IBM SoftLayer vs NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the Public Cloud Storage Services category. IBM is ranked #20, while NetApp is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.5. IBM holds a 1.9% mindshare in PCSS, compared to NetApp’s 6.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

IBM SoftLayer

Read 2 IBM SoftLayer reviews

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651 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

Read 64 NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP reviews

9,473 Views
2,747 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

IBM SoftLayer

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

IBM SoftLayer and NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP are prominent cloud storage solutions with distinct strengths. While users report better pricing and support satisfaction for IBM SoftLayer, NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP’s advanced features make it a preferred choice for those focused on comprehensive functionality.

Features: IBM SoftLayer is valued for its robust security, global data center presence, and straightforward deployment process. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is praised for its efficient data management, backup, restoration features, and sophisticated data services, making it more favorable for users needing advanced data management capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Users of IBM SoftLayer seek improved integration options, enhanced analytics, and more extensive connectivity with third-party tools. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP users desire simpler usability, more intuitive configuration, and streamlined setup processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM SoftLayer users note its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer support. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP provides a relatively smooth deployment experience, with some users mentioning a learning curve. However, NetApp’s technical support receives high praise for its expertise, often offsetting initial setup challenges.

Pricing and ROI: IBM SoftLayer is generally perceived as cost-effective with quick ROI, emphasizing its affordability. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, while perceived as more expensive, is noted for delivering higher long-term value due to its advanced features, making it worth the investment for those seeking comprehensive data solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM SoftLayer vs. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IBM SoftLayer vs. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

August 2026

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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 SoftLayer

Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services

20th

Average Rating

8.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services

11th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Migration (3rd), Cloud Storage (9th), Cloud Backup (27th), Cloud Software Defined Storage (2nd)

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 NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is 6.2%, down from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Public Cloud Storage Services Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP	6.2%
IBM SoftLayer	1.9%
Other	91.9%

Public Cloud Storage Services

Featured Reviews

reviewer1032702

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.

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reviewer5948293

Principal Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Offers performance control and cloud integration while supporting data management with granular flexibility

The scalability of NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is interesting. We have thought about it, but we haven't used it. I think the scalability is something you scale up rather than respond to peak demand. It wouldn't help with outages either; the scaling is manual, and there are no processes we've used to automate that for unexpected scenarios. We like the scalability; it's enough for what we're planning to use, but we haven't used any advanced features. The standard platform is NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, which is their cloud service. In fact, that's probably the most experience I have with NetApp. I've experienced it on-premise, but kind of secondhand.

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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 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 solution is highly stable."

"The stability is the solution's most valuable aspect for our organization."

"The ELT versus ETL extract, transform and load versus extract, load, and then transform, the ELT method is what really sells SoftLayer."

"ONTAP made us less reliant on in-house hardware."

"Even compared to just standard Azure or other solutions available, this solution has allowed for probably 50 percent, or in some cases, higher storage savings."

"The most valuable feature is its exceptional performance and storage efficiency."

"If anything happens, their technical support will come onsite and fix it."

"With NetApp, you can integrate malware scanning or malware protection. This is something valuable that is not offered in SaaS solutions typically."

"It gives a solution for storage one place to go across everything. So, the customer is very familiar with NetApp on-prem. It allows them to gain access to the file piece. It helps them with the training aspect of it, so they don't have to relearn something new. They already know this product. They just have to learn some widgets or what it's like in the cloud to operate and deploy it in different ways."

"In all the time we've been running it we have had no issues."

"The solution’s Snapshot copies and thin clones in terms of operational recovery are good. Snapshot copies are pretty much the write-in time data backups. Obviously, critical data is snapshotted a lot more frequently, and even clients and end users find it easier to restore whatever they need if it's file-based, statical, etc."

More NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP pros

Cons

"For us, the versioning was an issue."

"The interface is hard to use for us. It should be simplified."

"One difficulty is that it has no SAP HANA certification. The asset performance restrictions create challenges with the infrastructure underneath: The disks and stuff like that often have lower latencies than SAP HANA itself has to have."

"We have used technical support. As long as they don't call me at four o'clock in the morning to tell me that a drive failed and they are sending me another one, I like it. They have a tendency to do that."

"I would like to see more aggressive management of the aggregate space. On the Cloud Volumes ONTAP that we use for offsite backup copies, most of the data sits in S3. There are also the EBS volumes on the Cloud Volumes ONTAP itself. Sometimes what happens is that the aggregate size just stays the same. If it allocates 8 terabytes initially, it just stays at 8 terabytes for a long time, even though we're only using 20 percent of that 8 terabytes. NetApp could undersize that more aggressively."

"I would like to see more information about Cloud Volumes ONTAP using Google Cloud Platform on NetApp's website."

