We've found that sometimes, certain setups require better servers. Ideally, the next level of model that IBM offers would be perfect for those situations. Sometimes, the availability of additional services can be a challenge for some software. Certain IBM software takes time to deliver to the client. It can be slow. So deployment is an area for improvement.
Feature-wise, the power system is great, however, IBM should work on pricing. No available price list is on the web. Due to this, the customer cannot compare pricing. For example, the RISC server can not be compared with the INTEL server over price.
In my country, there are power supply interruptions. IBM could find ways to make the product stable through these interruptions. Also, each time we have to go outside the storage, it fails.
Speaking about the disadvantages, the tools available to manage IBM Power Systems are not that good. My company also uses VMware, which is easy to use. In IBM Power Systems, things can get complicated when you try to manage the platform. Price and complexity related to the management of the solution are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required.
Implementation and Technical Sales Manager at ROI Botswana
Real User
Top 10
2023-03-29T13:24:00Z
Mar 29, 2023
IBM's pricing and distribution policies differ from those of Dell, making it challenging for partners to adjust. IBM's approach to managing its partners and securing deals is looser than Dell's. As a result, IBM's partners find it challenging to navigate their policies. Although our company also has a partnership with Dell, there is a significant difference in how the two companies manage their respective partners. Nowadays, we are convinced that when we work on a particular opportunity or a deal, IBM pushes it away from us and presents it to a different partner. The number of times IBM refreshes its operating system appears to be very slow. This case is true when compared to other tools like VMware, Red Hat, or any other Linux products. In general, the updates or the latest versions of other products are much faster than IBM Power Systems, creating an impression in the market that AIX will perish. Even though IBM might be spending time and money on the products, when it comes to the implementation part involving products from IBM or Oracle, they usually don't have a compatible version that works well with Power Linux. Also, compatible versions are mostly available in AIX. From 2017 to 2023, there has been no significant increase in the number of updates or versions from IBM.
Senior Pre-Sales Manager at PT GLOBAL INFOTECH SOLUTION
Real User
Top 20
2022-10-12T08:51:20Z
Oct 12, 2022
The compatibility with other products could be better. They have a proprietary package to install on the server. With the application or the database, you can install on top of it. Some competitors may have more features or a certain advantage over this product. The solution is quite expensive. We'd like the solution to have a cloud base. Most of it is on-premises.
Advisory Sales Specialist at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2021-12-10T01:42:00Z
Dec 10, 2021
There are several features which I feel should be added to the solution, including those concerning the graphic processors. I am referring to the GPU based machines involved in machine learning. The new systems focus on the part involved in experiencing, but not on machine learning. The product should come with a comprehensive portfolio which will address all the high performance computing requirements, in additiona to machine and deep learning. This is an issue which I raised with IBM. Software testing and the compatibility of software products that are available in the market should be addressed. This is an issue we sometimes face, as this particular product is not tested, certified and available in Power Systems. We have lost deals over this. The price of the solution could be somewhat better and this is what lowers my rating of it to a seven or eight out of ten. We directly compete with Intel-based products, which several vendors make available, and a price improvement would certainly give us an advantage over the competition.
VP Innovation at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Reseller
2021-10-28T20:23:47Z
Oct 28, 2021
I've worked with the solution for a very long time, and therefore, when it comes to the things that it doesn't support, I've accepted that and I understand why they won't. If you asked me what I'd like added, I'd say that it'd be nice if they ran GPUs, however, I know that's not the direction they're going. That said, I would appreciate it if they offered GPU support. It used to have it and they pulled it out. That's something that's missing from it, however, there are workarounds.
Its management can be made easier because it is not easy to manage. They should also find a new way for migrating from an old Power Systems to a new one. The migration process is currently very complicated. It should be made easier to scale. Currently, its scalability depends on the initial sizing, whereas in Nutanix HCI, you can add whatever you need and whenever you need it.
System Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2021-01-27T16:13:26Z
Jan 27, 2021
Thus far, the solution has been sufficient. I can't think of an area that really needs improvement at this time. For the time being, our need is limited to certain features that are completely available in the Power Systems that we use. I can't say that we need an extra feature, or, at least, not in the near future. The pricing of the product could always be lowered.
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
2021-01-12T21:19:15Z
Jan 12, 2021
In Power6, latency was an issue, but nowadays, we are on Power8, which doesn't have any such problems. Sometimes, we can have issues when we are moving or migrating to a newer version, which is the case with almost every company. Some new issues or problems show up suddenly, and you do not have the time to research and find the solution. That's when we contact IBM technical support.
