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HPE Apollo Systems vs IBM Power Systems comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM are both solutions in the Rack Servers category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.0, while IBM is ranked #3 with an average rating of 9.3. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 3.9% mindshare in Rack Servers, compared to IBM’s 7.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of IBM users who would recommend it.
HPE Apollo Systems
Read 24 HPE Apollo Systems reviews
  • 1,962 Views
  • 1,707 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
IBM Power Systems
Read 73 IBM Power Systems reviews
  • 3,714 Views
  • 3,714 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
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HPE Apollo Systems and IBM Power Systems compete in the high-performance computing market. IBM Power Systems appear to have the upper hand due to their advanced features that users feel justify the investment.

Features: HPE Apollo Systems are known for scalability, energy efficiency, and flexibility. IBM Power Systems are recognized for high processing power, reliability, and robust security features.

Room for Improvement: HPE Apollo Systems users suggest improvements in integration, software tools, and compatibility with existing systems. IBM Power Systems users desire lower costs, more accessible maintenance procedures, and improved affordability without losing performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HPE Apollo Systems are straightforward to deploy with comprehensive support. IBM Power Systems, despite more complex deployment, offer responsive technical support. HPE excels in faster initial deployment, while IBM provides detailed guidance for complex setups.

Pricing and ROI: HPE Apollo Systems have competitive setup costs and flexible pricing, offering favorable ROI aligned with budget-conscious decisions. IBM Power Systems, with higher upfront costs, promise long-term value and substantial returns, appealing to those prioritizing lasting investment.

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To learn more, read our detailed HPE Apollo Systems vs. IBM Power Systems Report (Updated: February 2026).
Buyer's Guide
HPE Apollo Systems vs. IBM Power Systems
February 2026
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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
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Density Optimized Servers (2nd)
IBM Power Systems
Ranking in Rack Servers
3rd
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 February 2026, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of HPE Apollo Systems is 3.9%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Power Systems is 7.2%, 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 (%)
IBM Power Systems7.2%
HPE Apollo Systems3.9%
Other88.9%
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

Gökhan DURMAZ - PeerSpot reviewer
Gökhan DURMAZ
Account Manager at TD SYNNEX
High-quality integration and strong support have optimized our rack server operations
HPE Apollo Systems is a good product because it has better support and best quality with integrity. When I speak about integrity, I speak about GPU integration or other integrations such as GPU integration, backup software integration, and hypervisor integration. Regarding the integration of high-speed interconnectors in HPE Apollo Systems, they impact computational tasks because the high-speed interconnect affects performance. I don't remember the specifics. Regarding the cooling technologies, they help to reduce operational costs. The positive impact I see from HPE Apollo Systems is that support is good and quality is good. In general, HPE Apollo Systems appears to be for rack servers with some optimization capabilities.
Read full review
Foluso Jibowo - PeerSpot reviewer
Foluso Jibowo
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.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We're going to buy another Apollo 6500. We may configure it with half the number of GPUs because that may be all we need. In a sense, we can see the Apollo 6500 being so powerful that we only need half the GPU capability that we have now."
"The technical support from HPE has always been good in my experience."
"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."
"HPE Apollo's most valuable feature is the ability to expand our storage capacity."
"Apollo Systems provide stuff that standard services do not. More HTDs, more compute power, at very reasonable pricing."
"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 support is the most valuable feature."
"With HPE Apollo, we can propose configurations with many hard drives, making it suitable for large storage needs."
More HPE Apollo Systems pros
"The performance and stability are great."
"Power runs our resilient data systems, our high-end databases, stuff that can't go down."
"IBM Power Systems are secure and have fast processing."
"I can have what they call multi-tenancy, meaning that I can have multiple tenants within the same server."
"We've been using it for a long time, and it's stable."
"The SMT that they've improved has really helped open up boundaries for other applications that can use it."
"I use the hypervisor of IBM Power Systems a lot."
"The performance is the solution's most valuable asset. It has one of the highest levels of performance I have ever seen. It's quite remarkable, in that sense."
More IBM Power Systems pros
 

