HPE Primera vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.8, while IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.2. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 3.6% mindshare in AFS, compared to IBM’s 6.4% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

IBM FlashSystem and HPE Primera represent two leading competitors in enterprise storage solutions. IBM FlashSystem seems to have the advantage in terms of pricing and support, while HPE Primera’s features make it a superior choice for many users who find it worth the higher cost.

Features: Users notice the performance and scalability of IBM FlashSystem, highlighting its ability to handle high workloads efficiently. HPE Primera is appreciated for its robust reliability and advanced data protection features, making it a preferred choice despite its higher price. Both products are highly effective with HPE Primera standing out for those who prioritize advanced functionality over cost efficiency.

Room for Improvement: IBM FlashSystem reviews often mention the need for enhanced analytics and better integration capabilities. HPE Primera users note a steep learning curve and express a desire for more comprehensive support documentation. IBM FlashSystem users seek more advanced technical enhancements, while HPE Primera’s areas for improvement generally relate to user onboarding.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM FlashSystem is generally easier to deploy, with straightforward setup processes and responsive support. HPE Primera, while offering extensive features, can require more effort and time to deploy correctly. IBM FlashSystem users report quicker resolutions and more effective support interactions compared to HPE Primera.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem is noted for its competitive pricing and quicker return on investment (ROI), making it a cost-effective choice for many organizations. HPE Primera commands a higher setup cost, but users feel the long-term ROI justifies the initial investment due to superior performance and functionality.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 870,697 peers since 2012

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

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HPE Primera is 3.6%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 6.4%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
HPE Primera	3.6%
IBM FlashSystem	6.4%
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.0%
Other	89.0%

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

Read full review

Taufeeq Rauf

Head of IT at NATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL FACILITATION TECHNOLOGIES (PVT.) LTD.

Offers a simple user interface and is useful for data replication

I use HPE Primera for mission-critical applications. My company uses the product as a storage solution for our machines. The availability of HPE Primera in our company is critical for us, considering that we operate in an HA environment where we can't have downtime since we need to deal with cheque clearance for banks. The product's interface is simple to use. I am satisfied with the user experience provided by the product. The ease of use of the product's interface has directly had an impact on our company's operations, along with the improvement in the availability and performance of machines. Compared to HPE Primera, I work with a much more reliable storage solution like Dell PowerStore. Compared to HPE Primera, Dell PowerStore's features related to deduplication are very good, and it also offers a physical storage capacity of eight TB, which can be expanded up to forty TB. I would recommend the product to others who plan to use it only after taking into consideration their usage and requirements. From the price and performance point of view, Dell PowerStore is a better choice. I rate the tool a seven out of ten.

Read full review

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

Offers high performance and dependable support for fast storage needs

The most valuable feature of IBM FlashSystem is its robust back code. When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand. Additionally, IBM FlashSystem offers competitive pricing and reliable performance. The hardware is dependable, ensuring that it functions effectively when the setup is done correctly.

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

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use."

"The high availability of the product is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is reliability."

"Everything, especially the VMs inside, is pretty fast."

"It is very easy to install and configure. It has got excellent diagnostics. If you really need to see how the box is performing, the console gives you a lot of information. You can set thresholds as well as alerts based on the thresholds, which is a very powerful functionality. They are very proactive. They know how to monitor and manage the systems. They see a problem, and they are all over it before us. They see the problem before we see it, which is very good."

"I use the tool for Oracle databases, Oracle virtual machines, and Oracle Linux databases. I'm on the storage side, not a database administrator."

"We are satisfied with the performance as it is significantly faster compared to traditional storage options."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"The product has better replication features than the previous products."

"The most valuable feature is an all-flash system, which means the data access speed is amazing while the latency is almost nothing, and it can deliver IOPS up to 16,000."

"The performance is very good."

"Our customers have given very positive feedback about InfoSign, which is the management software for this solution."

"All of the capabilities of the hardware such as replication, snapshot, and the specific features are all included from the start as opposed to being on another license."

"We sold Primera to a public university, and they're happy with it. They have been using it for about four months with no significant problems."

