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IBM PowerVM vs Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
PowerVM saves costs by charging for allocated cores, proving more cost-effective and reliable than physical servers over five years.
Sentiment score
6.8
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure delivers ROI by reducing costs and simplifying management, enhancing resource efficiency and minimizing downtime.
The return on investment is substantial, though other platforms may offer a better ROI, primarily due to lower costs involved in setup and maintenance.
Drirector at a construction company with 201-500 employees
If calculated over a five-year period, IBM PowerVM is 30 to 40% more cost-effective than physical servers despite initial costs seeming high.
Solution Sales Specialist at TD SYNNEX
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
IBM PowerVM's support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though challenges arise without subscriptions; stability minimizes service need.
Sentiment score
8.1
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's customer service is praised for quick, knowledgeable support and effective resolution despite some cost concerns.
IBM offers excellent customer support.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
IBM provides strong support.
Drirector at a construction company with 201-500 employees
IBM's technical support is outstanding, with seamless global coordination and prompt resolutions.
Brand Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The technical support from Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is excellent, deserving a nine out of ten rating.
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
IBM PowerVM excels in scalability and flexibility, efficiently managing resources and users for both small and large enterprises.
Sentiment score
7.9
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure offers seamless scalability, allowing effortless, efficient cluster expansion to accommodate diverse business sizes and needs.
An IBM server can handle up to sixty-four terabytes of RAM.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
The product is scalable due to PowerVM's virtualization features, such as shared processor functionality and partition mobility.
Brand Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I think IBM PowerVM uses a 'pay as you grow' model, allowing customers to scale their resources as needed.
Solution Sales Specialist at TD SYNNEX
The scalability of Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) deserves an eight out of ten rating, as there is no solution that is 100% efficient and there is always room for improvement.
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
IBM PowerVM is praised for exceptional stability and uptime, outperforming competitors like SPARC, Nutanix, and VMware in reliability.
Sentiment score
8.2
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure offers outstanding reliability and stability, with minimal downtime and prompt support addressing minor issues effectively.
The stability of IBM PowerVM is exceptional, as industry reports have named IBM Power and Z as the most stable platforms globally for 15 consecutive years.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
Our clients in India using Power Servers have been running their servers for the last four to five years without any reboot.
Solution Sales Specialist at TD SYNNEX
The product operates reliably, and following IBM’s best practices ensures robust stability.
Brand Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Compared to VM, we find it most stable.
Assistant Manager at Isuzu Hicom Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Regarding stability, I would rate Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) a seven out of ten.
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
 

Room For Improvement

IBM PowerVM needs usability, pricing, automation, integration improvements, and a GUI to better compete and enhance user experience.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure needs improvements in pricing, setup, integration, user interface, performance, and multi-tenancy features for users.
We have a strong relationship with IBM, which aids decision-making in transitioning clients from mainframe to other platforms.
Drirector at a construction company with 201-500 employees
From a product perspective, I would like to see faster certification of open-source products on IBM Power Systems.
Brand Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
PowerVM should integrate some capabilities of VMware vCenter to improve its management features.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
We hope Nutanix can integrate inside our current license module.
Assistant Manager at Isuzu Hicom Malaysia Sdn Bhd
They should add AI features in the future.
Manager at Seoul Institute of the Arts
I would suggest that Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) should develop their own P2V (physical to VM) tools instead of requiring users to rely on third-party solutions.
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
 

Setup Cost

IBM PowerVM pricing is high but offers reliability, flexible licensing, and potential TCO savings despite cheaper alternatives.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure provides competitive pricing and flexible licensing, offering good ROI and TCO benefits despite hardware costs.
PowerVM itself is free with the purchase of an IBM server.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
They have introduced a subscription-based model for some systems, creating a more cost-effective solution for customers.
Brand Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Pricing is a concern in Argentina due to the higher cost of mainframe solutions.
Drirector at a construction company with 201-500 employees
It costs more compared to VMware due to different licensing areas.
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
The pricing is renewed every year, at almost $100,000 per year.
Assistant Manager at Isuzu Hicom Malaysia Sdn Bhd
It is expensive to move to the cloud.
Manager at Seoul Institute of the Arts
 