Cons

"HPE Apollo's after-sales support and technical support should be improved."
"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 are quite happy with it, but its price and storage density can be better."
"One drawback which I had: When I needed to expand storage on the Apollo, I had significant problems getting disks for it. It was a very long wait-time. So, if I were to give any advice in regards to improving this product, I would say make more of the 8TB disks available quicker."
"We would like to see SimpliVity on top of the Apollo."
"The support from HPE Apollo could be better, they are making knowledgeable."
"We could, perhaps, use more GPUs in the future, go from eight to 16 GPUs per instance. That could run head-to-head against the DGX-1, the DGX-2 that NVIDIA has developed in their own chassis. That would be interesting to see."
"Lustre seems to be just a little bit unstable overall."
More HPE Apollo Systems cons
"Its price can be improved. It is too high."
"IBM should be more flexible with marketing or offer marketing events themselves and invite the partners to attend. That might be far more productive."
"Software testing and the compatibility of software products that are available in the market should be addressed."
"No available price list is on the web. Due to this, the customer cannot compare pricing."
"One of the main challenges with IBM Power Systems is the functionality of live partnership mobility."
"I would like to see IBM Power Systems integrate with all cloud types."
"I would like to see the scaling model improved so it's not just either tiny or huge."
"There is a notion in the market that IBM is expensive, which is false."
More IBM Power Systems cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Compared to other products, HPE Apollo is not an expensive solution."
"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."
"Obviously I would like to see the cost go down. That speaks for itself."
"There is an annual license required to use HPE Apollo."
"I give the cost a one out of ten."
"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."
"Its price depends on the sizing."
"The price of the solution could be somewhat better and this is what lowers my rating of it to a seven or eight out of ten."
"Why should I be charged for that use rather than a single CPU, a single socket?"
"It is designed for a large workload, as opposed to a small workload. For our circumstances, and even as an independent, I can't buy a Power system to experiment on. It can't happen. You cannot buy them."
"Power Systems is very cheap and provides good value for money."
"The pricing is reasonable."
More IBM Power Systems pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise42
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with HPE Apollo?
Some features could be added to HPE Apollo Systems in the future, and I feel that some capability is needed. HPE Apollo Systems is a bit expensive, and there are some issues with scalability. Two f...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for HPE Apollo?
I have been distributing this product for three years. I don't have specific use cases, and everything about the major use case for HPE Apollo Systems is good. I don't know the purpose clients are ...
See all answers
What advice do you have for others considering HPE Apollo?
I am not using these products today, and I do not work with some specific firewalls. My company is TD Synnex, a distributor company, and I work for this company. My email is , and my first name is ...
See all answers
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 for IBM. I used to work for IBM for nineteen years, and I know, unfortunately, I ...
See all answers
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 Power Systems, I have found a lot of valuable features such as LVM, TCP, ODM, RSCT,...
See all answers
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.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 22% of the time
Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 14% of the time
HPE Synergy vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
HPE Synergy vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 7% of the time
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
Dell PowerEdge XE-Series vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 7% of the time
Lenovo High-Density Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems Logo
Lenovo High-Density Servers vs HPE Apollo Systems
Compared 5% of the time
More HPE Apollo Systems Competitors
Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs IBM Power Systems Logo
Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs IBM Power Systems
Compared 25% of the time
Intel Server System vs IBM Power Systems Logo
Intel Server System vs IBM Power Systems
Compared 22% of the time
HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs IBM Power Systems Logo
HPE ProLiant DL Servers vs IBM Power Systems
Compared 17% of the time
Oracle SPARC Servers vs IBM Power Systems Logo
Oracle SPARC Servers vs IBM Power Systems
Compared 15% of the time
Huawei KunLun Mission Critical Server vs IBM Power Systems Logo
Huawei KunLun Mission Critical Server vs IBM Power Systems
Compared 3% of the time
More IBM Power Systems Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
HPE Apollo Systems
February 2026
HPE Apollo Systems reportDownload HPE Apollo Systems product report
Buyer's Guide
IBM Power Systems
February 2026
IBM Power Systems reportDownload IBM Power Systems product report
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

The HPE Apollo high-density server family is built for the highest levels of performance and efficiency. They are rack-scale compute, storage, networking, power and cooling – massively scale-up and scale-out – solutions for your big data analytics, object storage and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. From water-cooling that’s 1,000X more efficient than air, to “right-sized scaling” with 2X the compute density for workgroup and private cloud workloads, the HPE Apollo line is a dense, high-performance, tiered approach for organisations of all sizes.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise
IBM Power Systems are built to crush the most advanced data applications - from the mission-critical workloads you run today to the next generation of AI.
IBM
 

Sample Customers

Weta Digital
Cipher
Buyer's Guide
HPE Apollo Systems vs. IBM Power Systems
February 2026
Free Report: HPE Apollo Systems vs. IBM Power Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Apollo Systems vs. IBM Power Systems and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
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