"HPE Primera is scalable."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

More HPE Primera pros

"Speed (IOPS/second) – It is most vital for applications that need low latency and high speed for transferring the data."

"The solution is scalable and has varying degrees of scalability."

"The technical support for this solution is good. They used to help us when the motherboard of Power Systems broke. Their response times are really fast."

"IBM FlashSystem is a flexible solution with plenty of features."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is compression."

"Data deduplication is one of the most valuable features of this solution."

"We've found the solution to be very stable so far."

"The speed and the ease of installation are the most valuable features."

More IBM FlashSystem pros

Cons

"We need better data deduplication."

"In terms of what needs improvement, the dashboard and management could be simplified."

"Every time I think of something that needs to improve, they're one step ahead, which I love. The only area I wish to see improve, I believe is coming, is in the FlashBlade product. Blade implementation fell short on a few of the services."

"Right now, the box itself is just strictly working as a backend storage system. It would be fantastic if we could access it directly like a NAS device through network access or SIS drives. I think they have an interface, but I am not sure how good it is. If we could address a box directly on the network without having to go through a server, it would be great. The replication schemas could be improved. We are not using replication on the storage level right now. We use a different type of replication. If their replication would be as good as the one that we have, I would probably run the replication schema because it might be faster, but I don't know that for a fact. So, I cannot say that they have good replication. All I can say is that they need to inform us better."

"There is room for improvement in catering to midrange storage needs, especially for customers seeking Enterprise-class features."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"Adding some functions to the product would be beneficial."

"Efficiency improvements would always be welcome, but I'm not sure if they could get more efficient."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Recently, we had many issues with HPE Primera storage, mainly in the leveling process, which caused many problems for the customers."

"The interface needs to be more user-friendly in that sense that installation and management are still a bit on the high end."

"The pricing is very high."

"The IOPS and throughput could be better. That's the only drawback compared to other vendors."

"The product's stale snapshots feature needs improvement."

"The price of the product is an area of concern. From an improvement perspective, the solution should be made more affordable in terms of price."

"The product’s price needs improvement."

"They could work to make scalability easier."

More HPE Primera cons

"The solution should improve its pricing and the mechanism in the reduction pool."

"They can improve its initial configuration. The initial configuration is currently very difficult. There are multiple choices or alternative ways to configure based on the use case and what you are targeting out of the device, that is, more capacity or more performance. These multiple alternatives cause a lot of confusion. They should increase the processing part of the nodes. Currently, you can cluster up to eight nodes. From my experience and the workload that I am facing in my environment currently, I would like to see either a bigger or stronger node or a larger number of nodes that can be clustered together. We formally communicated to them that we need to see either this or that, and they are working on something."

"The generic functionality of IBM FlashSystem, IBM always dismisses using file share or sharing protocols inside their storage hardware, and they only focus on the block-level storage."

"The initial setup is complex."

"The installation is not easy. You need to have extensive knowledge to handle it."

"Events/log analysis tools."

"The basic setup can be challenging when it comes to certain IP addresses and the configuration of the IP. You have to go in to different menus to makes changes and ensure it is stable."

"Enterprise data storage needs improvement. They should create a feature for data and file storage."

More IBM FlashSystem cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The support cost per array is about $20,000 a year for 24/7 support."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing is cheaper than other products."

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

"The product is expensive."

"With Pure Storage, we would like to continue seeing price reductions with flash storage. I don't think we're any different than anybody else when we continue to look to the industry for price reductions of both NVMe and traditional SSD storage. We would like to see these prices continue to decline and erode, even displacing large spinning disks."

"The tool is an investment that we've budgeted for. While the prices may be higher than those of other vendors, we see it as a market leader with benefits. We don't regret purchasing it."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"Because it has high availability, the cost is above average. The cost depends upon the sizing, and every customer has a different size. It is slightly above average in terms of cost compared to its competitors, but the value add was that they could know what their maintenance cost was going to be going forward. They knew what their renewal or expansion costs would be."

"It’s a reasonable choice. When compared to other options, we've found it to be accessible and within our means."