General Manager Applications at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reseller
2020-11-29T05:38:58Z
Nov 29, 2020
Overall, IBM actually does restrict us, the sellers, at a limited percentage of margin when you're selling the product. We cannot go above 8%. That's something as a business that can be difficult, as we do suffer because at times. We don't have the option of quoting more and making more money out of it. We can't due to the IBM compliance. In terms of features, as a salesperson and not an end-user, I haven't really explored the product and can't say exactly what might be lacking. IBM does have a market presence here in Pakistan, however, the kind of penetration that Huawei has is a lot more. They have a larger enterprise team that sells products here and they have a direct relationship with the customers. IBM relies a lot more on the partners rather than going to the customers directly. Due to their approach, Huawei has captured about 70-80% of the server and storage industry and market in Pakistan. I do understand that IBM does offer co-marketing funds for us to actually promote IBM and its products. We have actually utilized them in the past as well, maybe three, four years ago. However, IBM does have a very, very, strict kind of compliance. When it comes to us providing documentation, there is cross-questioning. Our finance team may even back out not because of the misuse of money, but because of the amount of documentation required. It's not worth it for our marketing and finance team to utilize the offer. It's too rigorous and it takes them off dealing with other aspects of their jobs. IBM should be more flexible with marketing or offer marketing events themselves and invite the partners to attend. That might be far more productive.
It does not offer the ability to run any X86 or X64 Intel architecture-based application on Power Systems. There are a lot of applications, lots of business use cases that do not support this architecture as of now. If somehow application tasks can be ported on to IBM Power Systems, that would be a big improvement. Power Systems has dominance in terms of features, and the capability is much more powerful than the other competitors right now. Intel is the other primary platform. If you look at Intel x86 and compare it with Power Systems, all of the features are much more reliable, available and serviceable as compared to the Intel platform. The one thing that we lack is that a lot more applications are supported on the internet compared to Power Systems. That's one thing that we primarily lack.
The solution is currently working on the old PowerVCs. We welcome this improvement. It would be ideal if the solution was more simple to work with. The initial setup is difficult.
Sr. Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Vendor
2018-06-24T06:46:00Z
Jun 24, 2018
One of the features that we would like, and I think they are also adapting to the latest trends in the market, is to make it more open, more flexible. Traditionally the Unix operating system was not very flexible. For example, if you are creating a virtual machine, it is not done the same way you would create it with VMware. With VMware, anybody can create a virtual machine without any knowledge of the server side. But with AIX it's a bit difficult. I think they are already in the process of improving it, making it more flexible and easier to use.
IBM Power Systems are built to crush the most advanced data applications - from the mission-critical workloads you run today to the next generation of AI.
IBM should provide a platform where users can learn about the storage and security of IBM Power Systems.
We've found that sometimes, certain setups require better servers. Ideally, the next level of model that IBM offers would be perfect for those situations. Sometimes, the availability of additional services can be a challenge for some software. Certain IBM software takes time to deliver to the client. It can be slow. So deployment is an area for improvement.
Feature-wise, the power system is great, however, IBM should work on pricing. No available price list is on the web. Due to this, the customer cannot compare pricing. For example, the RISC server can not be compared with the INTEL server over price.
In my country, there are power supply interruptions. IBM could find ways to make the product stable through these interruptions. Also, each time we have to go outside the storage, it fails.
Speaking about the disadvantages, the tools available to manage IBM Power Systems are not that good. My company also uses VMware, which is easy to use. In IBM Power Systems, things can get complicated when you try to manage the platform. Price and complexity related to the management of the solution are areas of concern in the solution where improvements are required.
The solution is highly-priced. The first thing for me in terms of improvement is reducing the price.
They should improve the solution's pricing. Also, they should provide proper documentation to understand the setup process.
IBM's pricing and distribution policies differ from those of Dell, making it challenging for partners to adjust. IBM's approach to managing its partners and securing deals is looser than Dell's. As a result, IBM's partners find it challenging to navigate their policies. Although our company also has a partnership with Dell, there is a significant difference in how the two companies manage their respective partners. Nowadays, we are convinced that when we work on a particular opportunity or a deal, IBM pushes it away from us and presents it to a different partner. The number of times IBM refreshes its operating system appears to be very slow. This case is true when compared to other tools like VMware, Red Hat, or any other Linux products. In general, the updates or the latest versions of other products are much faster than IBM Power Systems, creating an impression in the market that AIX will perish. Even though IBM might be spending time and money on the products, when it comes to the implementation part involving products from IBM or Oracle, they usually don't have a compatible version that works well with Power Linux. Also, compatible versions are mostly available in AIX. From 2017 to 2023, there has been no significant increase in the number of updates or versions from IBM.
Power Systems' price could always be lower.
The compatibility with other products could be better. They have a proprietary package to install on the server. With the application or the database, you can install on top of it. Some competitors may have more features or a certain advantage over this product. The solution is quite expensive. We'd like the solution to have a cloud base. Most of it is on-premises.
