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IBM SoftLayer vs Microsoft Azure Object 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
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Object Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of IBM SoftLayer is 1.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Object Storage is 3.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure Object Storage3.3%
IBM SoftLayer1.9%
Other94.8%
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1032702 - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Principal Cloud Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
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.
PS
Enterprise Architect at ATOS
Has supported hybrid deployments but needs stronger security features and improved handling of sudden storage spikes
For areas of improvement, they have all the features from Azure Monitor and Azure Cost Manager, which provide insights into consumption, and the policies are already taken care of, but it needs enhancement in security aspects. Security alerts and integrations could be improved as part of lifecycle management, especially for archives and restoration requirements, along with automations that we can plan. For GRS, they should offer it by default because many providers are entering the market and providing similar features, making it quite competitive from a price point of view. There are some limitations related to quotas and storage requirements. For drastic demands, we may need to provide quotas and other requirements to Microsoft for them to manage forecast and capacity planning. If there are sudden ad hoc needs that involve petabytes, there should be storage availability in the data center hosting that storage. This relates to temporary spikes in storage needs; for example, if storage is needed for a week with huge requirements, Microsoft should adapt to these requirements effectively.

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 solution's most valuable aspect for our organization."
"The solution is highly stable."
"The ability to extract 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 ELT versus ETL extract, transform and load versus extract, load, and then transform, the ELT method is what really sells SoftLayer."
"I love the fact that Microsoft was really committed to improving it."
"The product's initial setup phase is straightforward."
"The ability to store everything inside Blob or Object storage and use it for archiving data is beneficial."
"This solution offers scalability at a lower cost and additional benefits compared with an on-premise file server."
"The most valuable feature is the cost value, which is very important for long term retention, and we can keep the backups for a longer duration."
"The tool's most valuable feature is performance."
"The installation of the product is quite easy, because automation is already in place, allowing easy deployment and integration with any file server and the requirements involved."
"There are a variety of good features, the initial setup is pretty straightforward, and the solution offers good documentation so when you get the right support person you can deal with issues very fast."
 

Cons

"For us, the versioning was an issue."
"The interface is hard to use for us. It should be simplified."
"Azure's technical support could be better - they take a long time to respond, and issues get transferred to multiple engineers, so you have to repeat the whole story every time without getting any proper resolution."
"Improvements should be made as per customer requirements."
"They could improve AI and ML-based modules. They should add more modules based on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Pricing is a little bit tricky with Microsoft Azure. They do provide the estimates, but it is not easy to guess the exact amount that we will be billed after a month or two because it is based on usage. This is a little confusing."
"Our current Azure setup faces challenges with API connectivity, particularly due to misconfigurations related to changes in Azure Graph."
"The deployment process needs improvement, and it requires a lot of expertise to use and to utilize it."
"The solution can be quite slow."
"There are a lot of points for improvement at the moment. For example, in the case of this product, we are not able to do a backup of what we call NAS, network-attached storage appliances, directly to the cloud."
"I have no complaints about Microsoft Azure Object Storage, but maybe its market size could be more extensive, and its backup speed enhanced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The tool has a pay-per-use pricing model...There is no need to pay extra money for the licensing costs since the price is based on the storage you consume."
"We have a separate package and pay extra for additional technical support."
"For the cloud, you get charges every day if you are going to download anything, besides the cost for storage those charges are always there."
"We don't need to pay for the solution's license."
"The tool's licensing costs are annual. It should be made reasonable."
"The cost should be reduced to make it more competitive."
"Pricing is always confusing for all Microsoft products. For this solution, they do provide the estimates, but it is not easy to guess the exact amount that we will be billed."
"I'm not aware of the licensing cost, as my customer handles it. In Taiwan, it's reasonably priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise21
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is very good.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
The customer support for Microsoft Azure Object Storage is not good. If a good engineer is assigned, then it functions well. However, every time we are doing troubleshooting, it is not Microsoft.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure Object Storage?
I have used Microsoft Azure Object Storage, which is a blob storage service. Our customers use the services that we provide for blob storage. Our customers use applications, and Microsoft Azure Obj...
 

Also Known As

CloudLayer
Microsoft Azure Blob Storage, Azure Object Storage, MS Azure Object 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
Umbraco, Xbox, Radioshack, 343 Industries, McKesson
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SoftLayer vs. Microsoft Azure Object Storage and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.