"The cost is $75,000 for a three-year contract."

"HPE Primera service is cost-effective."

"I believe HPE Primera and Pure Storage are similar in price."

"The price of this solution is good for medium-sized and large businesses."

"HPE Primera is an expensive product but has competitive pricing."

"HPE Primera is less expensive than HPE Alletra."

More HPE Primera pricing and cost advice

"You purchase it as a bundle and the price is comparable."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"I find the pricing of the solution to be very reasonable."

"The integration is already included in the license cost of IBM FlashSystem. The integration is very easy. You get the IBM storage core with all software, firmware, and upgrades. EMC provides the features in the box, but they are not free for customers. There is a licensing cost for features. We have yearly licensing, but IBM has also provided a new option where you pay as you go. They provide a big box, and I pay, for example, for 10 terabytes. If I exceed 10 terabytes, IBM will charge for the new storage after 10 terabytes. It is a good opportunity in the market for using the storage as a cloud and paying as you go."

"Among IBM, Dell EMC, and Pure Storage, IBM is the cheapest. The price is also based on our location, the size of our entity, and our regular annual purchases from them. We are a very big IBM customer, so we normally get very high discounts. We are not a big customer of Pure Storage. We don't buy that much from Pure Storage per year. Everything is included in the price. There is no extra license for different functions."

"The cost is pretty high in terms of licensing. We pay at least $100,000 USD in licensing fees for the storage."

"There are no licensing fees, it is a one-time purchase of the IBM FlashSystem."

"This solution is expensive compared to other solutions."

More IBM FlashSystem pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which All-Flash Storage solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

870,697 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	47
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	57

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

Which would you choose - HPE Nimble Storage or HPE Primera?

HPE Nimble is a versatile synced WAN San solution. It is easy to use and doesn’t require much training for admins. Th...

See all answers

What's the difference between HPE 3PAR StoreServ and HPE Primera?

HPE Primera has many great features but one of the best is that it is very easy to deploy. From an overall perspectiv...

See all answers

What do you like most about HPE Primera?

For over a year, I have not seen any downtime in the product.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM FlashSystem?

It is simple to make an update.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM FlashSystem?

The pricing is reasonable for IBM FlashSystem.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

Some improvements are required in IBM regarding response time and resolution time, though not about competence. Produ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerStore vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 22% of the time

TrueNAS R-Series vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerMax vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 13% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 11% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Compared 4% of the time

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe Competitors

HPE Alletra Storage vs HPE Primera

Compared 33% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE Primera

Compared 26% of the time

HPE Nimble Storage vs HPE Primera

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerStore vs HPE Primera

Compared 8% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs HPE Primera

Compared 3% of the time

More HPE Primera Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 21% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

NetApp AFF vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

September 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera

October 2025

Download HPE Primera product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

October 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

Primera

IBM Storwize

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

HPE introduces HPE Primera, a new storage platform designed to deliver superior simplicity, availability, and performance for mission-critical applications
HPE Primera advances the HPE Intelligent Data Platform, a portfolio of products and solutions designed to help customers transition from delivering storage to unlocking business value with intelligent data

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

IBM FlashSystem products are enterprise computer data storage systems that store data on flash memory chips. Unlike storage systems that use standard solid-state drives, IBM FlashSystem products incorporate custom hardware based on technology from the 2012 acquisition of Texas Memory Systems. This hardware provides performance, reliability, and efficiency benefits versus competitive offerings.

IBM

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

Information Not Available

Celero, Friedhelm Loh Group, Clarks, Mingkang Natregro Health Food Group, Sofia, Etisalat Fights Fraud, UF Health Shands Hospital, Generali, Elecon Engineering Company Limited, Ventiv , Technology, CPFL Energia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., SciQuest, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Paddy Power, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Interconnect Services, Severstal IP-Only AB, PVU Group GmbH

Buyer's Guide

HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem

September 2025

Free Report: HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem

Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

870,697 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our HPE Primera vs. IBM FlashSystem report.

See our list of best All-Flash Storage vendors.

We monitor all All-Flash Storage reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.