HPE MSA vs IBM FlashSystem comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM are both solutions in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.8, while IBM is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 19.7% mindshare in MS, compared to IBM’s 19.2% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of IBM users who would recommend it.

HPE MSA

Read 26 HPE MSA reviews

1,385 Views
149 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

IBM FlashSystem

Read 111 IBM FlashSystem reviews

1,319 Views
359 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

HPE MSA

IBM FlashSystem

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

IBM FlashSystem and HPE MSA compete in the data storage solutions category. IBM FlashSystem has the upper hand in terms of performance and features for demanding workloads, whereas HPE MSA provides a more budget-friendly option with essential features suitable for simpler storage needs.

Features: IBM FlashSystem is known for its high performance, low latency, and strong virtualization capabilities. It is suited for demanding workloads requiring robust performance and efficiency. HPE MSA, categorized as entry-level, offers solid stability with features such as dual controllers, tiering, and the ability to provide shared storage solutions without high complexity.

Room for Improvement: IBM FlashSystem users have pointed out the need for enhanced scalability, code stability, and more detailed GUI reporting. There is also a call for improved cloud service integration. For HPE MSA, users have noted the need for better scalability and more modern features like deduplication, as well as enhanced cloud integration options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both IBM FlashSystem and HPE MSA are primarily installed on-premises. Some IBM users also manage hybrid or private cloud deployments. IBM FlashSystem receives mixed reviews regarding technical support, with some users praising their experience and others calling for improvement. HPE MSA is generally appreciated for responsive customer service but lacks in supporting new features.

Pricing and ROI: IBM FlashSystem is often perceived as a more expensive option, necessitating careful budget planning, yet offering significant ROI through comprehensive features and performance benefits. HPE MSA, while cost-effective, may still pose financial challenges for smaller businesses, providing a positive ROI as a budget-friendly solution, albeit with fewer advanced features compared to IBM FlashSystem.

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

Buyer's Guide

HPE MSA vs. IBM FlashSystem

July 2025

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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:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.8

HPE MSA provides cost-effective storage solutions, optimizing business operations and delivering substantial monetary savings and better returns.

Sentiment score

7.2

IBM FlashSystem users reported improved performance, scalability, and integration, valuing ROI, enhanced features, and minimal downtime despite increased pricing.

It certainly shows a return on investment with HPE MSA, but we have framework contracts with special prices for the HP hardware, so I am not sure that our return on investment calculation corresponds to what other people should have.

Jacques Petit

Administrative Assistant at EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

The solution can comfortably be stretched from five to seven years without any failures, ensuring a long-lasting return.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.4

HPE MSA support is mostly effective and reliable, but improvements in response times and proactive measures are needed.

Sentiment score

7.1

IBM FlashSystem's customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though regional response times and costs vary.

I would rate technical support a three out of five due to the lack of effectiveness in preventing recurring problems.

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

Customers of alternatives like Dell and Hitachi enjoy more reliable and comprehensive support services directly from vendors rather than third-party subsidiaries.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

I rate the technical support from IBM as a ten.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

IBM customer support is responsible, efficient, and responsive, though it is expensive.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.5

HPE MSA is scalable for small to medium businesses, offering easy expansion and positive feedback on workload hosting capabilities.

Sentiment score

7.4

IBM FlashSystem offers strong scalability and flexibility, supporting expansion with virtualization despite occasional complexity and costs.

It is more profitable to use HPE MSA because if you run out of space, you can expand the capacity of the array using expansion enclosures, making it more flexible and profitable.

Kirihettige Anton Asiri Prasad

Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd

HPE MSA's scalability benefits are notable as its speed and performance are good.

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

For larger enterprises, scalability is an issue as the price becomes prohibitive.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

The problem arises when migrating data to a later IBM FlashSystem version due to issues with firmware compatibility.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

The scalability of IBM FlashSystem is exceptional, and I rate it as a nine.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.4

HPE MSA is highly reliable and stable, excelling in performance and compatibility, despite occasional hard disk concerns.

Sentiment score

7.7

IBM FlashSystem is highly reliable with exceptional stability, praised for resilience and quick resolution of occasional issues.

I faced issues with hard disk reliability, as they frequently fail and risk losing redundancy.

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

Customers have infrastructure that is 100% stable.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

The firmware and software engine have fewer bugs, which enhances operational efficiency.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Room For Improvement

HPE MSA requires better scalability, GUI, replication, cloud integration, security, performance, and affordable support, addressing user concerns.

IBM FlashSystem needs better storage, stability, GUI, scalability, support, integration, pricing, configurations, data reduction, cloud, and analytics.

Data security features are more important to me than anything else, and I think HPE MSA lacks in this area.

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

If it could be a hybrid with SSDs and hard disks, then it would be more economical and efficient.

Kirihettige Anton Asiri Prasad

Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

An additional function that could be helpful is reducing the time it takes to delete volumes, especially if they are compressed or deduplicated.

