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HPE Apollo Systems vs IBM Power Systems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

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

HPE Apollo Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (3rd)
IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.8
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 3.7%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 8.6%, up from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Power Systems8.6%
HPE Apollo Systems3.7%
Other87.7%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Aruna Udawatte - PeerSpot reviewer
An affordable and easy-to-implement solution, but its after-sales support and technical support should be improved
We use HPE Apollo for specific requirements of Linux servers HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products. HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved. The solution should provide fast delivery when it comes to replacing a…
Foluso  Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The cost benefit of this solution is most valuable. It is quite effective for the work for which we are using it. We are mainly running video servers on these, and we are quite happy with the resilience, density storage, and streaming capacity of the system."
"It's very reliable. I haven't had a single failure at all in the year and a half; not the slightest problem with it."
"The solution is well documented in a data sheet."
"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
"It's going to meet our needs moving forward, it is scalable."
"It's pretty flexible. You can choose how much storage you put on the server. You can have one to three nodes, depending on whether you want more CPU or storage."
"HPE Apollo's pricing is low, and implementation is very easy compared to other products."
"Some of the most valuable features are the processing power, stability, and security."
"IBM Power Systems' best features are its reliability, resilience, and performance per rack unit."
"With IBM Power11, downtime is virtually eliminated because the system has been fully optimized."
"I use the hypervisor of IBM Power Systems a lot."
"IBM Power Systems are secure and have fast processing."
"The most valuable features of the solution are disaster recovery, replication, and the ability to migrate to another location."
"Power VM gives us the flexibility to increase or decrease machine resources when required."
"Additionally, the processing power is far superior, especially with the RSA feature for reliability, serviceability, and availability."
 

Cons

"We would like to see improved cooling because that is quite an issue. If you put that much compute power into a single rack, cooling really becomes an issue. And there is room for improvement there."
"I would want to see the flexibility of being able to run various network protocols including InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, as well as iSCSI, with iSCSI going up to 100 gigabytes per second -that would be outstanding."
"We would like to see SimpliVity on top of the Apollo."
"The solution's deployment, security, and scalability need improvement."
"There is a shared battery for all cache controllers in the node. When you have to replace that element, you have to take down all three nodes and not just one."
"The predictive analysis feature could be improved."
"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."
"Sometimes, the availability of additional services can be a challenge. Certain IBM software takes time to deliver to the client. It can be slow."
"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."
"No available price list is on the web. Due to this, the customer cannot compare pricing."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"The pricing is high."
"It would be ideal if the solution was more simple to work with."
"I think IBM needs a little more work on managing the overall environment with eliminating Systems Director."
"IBM Power Systems could improve by having a cloud feature."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"The price of the solution is more expensive than Dell which is their main competitor. However, there are times we have managed to receive a comparable price."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"It is an expensive solution but it is worth the money. The standard licensing cost is for the GPU and the features that someone is using. There are additional charges but they depend on the solution."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"Price-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
"The solution's pricing is very, very high compared to other platforms."
"When there is an error in the SAS drive of 10,000 RPM, my company buys support for 1,500 USD."
"The licensing costs are okay. With IBM Power Systems, it's inclusive, so you can differentiate the price of the hardware from the software itself."
"The price of the solution depends upon the configuration part of it. Based on what configuration you want to go for it, there is a range like IBM Power Systems POWER9 and IBM Power Systems Power10."
"The additional software costs are high."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
Additional features would be beneficial in the next release of HPE Apollo Systems.
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
We were working with HPE Apollo Systems for one of our projects for the company named VVDN. We were using HPE Apollo Systems, GPU systems and CPU systems. For GPU systems, the model was 6500, in wh...
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
Our company is a platinum partner with HPE, and we continue to deal with HPE. We sell many of their hardware products. Depending on the requirement or deal, we may sell HPE Converged System, hardwa...
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?
There are definitely areas for improvement, but that's not really from the technological side of things. I rarely find any people with Power skills on the market. When I get young people from unive...
What is your primary use case for IBM Power Systems?
I use IBM Power Systems for online transactional processing, and in parts, also for online analytical processing. We mainly use IBM Power Systems' IBMI, which is an operating system with an integra...
 

Also Known As

HP Apollo Systems, HP ProLiant SL, HP Apollo
IBM OpenPOWER LC
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weta Digital
Cipher
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Apollo Systems vs. IBM Power Systems and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.