show up suddenly, and you do not have the time to research and find the solution. That's when we contact IBM technical support."
"I think the cost should be cheaper."
"Sometimes, we have issues when we are moving to a new version, which is the case with almost every company."
"Licensing is always going to be a problem, because it used to be based on, "This is a CPU, this is the memory, this is your footprint." Now, with virtualization, that one CPU can be carved up 100 different ways, so why should I be charged for that use rather than a single CPU, a single socket?"
"One of the main challenges with IBM Power Systems is the functionality of live partnership mobility."
"Licensing has always been an issue, but with IBM machines a serial number is licensed with support."
"I would rather have gum surgery than get on the phone and talk to somebody to try to put me with a technical consultant."
"The solution is not stable."
"Its price could be better. Its price is sometimes an issue for our clients."
"To be frank, the technical support from Lenovo's team needs improvement. There seems to be a lack of support, and it is important for Lenovo to address this issue."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers availability could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."
"Upgrading firmware is easier in Dell than in Lenovo."
"I do not have any notes for improvements."
"The solution's initial setup was complicated."
"The solution can be a bit expensive in that there are other cheaper options. While I do not know the exact pricing, I can say that the functionality is expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's analytics helped to decrease production downtime by at least 30%."
"The server is a one-time purchase, but the support is on a subscription basis."
"The pricing for this solution is competitive compared to others on the market."
"It's a bit of a shock when you have to find the money, but the pricing is very competitive, so I'm happy with that."
"The product's pricing is not good."
"I have no issues with the pricing and licensing costs. They are fine."
"Compared to other vendors, the prices are much lower."
"It's abundantly clear that the specific licensing requirements will be dictated by the intricacies of the machinery we deploy."
"There is a yearly licensing cost, and it's an expensive solution."
"Its price depends on the sizing."
"The additional software costs are high."
"Its price is too high."
"The machine is good and has a comparatively good price."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"The cost model is great. There is so much built in to the technology, that if you know how to use it you can save yourself a lot of money."
"Other than the standard licensing fees there are no other additional costs. The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers could be better, and the availability of the solution could improve. We have been waiting two months for one server."
"The cost of the solution depends entirely on the client. There are not any additional costs other than the standard licensing fee."
"It is expensive compared to other vendors."
"Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers can be categorized as a product falling under an affordable price range but more expensive than its competitors."
"The price of the solution is very expensive when compared to other solution like HP or Dell."
"The price of Lenovo ThinkSystem Rack Servers is highly competitive. Many customers prefer this solution because of the price. However, the price could be reduced."
"I don't know the exact amount of money, but when I compared it to Dell or HPE, Lenovo was the best when it comes to price and equipment."
"The licensing cost is the same as HP. It doesn't have any additional cost. However, the price, for example, for the memory option, does not match other vendors such as HP or Dell. They should work on the pricing of Lenovo. It is a great competitor, and it should compete with the price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business103
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise121
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise42
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise9
 

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 think Dell PowerEdge R-Series should be continued as is; the service part and the hardware quality are good, but th...
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.
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...
 

Also Known As

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
IBM OpenPOWER LC
SR Series, Lenovo SR Series, ThinkSystem Rack Servers, IBM Rack Servers, ThinkSystem SR Series, Lenovo Rack Servers,
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Cipher
immixGroup, Komsomolskaya Pravda, SRG Global, Seekr, Infiniti Red Bull Racing, jKool, Tennis Australia, VEKA, Netpoints, Gamma Powersports
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and others in Rack Servers. Updated: May 2026.
895,151 professionals have used our research since 2012.