Subodh Jaiswar

Storage Specialist at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

There is room for improvement in the troubleshooting part, specifically related to IBM Spectrum for Insight.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

Competitors offer more reliable data reduction with guaranteed results, sometimes providing additional capacity at no extra charge if performance ratios are not met.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Setup Cost

HPE MSA's pricing is high with costly support and licensing, but users value responsive support; better pricing could aid businesses.

IBM FlashSystem pricing is competitive but variable, with negotiable discounts and potentially high ongoing costs for smaller organizations.

The pricing of HPE MSA is not deemed reasonable.

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

To install or upgrade any software features, the cost is high, which makes it challenging for smaller companies who do not require advanced features like deduplication or compression typically needed by larger organizations.

Raanan Sitton

Vice President Sales at BELOCAL LTD

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Valuable Features

HPE MSA is praised for its ease of management, scalability, robust features, and suitability for SMBs due to reliable performance.

IBM FlashSystem offers high performance, ease of use, and advanced storage features, making it ideal for efficient business solutions.

The most useful feature of HPE MSA is VAAI, which are the functions embedded in the system, allowing operations on the server or storage without using server CPU, making it easier.

Jacques Petit

Administrative Assistant at EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office

Compared to Huawei, however, I found that Huawei's processing power, performance, and cost were more advantageous.

JobyThomas

Manager, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees

In terms of disaster recovery, we can define global spares in HPE MSA. When one disk fails, a global spare is automatically allocated to that particular disk, which saves the data.

Kirihettige Anton Asiri Prasad

Systems Engineer at Thakral One (Pvt) Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the HPE MSA report

There is a significant amount of data reduction, achieving a ratio of one to three.

Subodh Jaiswar

Storage Specialist at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

There is built-in compression, a data reduction feature, and artificial intelligence-driven insights that calculate warnings and errors to redirect to customers automatically.

MD.Faisal Alam

Manager, Technical Services, IBM Storage & Backup Solutions. at Thakral

When integrated properly into the environment and configured according to the guidelines, it provides a very solid infrastructure that does the job on demand.

OmarIsmail1

Infrastructure Technical Specialist II at Clicks Group

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM FlashSystem report

Categories and Ranking

HPE MSA

Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM FlashSystem

Ranking in Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

111

Ranking in other categories

NAS (5th), All-Flash Storage (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) category, the mindshare of HPE MSA is 19.7%, up from 16.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM FlashSystem is 19.2%, up from 16.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Modular SAN (Storage Area Network)

Featured Reviews

Pragnesh Sachania

Deputy Manager IT at La Gajjar

Scalable, easy to manage, and used for virtualization environments

We didn't face any issues with the technical functionality. However, we faced a lot of challenges with our custom configuration. The HPE support person who did the installation was very technical. He answered all the queries, and we resolved the entire setup. We set up the storage as per our requirements. We previously used a physical server instead of virtualization. With the help of an HPE engineer and partners, we prepared a strategy for migrating the entire physical servers to our virtualization infrastructure. It took two days to deploy the solution. Six people were involved in the solution's deployment, including two from HPE and four from our IT team.

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 ( /products/ibm-flashsystem-reviews ) 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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HPE StorageWorks MSA?

The most valuable feature of HPE StorageWorks MSA is its flexibility.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HPE StorageWorks MSA?

The pricing of HPE MSA is not deemed reasonable, though their licensing costs compare similarly to other brands. The initial cost is where differences are more apparent.

See all answers

What needs improvement with HPE StorageWorks MSA?

If it could be a hybrid with SSDs and hard disks, then it would be more economical and efficient.

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?

Many factors affect purchasing directly from IBM, often involving a multi-step process. Customers, especially in banking, often use the latest devices as they are upgrading, indicating they do not ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM FlashSystem?

The deduplication technology in IBM FlashSystem needs significant improvement. Other vendors like NetApp ( /products/netapp-41749-reviews ) offer better deduplication technology, which is noticeabl...

See all answers

Comparisons

NetApp FAS Series vs HPE MSA

Compared 44% of the time

HPE 3PAR StoreServ vs HPE MSA

Compared 20% of the time

Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform vs HPE MSA

Compared 7% of the time

Dell EqualLogic PS series vs HPE MSA

Compared 3% of the time

More HPE MSA Competitors

Dell PowerStore vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 21% of the time

HPE Alletra Storage vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 9% of the time

Huawei OceanStor Dorado vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Pure Storage FlashArray vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 8% of the time

Dell Unity XT vs IBM FlashSystem

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM FlashSystem Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE MSA

June 2025

Download HPE MSA product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM FlashSystem

June 2025

Download IBM FlashSystem product report

Also Known As

HP StorageWorks MSA

IBM Storwize

Overview

Whether you need best-in-class performance or are looking to get the most capacity for your investment, MSA has a fast, affordable solution for you. And every MSA comes with an intuitive setup and management interface anyone can master.

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

Femsa CSC, TTX, Rabobank

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 MSA vs. IBM FlashSystem

July 2025

Free Report: HPE MSA vs. IBM FlashSystem

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

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