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IBM SoftLayer vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

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 SoftLayer
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
21st
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of IBM SoftLayer is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 0.8%, down from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1032702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable with excellent speed and agility
The most valuable aspect of the solution is simply to have the ability to host in a cloud form and out of the data center - the IBM big iron solution. It's the speed and the agility that really sell SoftLayer. The ELT versus ETL extract, transform and load versus extract, load, and then transform, the ELT method is what really sells SoftLayer. The ability to extract act from your current location, load into your future location, with limited change, and then be able to take the transfer actions slowly and methodically after you're in your new location is the part that really makes this awesome. The stability and scalability are quite good.
MatsHagberg Olsson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Empowers secure data management with affordable tools and minimal hassle
The most valuable feature is that it's very affordable in comparison to competitors. The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool. The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease. Additionally, the joint use of Azure portal further facilitates management depending on my location.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The ELT versus ETL extract, transform and load versus extract, load, and then transform, the ELT method is what really sells SoftLayer."
"The stability is the solution's most valuable aspect for our organization."
"It can scale."
"The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is its performance."
"It can be deployed independently and supports every kind of deployment."
"The solution is stable."
"The solution is easy to purchase and is a Microsoft product, making procurement straightforward."
"The product is very easy to use."
"The public access with more security available is valuable."
 

Cons

"The interface is hard to use for us. It should be simplified."
"For us, the versioning was an issue."
"The solution could have better archival policies and localization of data."
"We encountered an issue where enabling SFTP on Microsoft Azure Block Storage didn’t allow us to get the IP address, as Azure doesn’t support it."
"Azure Block Storage could use more capacity."
"Overall, I would rate block storage as a six out of ten."
"The implementation can be quite technical."
"They could create more readability of files."
"Maybe considerations on security regulations and hardware vendor information might be useful."
"I encountered a challenge where certain metadata was located on a secured network that could only be accessed through a VPN. As there was no direct connector available to reach the private networks that require VPN access, we had to rely on manual effort to access the data. This could potentially be addressed as an area of improvement, especially with regard to accessibility issues where data is only accessible through a VPN connection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is expensive. They should provide a more efficient cost."
"The solution is affordable, and we only pay for what we use."
"The product is costlier than Amazon S3."
"The price of scaling the solution is not expensive."
"I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The cost is very low. The cost is something like $0.01 to $0.50 per gig. It's pay per use. We have a yearly license."
"The storage part costs us $223. That's on a monthly basis for 20TB of data storage."
"I would rate the pricing as five out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
We use the solution to develop SaaS platforms on Azure. We utilize various Microsoft components like block storage and databases for this purpose.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
Pricing could be rated as eight out of ten. It is reasonable, however, it can be cheaper.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
At the moment, I do not have anything specific in mind for improvements. The most important thing for me is accessibility and easy provisioning to multiple servers with different vendors.
 

Also Known As

CloudLayer
MS Azure Block Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Whogohost Ltd., Skypicker, Infinity Computers and Communications Company, Grace Co. Ltd., Keyword, Uvionics Tech, Tennis Australia, immixGroup, Salesbox, Cxense ASA, Avnet Inc., Komsomolskaya Pravda, Seekr
Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SoftLayer vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,963 professionals have used our research since 2012.