IBM PowerVM vs Spot comparison

IBM and Spot are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. IBM is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5, while Spot is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.0. IBM holds a 1.3% mindshare in SVS, compared to Spot’s 0.0% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Spot users who would recommend it.

IBM PowerVM

Read 36 IBM PowerVM reviews

1,834 Views
1,548 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Spot

Read 2 Spot reviews

21 Views
11 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM PowerVM

Spot

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 8, 2025

IBM PowerVM and Spot compete in cloud infrastructure management. Spot appears more advanced in features with its focus on dynamic cloud cost optimization, while IBM PowerVM excels in support and stability.

Features: IBM PowerVM includes robust virtualization capabilities, high security standards, and support for enterprise applications. Spot offers predictive analytics, automated workload management, and effective cost optimization with a strong emphasis on cost efficiency.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM PowerVM provides an extensive deployment supported by dedicated technical assistance, ensuring a steady implementation path. Spot features a cloud-based deployment model with automated optimization recommendations, allowing quicker implementations, although with less direct support contact.

Pricing and ROI: IBM PowerVM requires a significant initial setup cost with long-term stability and performance ROI. Spot's flexible pricing model is aligned with cloud cost savings, offering rapid ROI through cost optimization, surpassing IBM PowerVM's gradual ROI focus.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM PowerVM vs. Spot Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM PowerVM vs. Spot

April 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:

Categories and Ranking

IBM PowerVM

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Spot

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Management (28th), Cloud Operations Analytics (3rd), Cloud Analytics (3rd), Compute Service (9th), Containers as a Service (CaaS) (6th), Cloud Cost Management (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of IBM PowerVM is 1.3%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spot is 0.0%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Atif Najam

Chief Information Officer and Program Lead at Gatron Industries Ltd

A stable system for high-end data processing with a great support structure

The only problem with the IBM system is improving its hardware licensing model. For example, when you procure a server with 40 physical codes, you must also procure licenses to activate the codes. In Dell or any system, you procure the hardware and have the full right to use the hardware. For IBM, it's different because when you procure a 40-code processor and have 40 physical codes, you only have a license to use 20. As a result, the 20 alert codes will always be in activated mode. Hence, the hardware licensing model could be improved because the licensing model is a bit different from the standard hardware procured.

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Manpreet_Singh

Senior Principal Infrastructure Engineer at Mphasis

Used to manage Kubernetes infrastructure, but it doesn't have support from OCI

Spot Ocean is deployed on the cloud in our organization. I would recommend the solution to other users. You need to have an experience with Kubernetes, or else this product is of no use. It is not difficult to learn to use Spot Ocean. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability is the most valuable aspect of this solution. IBM is the most powerful and stable platform."

"We always recommend PowerVM to our customers; it is better than most solutions."

"Active Memory Sharing dynamically reallocates memory of running partitions based on changing workload demands. The memory for the pool is carved out from Physical memory and is made logical memory. The said memory is not available to be assigned to partitions as dedicated memory. A min, max and desired as well as weight is assigned to the memory of each lpar to help hypervisor make a decision in case a condition where priority is to be given to a certain lapr to use the memory form shared pool."

"The tool's most valuable feature is administration."

"What I like about this solution, is that it is easy to configure."

"It's scalable. Whenever we buy another product other than hardware, it's easily integrated into the virtualization software that we download."

"PowerVM is perhaps the only virtualization platform that offers 99.999% availability."

"The support is easily reachable."

More IBM PowerVM pros

"The solution helps us to manage and scale automatically whenever there is a limit to the increase in the application workflow."

"The solution offers both block access and file access, making it a nice solution for customers."

Cons

"The cost of this solution is high."

"This solution is lacking the ability to have servers act as a cluster, such as in VMware. IBM has come out with a feature similar to VMware's vCenter but it is not as mature. They need to add LPM shared-nothing feature, such as in vMotion."

"IBM PowerVM does not integrate with Microsoft."

"I would like for IBM to be more focuses on the cloud."

"To make it a ten, I would like for them to add automation and configuration tools in order to help use the manager."

"SRM for site recovery is a feature that should be included."

"I don't know whether this has been trialed already, but IBM should give us an alert when we reach seven or eight failovers so that we can automatically switch it to manual mode. That would be great because if we cross the 10-day licensing limit, we have to pay a hefty license cost to Oracle. If IBM could view that feature, it would be helpful in license compliance."

"In terms of the technology used in the product, I feel that there are some areas where improvements are required. The tool should offer better clustering options."

More IBM PowerVM cons

"The solution doesn't have support from OCI, and it should start working to onboard OCI."

