IBM PowerVM Overview

IBM PowerVM is the #10 ranked solution in our list of best Server Virtualization Software. It is most often compared to VMware vSphere: IBM PowerVM vs VMware vSphere

What is IBM PowerVM?

Power is server virtualization without limits. Businesses are turning to PowerVM server virtualization to consolidate multiple workloads onto fewer systems, increasing server utilization and reducing cost. PowerVM provides a secure and scalable server virtualization environment for AIX, IBM i and Linux applications built upon the advanced RAS features and leading performance of the Power Systems platform.

IBM PowerVM is also known as PowerVM.

IBM PowerVM Buyer's Guide

Download the IBM PowerVM Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: January 2021

IBM PowerVM Customers

Sto, Soitec, SNO, Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH, Al Mansour Holding, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Huhtamaki, ELK Group, IT-Informatik, Arkansas Tech University, Pneuhage

IBM PowerVM Video

Pricing Advice

What users are saying about IBM PowerVM pricing:

"The price varies from case to case and you have to negotiate it for every project."

IBM PowerVM Software Reviews

reviewer1392543

Database Administrator at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

Aug 5, 2020

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Stable with flexible licensing and great technical support

What is our primary use case?

We're using the solution primarily on power machines and the default specialization software, IVM Power. Our power machines are specifically used to run Oracle databases.

Pros and Cons

"It's scalable. Whenever we buy another product other than hardware, it's easily integrated into the virtualization software that we download."

"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."

What other advice do I have?

We're IBM customers. We don't have a business relationship with the company. I'd recommend this solution. It's a great product and they offer great support. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

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PrimozBergant

System Engineer at Unistar

Feb 7, 2020

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A stable solution that offers good control over hardware resources

What is our primary use case?

We are a system integrator and IBM PowerVM is one of the solutions that we implement for our clients. I am not a solution architect, but I provide assistance with PowerVM. It is primarily used for business-critical operations like SAP or Oracle databases.

Pros and Cons

"The most valuable feature is the flexibility in terms of managing the hardware resources such as RAM, CPU, and the network."

"The interface is not user-friendly in places, so it could use some improvement."

What other advice do I have?

My advice to anybody who is researching this type of solution is to choose PowerVM if they want something that is really stable. I think that it is the only answer because the other solutions have perhaps evolved too quickly. We have seen issues with VMware and especially with Hyper-V. Hyper-V is not a mature platform. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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MohamedGaber

Unix Team Lead at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Jan 30, 2020

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Makes the control environment more flexible, easier, more stable, and easy to recover after issues

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of PowerVM is for our core banking system. We split our servers into multiple partitions, each one has a specific task for the project.

Pros and Cons

"It's in English, so its exceptional qualities make the control environment more flexible, easier, more stable, and easy to recover after issues."

"I would like for IBM to be more focuses on the cloud."

What other advice do I have?

I think everybody is going to be migrating to cloud and I think that IBM can make things easier if they also did this. I would rate IBM PowerVM nine out of ten. In the next release, I hope to see an extension of both the end part with the GUI.

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Allen-Provencal

Head of IT at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees

Oct 26, 2019

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A versatile, secure, and flexible solution for our virtualization

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for virtualization in an on-premises deployment.

Pros and Cons

"The feature that I like most is the versatility."

"Any improvements that can be made in the interface will go a long way to helping us work better."

What other advice do I have?

This solution is by IBM and they are a vendor who does what they say they're going to do. I recommend IBM and this solution any day. Without hesitation, I would suggest to anybody that they try it. Overall, I am happy with this solution, although more research and any new additions are always welcome. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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Elvis Lau

Technical Manager at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Apr 26, 2020

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Enables us to migrate servers from a standalone server to a VM server

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is to migrate the server from a standalone server to a VM server.

What is most valuable?

The case fileserver on the webserver is the most valuable feature.

What needs improvement?

The performance should be improved. They should reduce the cost to purchase the hardware of the physical server.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's easy to scale.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never contacted customer support. We have a service provider that we contact to help with the implementation and support.

How was the initial setup?

I didn't have any issues with the deployment.

What's my

…

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Ahmed_Alaiady

IT Infrastructure Manager at Cloud Technology

Oct 16, 2019

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Stability of this solution is very high and you don't have to be afraid that you may lose data

What is most valuable?

What I like about this solution is that it is easy to configure.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see an improvement in the management of the program.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM PowerVM for seven years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of this solution is very high and you don't have to be afraid that you may lose data.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would say the technical support is average - it isn't bad, but it isn't good either. I am used to technical support in Europe and America, where it is very good.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was quite complex, because I use the solution for visualization.

What other advice do I have?

…

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reviewer1066821

System Engineer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jan 30, 2020

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Powerful and stable platform with good scalability

What is our primary use case?

PowerVM is used to virtualize IBM Power Servers. It is for IBM Power Servers. It needs specific experience and needs to be professionally managed. Our customers needed proficiency and practical experience with it and it's not easy to find experienced engineers for it.