I think the cost should be cheaper.
Unfortunately, I don't have any thoughts now on what could be improved.
I would like to see IBM Power Systems integrate with all cloud types.
The price is a bit high and could be improved.
IBM Power Systems could improve by having a cloud feature.
I would like to see the scaling model improved so it's not just either tiny or huge.
There are several features which I feel should be added to the solution, including those concerning the graphic processors. I am referring to the GPU based machines involved in machine learning. The new systems focus on the part involved in experiencing, but not on machine learning. The product should come with a comprehensive portfolio which will address all the high performance computing requirements, in additiona to machine and deep learning. This is an issue which I raised with IBM. Software testing and the compatibility of software products that are available in the market should be addressed. This is an issue we sometimes face, as this particular product is not tested, certified and available in Power Systems. We have lost deals over this. The price of the solution could be somewhat better and this is what lowers my rating of it to a seven or eight out of ten. We directly compete with Intel-based products, which several vendors make available, and a price improvement would certainly give us an advantage over the competition.
The solution could improve the memory database for better integration with SAP HANA.
I've worked with the solution for a very long time, and therefore, when it comes to the things that it doesn't support, I've accepted that and I understand why they won't. If you asked me what I'd like added, I'd say that it'd be nice if they ran GPUs, however, I know that's not the direction they're going. That said, I would appreciate it if they offered GPU support. It used to have it and they pulled it out. That's something that's missing from it, however, there are workarounds.
Its management can be made easier because it is not easy to manage. They should also find a new way for migrating from an old Power Systems to a new one. The migration process is currently very complicated. It should be made easier to scale. Currently, its scalability depends on the initial sizing, whereas in Nutanix HCI, you can add whatever you need and whenever you need it.
Thus far, the solution has been sufficient. I can't think of an area that really needs improvement at this time. For the time being, our need is limited to certain features that are completely available in the Power Systems that we use. I can't say that we need an extra feature, or, at least, not in the near future. The pricing of the product could always be lowered.
In Power6, latency was an issue, but nowadays, we are on Power8, which doesn't have any such problems. Sometimes, we can have issues when we are moving or migrating to a newer version, which is the case with almost every company. Some new issues or problems show up suddenly, and you do not have the time to research and find the solution. That's when we contact IBM technical support.
Overall, IBM actually does restrict us, the sellers, at a limited percentage of margin when you're selling the product. We cannot go above 8%. That's something as a business that can be difficult, as we do suffer because at times. We don't have the option of quoting more and making more money out of it. We can't due to the IBM compliance. In terms of features, as a salesperson and not an end-user, I haven't really explored the product and can't say exactly what might be lacking. IBM does have a market presence here in Pakistan, however, the kind of penetration that Huawei has is a lot more. They have a larger enterprise team that sells products here and they have a direct relationship with the customers. IBM relies a lot more on the partners rather than going to the customers directly. Due to their approach, Huawei has captured about 70-80% of the server and storage industry and market in Pakistan. I do understand that IBM does offer co-marketing funds for us to actually promote IBM and its products. We have actually utilized them in the past as well, maybe three, four years ago. However, IBM does have a very, very, strict kind of compliance. When it comes to us providing documentation, there is cross-questioning. Our finance team may even back out not because of the misuse of money, but because of the amount of documentation required. It's not worth it for our marketing and finance team to utilize the offer. It's too rigorous and it takes them off dealing with other aspects of their jobs. IBM should be more flexible with marketing or offer marketing events themselves and invite the partners to attend. That might be far more productive.
Its price can be improved. It is too high.
It does not offer the ability to run any X86 or X64 Intel architecture-based application on Power Systems. There are a lot of applications, lots of business use cases that do not support this architecture as of now. If somehow application tasks can be ported on to IBM Power Systems, that would be a big improvement. Power Systems has dominance in terms of features, and the capability is much more powerful than the other competitors right now. Intel is the other primary platform. If you look at Intel x86 and compare it with Power Systems, all of the features are much more reliable, available and serviceable as compared to the Intel platform. The one thing that we lack is that a lot more applications are supported on the internet compared to Power Systems. That's one thing that we primarily lack.
The power supplies often need replacing. Technical support and documentation need to be improved.
The solution is currently working on the old PowerVCs. We welcome this improvement. It would be ideal if the solution was more simple to work with. The initial setup is difficult.
One of the features that we would like, and I think they are also adapting to the latest trends in the market, is to make it more open, more flexible. Traditionally the Unix operating system was not very flexible. For example, if you are creating a virtual machine, it is not done the same way you would create it with VMware. With VMware, anybody can create a virtual machine without any knowledge of the server side. But with AIX it's a bit difficult. I think they are already in the process of improving it, making it more flexible and easier to use.