"We want to be able to add more than six disks in aggregate, but there is a limit of the number of disks in aggregate. In GCP, they provide less by limiting the sixth disk in aggregate. In Azure, the same solution provides 12 disks in an aggregate versus GCP where it is just half that amount. They should bump up the disk in aggregate requirement so we don't have to migrate the aggregate from one to another when the capacities are full."

"I would like some more performance matrices to know what it is doing. It has some matrices inherent to the Cloud Volumes ONTAP. But inside Cloud Manager, it would also be nice to see. You can have a little Snapshot, then drill down if you go a little deeper."

"It would be fantastic if NetApp could offer a solution that's as user-friendly as Google Drive for seamless cloud storage integration."

"We've just been dealing with general pre-requisite infrastructure configuration challenges. Once those are out of the way, it is easy."

More NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"Make sure you investigate what your requirements are going to cost you using the native cloud solutions versus what NetApp is going to cost you, to make sure you have a business case to go with NetApp."

"Purchasing through the AWS Marketplace was good, but it was a test system, not a real purchase."

"Overall, the pricing of NetApp is aggressive and the pricing becomes more aggressive as the amount of data increases. The cost for a given volume of data that you are storing becomes lower. The greater the volume of data, the cheaper the license."

"In addition to the standard licensing fees, there are fees for Azure, the VMs themselves and for data transfer."

"I know the licensing is a bit on the high-end. That's when we had to downsize our MetroCluster disks and just migrate to disks that were half used. We migrated into those just to reduce maintenance costs."

"The deal with the seller was acceptable; the pricing is reasonable."

"For NetApp it's about $20,000 for a single node and $30,000 for the HA."

"We purchased the product directly from NetApp."

More NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Manufacturing Company

12%

Construction Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	53

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is actually quite reasonable in price compared to other native cloud storage options. For example, a customer using 100 TB of AWS storage would not benefit from deduplica...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?

It would be nice to see technology supporting the Elastic Fabric Adapter on Amazon AWS, therefore getting RDMA technology for more low-latency connections.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP?

I use NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP mostly in customer companies.

See all answers

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

Azure NetApp Files vs NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon FSx vs NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Public Cloud Storage Services

August 2026

Download IBM SoftLayer product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

August 2026

Download NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP product report

Also Known As

CloudLayer

ONTAP Cloud, CVO, NetApp CVO

Overview

IBM SoftLayer, part of IBM Cloud offerings, provides robust infrastructure services designed to meet business demands for scalability and flexibility. It supports a range of computing needs, offering customizable resources with high performance and reliability.

IBM SoftLayer is an enterprise-grade cloud platform that combines powerful networking, security, and redundancy features. It enables users to deploy a combination of physical and virtual devices, facilitating hybrid cloud solutions. Known for its flexibility, it caters to businesses needing infrastructure tailored to specific operational needs, ensuring efficient workload management and performance.

What are the most important features of IBM SoftLayer?

Network Configuration: Offers high-speed networking with options for private, public, and management networks.
Security Measures: Comprehensive security with DDoS protection, firewalls, and encryption services.
Scalability Options: Flexible scaling of resources for dynamic business requirements.
Hybrid Deployments: Seamless integration of physical and virtual environments.
Data Centers: Global presence with numerous data centers offering reliability and low latency.

What benefits and ROI should you expect from IBM SoftLayer?

Cost Efficiency: Competitive pricing and transparent billing to manage IT budgets effectively.
Performance Optimization: High-performance infrastructure enhancing application speed and responsiveness.
Business Agility: Rapid deployment capabilities aiding timely project launches.
Operational Ease: Streamlined management of resources reducing operational overheads.

Industries such as finance, healthcare, and gaming find IBM SoftLayer beneficial due to its secure, reliable infrastructure supporting sensitive data and high transaction volumes. It enables financial services to manage data flows seamlessly, healthcare sectors to ensure compliance with data security regulations, and gaming companies to deliver low-latency user experiences. Designed for enterprises needing tailored solutions to meet operational demands efficiently.

IBM

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is an efficient storage management solution for managing and storing data in the cloud. It offers seamless integration with cloud providers, advanced data replication capabilities, and high data protection. With reliable performance, it is ideal for industries like healthcare and finance.

NetApp

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

1. Accenture 2. Acer 3. Adidas 4. Aetna 5. AIG 6. Apple 7. Bank of America 8. Barclays 9. Bayer 10. Berkshire Hathaway 11. BNP Paribas 12. Cisco 13. Coca-Cola 14. Comcast 15.ConocoPhillips 16. CVS Health 17. Dell 18. Deutsche Bank 19. eBay 20. Eli Lilly 21. FedEx 22. Ford 23. Freescale Semiconductor 24. General Electric 25. Google 26. Honeywell 27. IBM 28. Intel 29. Intuit 30. JPMorgan Chase 31. Kellogg's 32. KeyCorp 33. Liberty Mutual 34. L'Oréal 35. Mastercard

Buyer's Guide

IBM SoftLayer vs. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

August 2026

Free Report: IBM SoftLayer vs. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

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