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IBM PowerVM vs VMware Workstation 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM PowerVM
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (9th)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Virtualization solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM PowerVM is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 1.3%, up 1.1% compared to last year.
VMware Workstation, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), holds 15.1% mindshare, down 15.4% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers mobility and you can seamlessly move a VM between different PowerVM instances
PowerVM is likely one of the most stable hypervisors available, albeit highly specialized. However, it is solely command-line based. When someone manages virtualization as a whole, they typically expect a graphical user interface (GUI) for configurations. This is the case for Hyper-V, XenServer, and VMware. But with PowerVM, you need to understand and memorize commands to operate the hypervisor. I believe PowerVM should have a GUI; that would be a significant improvement.
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Managing other operating systems is also straightforward with IBM PowerVM."
"Technical support is great."
"PowerVM excels in efficiently managing all systems and environments, including development, UI, and production."
"PowerVM stands out for me as a hardware-based hypervisor, which is optimized with less overhead."
"It offers stability, resilience, and reliability. They handle the workloads very easily."
"The valuable feature of the solution is the technical aspects, focusing on elements like processor infinity."
"IBM technical support is always good and quick."
"The tool's most valuable feature is administration."
"VMware Workstation works correctly and has more features compared to Oracle VirtualBox."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the speed of access and quality of upgrade. Those are the more important and pertinent aspects as far as we were concerned. Functionality and features were relevant for the customers. What a customer chose, we had to make sure that it operated."
"VMware Player helps you to virtualize and install Ubuntu or any other operating system, even on a Windows laptop."
"I haven't faced any inconveniences working with this solution. It is very easy to use."
"It's really easy to build testing environments with VMware Player."
"VMware Player's best feature is the ability to run different OS's simultaneously."
"The tool’s GUI is very user-friendly."
"Technical support is very good."
 

Cons

"IBM PowerVM does not integrate with Microsoft."
"The interface is not user-friendly in places, so it could use some improvement."
"The solution should be advanced to fit with the container constantly."
"The hardware licensing model could be improved because the licensing model is a bit different from the standard hardware procured."
"The solution is quite pricey."
"Technical support could be improved."
"PowerVM should integrate some capabilities of VMware vCenter to improve its management features."
"If it could actually virtualize the entire platform it might be better. If you're having more than one virtualization technology, maybe there's a way to actually have less - one technology to run the data center and maybe one special virtualization for power. If it integrated with other platforms more effectively it might be better."
"It would be helpful if VMware Workstation included an in-built monitoring tool for monitoring things."
"I would like to see more detailed reporting capabilities, particularly around snapshot activity. It would be helpful to have a summary of changes made prior to deploying an application, allowing us to provide comprehensive reports to our management on a regular basis."
"The support can be improved."
"They could bring in many different features from VMware vSphere to Workstation."
"The price of VMware Workstation is an area of concern where improvements are needed."
"The price should be reduced."
"My experience with Workstation is limited, so I don't know all the functionalities of this tool. Maybe Workstation could add some more compatibility with other vendors."
"They could include official support for macOS virtualization within VMware Workstation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"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."
"IBM PowerVM's pricing is cheap."
"The price varies from case to case and you have to negotiate it for every project."
"The price of the solution could improve, it is expensive."
"The tool is competitively priced, especially right now."
"The license cost is bundled with IBM Power Systems as it is limited to RISC-based IBM systems only."
"The cost is on the higher side. Typically, we invest in the machine and support for two, three, or five years."
"I use the free version of VMware Workstation."
"With all its support and ease of use, VMware Player's pricing is fair."
"The licensing costs are cheap. I pay approximately $100 per year."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive solution in Asian countries."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
"The product is expensive."
"You need to pay for a license, but I don't think it costs that much. I think it's a one-time payment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 ...
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

PowerVM
No data available
 

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
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