Valuable Features

IBM PowerVM offers stability, flexibility, and high availability with robust virtualization, cloud integration, and optimized workloads for Oracle and SAP HANA.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure offers high performance, user-friendly management, scalability, integration, and cost efficiency with seamless updates and monitoring.
Features like partition mobility enhance the machine's capabilities, making it an ideal tool for virtual environments with reliability, availability, and serviceability.
Brand Leader at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
IBM PowerVM supports multiple operating systems such as IBM i, AIX, and Linux, allowing users to run various applications seamlessly in a cloud environment.
Solution Sales Specialist at TD SYNNEX
It supports specific workloads, like Oracle and SAP HANA, much better due to its shared processor pool feature which reduces licensing costs.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
When technology development or devops teams request server provisioning, the setup time has been reduced from hours to less than 20 minutes.
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
It is easy to use, and it's easy to maintain.
Manager at Seoul Institute of the Arts
The replication method between Nutanix clusters is a valuable feature.
Assistant Manager at Isuzu Hicom Malaysia Sdn Bhd
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM PowerVM
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (10th)
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructur...
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
199
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Storage (SDS) (6th), HCI (5th), Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (1st), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

IBM PowerVM and Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM PowerVM is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 1.3%, up 1.2% compared to last year.
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), on the other hand, focuses on HCI, holds 9.2% mindshare, up 8.1% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM PowerVM1.3%
VMware vSphere17.4%
Hyper-V16.4%
Other64.9%
Server Virtualization Software
HCI Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)9.2%
VxRail13.7%
VMware vSAN12.0%
Other65.1%
HCI
 

Featured Reviews

AS
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
Achieves cost efficiency with optimized hardware-based virtualization
PowerVM stands out for me as a hardware-based hypervisor, which is optimized with less overhead. It supports specific workloads, like Oracle and SAP HANA, much better due to its shared processor pool feature which reduces licensing costs. In visualization, it offers a built-in accelerators feature to handle AI inference effectively while minimizing power requirements.
OB
Head Systems Administration/Security at Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC
Infrastructure efficiency has improved significantly with quick server provisioning, though physical to virtual migrations need a streamlined in-house tool
From my experience with Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), there is one area that needs improvement. When moving a critical infrastructure from a physical machine to Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI), we currently have to use a third-party tool to convert the physical machine to a VM. We have to use VMware converter to perform this conversion before moving it to Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI). I would suggest that Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) should develop their own P2V (physical to VM) tools instead of requiring users to rely on third-party solutions.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Virtualization Software solutions are best for your needs.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user244362 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Consultant with 51-200 employees
Aug 30, 2015
Nutanix vs. VMware EVO:RAIL vs. FlexPod
Originally posted at www.storagegaga.com/dont-get-too-drunk-on-hyper-converged/ I hate the fact that I am bursting the big bubble brewing about Hyper Convergence (HC). I urge all to look past the hot air and hype frenzy that are going on, because in the end, the HC platforms have to be aligned…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business91
Midsize Enterprise77
Large Enterprise82
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM PowerVM?
Managing other operating systems is also straightforward with IBM PowerVM.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM PowerVM?
IBM’s licensing model offers flexibility in subscription terms, now allowing one- to five-year options. They have introduced a subscription-based model for some systems, creating a more cost-effect...
What needs improvement with IBM PowerVM?
From a product perspective, I would like to see faster certification of open-source products on IBM Power Systems ( /products/ibm-power-systems-reviews ). While the product has robust features and ...
How do I choose between Cisco Hyperflex HX Series and Nutanix Acropolis AOS?
Cisco HyperFlex HS series vs Nutanix Acropolis AOS Cisco HyperFlex gives extended hyper-convergence functions from core to edge and multi-cloud environments. It helps IT and OT teams deploy hyper...
What makes Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) worth using?
NCI is a product with many tools and services but the one that, in my opinion, makes it better than similar products and worth using, is the full-stack lifecycle management. This capacity allows u...
Have you received reliable help from Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure's support when you contacted them?
NCI is one of the best out there. For any software, no matter how good it is, technical support makes it or breaks it for me. You may have an amazing product but if there is not anyone to help you ...
 

Also Known As

PowerVM
Nutanix Acropolis AOS, Nutanix AOS, Nutanix Acropolis
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sto, Soitec, SNO, Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH, Al Mansour Holding, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Huhtamaki, ELK Group, IT-Informatik, Arkansas Tech University, Pneuhage
St. Lukes Health System, the City of Seattle, Yahoo! Japan, Sligro, Empire Life, Hyundai AUS, and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Broadcom, Microsoft, Proxmox and others in Server Virtualization Software. Updated: November 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.