"There are no particular areas for improvement I can identify."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license cost is bundled with IBM Power Systems as it is limited to RISC-based IBM systems only."

"The price varies from case to case and you have to negotiate it for every project."

"IBM PowerVM costs more than other products but the customer does not need to pay additional money for the licenses. In VMware, you need to license everything. With IBM PowerVM it is unlimited and all-inclusive in the price you pay."

"Even if the product is expensive, it works well in the long term. The tool is more or less expensive, and I would presently describe it as an optimally priced product."

"The cost is on the higher side. Typically, we invest in the machine and support for two, three, or five years."

"We have to purchase the product's licenses."

"The pricing for PowerVM is on the higher. Regarding the license, it can be on a monthly or annual basis, depending on the deal. Customers may choose to pay annually, one-time, or monthly based on their agreement with the sales team. As for additional costs, customers need to pay for support if they opt for it. If not, they only pay for the hardware cost as per the agreement."

"The tool is competitively priced, especially right now."

More IBM PowerVM pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

25%

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM PowerVM?

Managing other operating systems is also straightforward with IBM PowerVM.

See all answers

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

While initially costly, the ROI over five years proves IBM PowerVM is cost-effective, resulting in a 30 to 40% reduction in costs compared to a physical setup.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM PowerVM?

I have not encountered any issues or dissatisfaction with IBM PowerVM so far. Clients using it have been satisfied, and there have been no glitches since its introduction.

See all answers

What do you like most about Spot Ocean?

The solution helps us to manage and scale automatically whenever there is a limit to the increase in the application workflow.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Spot Ocean?

There are no particular areas for improvement I can identify.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Spot Ocean?

Spot by NetApp is primarily used for backup and also for Fiservware.

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware vSphere vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 63% of the time

KVM vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 11% of the time

Hyper-V vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 9% of the time

Proxmox VE vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs IBM PowerVM

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM PowerVM Competitors

ProsperOps vs Spot

Compared 21% of the time

Flexera Cloud Cost Management vs Spot

Compared 16% of the time

Apache Spark vs Spot

Compared 15% of the time

Cloudability vs Spot

Compared 13% of the time

IBM Turbonomic vs Spot

Compared 13% of the time

More Spot Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM PowerVM

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Cloud Analytics

April 2025

Download Spot product report

Also Known As

PowerVM

Spot Ocean, Spot Elastigroup, Spot Eco

Overview

Power is server virtualization without limits. Businesses are turning to PowerVM server virtualization to consolidate multiple workloads onto fewer systems, increasing server utilization and reducing cost. PowerVM provides a secure and scalable server virtualization environment for AIX, IBM i and Linux applications built upon the advanced RAS features and leading performance of the Power Systems platform.

IBM

Spot provides dynamic workload management for cloud environments, offering cost optimization and enhanced performance. It stands out with its unique approach to managing resources efficiently.

Spot is designed to enhance cloud resource utilization and cost-effectiveness through intelligent workload management. With real-time analysis, Spot determines and deploys the most efficient resources, ensuring optimal performance for applications. Businesses benefit from reduced cloud expenses and increased operational efficiency, making it an essential tool for managing cloud infrastructure effectively.

What are the key features of Spot?

Automated Scaling: Automatically adjusts cloud resources based on demand and usage patterns.
Real-Time Monitoring: Provides continuous oversight to ensure optimal performance and operational efficiency.
Cost Optimization: Reduces expenses by utilizing spot instances and leveraging cost-effective cloud resources.
Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with existing cloud services and infrastructures.

What benefits should users look for in Spot?

Cost Reduction: Users can expect to see a significant decrease in cloud expenses.
Improved Efficiency: Enhancements in operational processes and workload management.
Resource Optimization: Better allocation and usage of cloud resources.
Scalability: Capability to handle increasing amounts of work effectively.

In finance, Spot ensures cost-effective cloud computing for trading platforms, while in e-commerce, it dynamically manages back-end processes. In the entertainment industry, Spot optimizes media streaming by deploying resources when user demand spikes. Each industry leverages Spot to maximize performance and minimize operational costs, demonstrating its versatility and reliability across sectors.

Spot

Sample Customers

Sto, Soitec, SNO, Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH, Al Mansour Holding, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Huhtamaki, ELK Group, IT-Informatik, Arkansas Tech University, Pneuhage

Freshworks, Zalando, Red Spark, News, Trax, ETAS, Demandbase, BeesWa, Duolingo, intel, IBM, N26, Wix, EyeEm, moovit, SAMSUNG, News UK, ticketmaster

Buyer's Guide

IBM PowerVM vs. Spot

April 2025

Free Report: IBM PowerVM vs. Spot

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