BackupAssist vs Dell Avamar comparison

BackupAssist and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. BackupAssist is ranked #63, while Dell Technologies is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.5. BackupAssist holds a 0.8% mindshare in BRS, compared to Dell Technologies’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BackupAssist users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

BackupAssist

Read 5 BackupAssist reviews

1,982 Views
1,903 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell Avamar

Read 90 Dell Avamar reviews

8,768 Views
7,979 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

BackupAssist

Dell Avamar

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Dell Avamar and BackupAssist are data backup solutions. Dell Avamar has the upper hand in extensive features, while BackupAssist offers superior value in specific contexts.

Features: Dell Avamar offers advanced deduplication, support for a wide range of platforms, and high performance. BackupAssist is known for its ease of use, high reliability, and scripting support.

Room for Improvement: Dell Avamar has a steep learning curve, complex initial setup, and needs more intuitive processes. BackupAssist should enhance its cloud options, expand integration capabilities, and increase functionality.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell Avamar’s deployment requires thorough planning and expert help, though its customer service is well-regarded. BackupAssist offers an easy deployment process and receives positive feedback for customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Dell Avamar has higher initial setup costs but provides strong ROI through performance over time. BackupAssist is affordable with good ROI for straightforward backup needs.

To learn more, read our detailed BackupAssist vs. Dell Avamar Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist vs. Dell Avamar

June 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

BackupAssist

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

63rd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

MSP Backup (12th)

Dell Avamar

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (6th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of BackupAssist is 0.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell Avamar is 1.9%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell Avamar	1.9%
BackupAssist	0.8%
Other	97.3%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

RichardMukarakate

Director at Gemini Systems

Provides ransomware protection, does good reporting, and is close to perfect for our use case

The main challenge that I have had with it was no line of support, but I've anyway taken away the Linux machine that I was using. So, I don't need that anymore. I'm migrating my Exchange to the cloud. So, I probably will stop using the exchange backup side of it sometime next year, but the rest of the virtual machines that I have on-premises are very well covered by it. To be able to back up my online Exchange, I know there is a backup in the cloud, but I prefer to have something physical with something on my premises as well. It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it.

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SamuelThomas

Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.

Have supported critical environments despite room for improvement in legacy backup options

It is very efficient in cyber resilience. Deduplication, automation, and everything is very efficient. It is multi-cloud enabled and has broad protections. The software delivers flexible and efficient backup and recovery options through its cyber resiliency features. Dell PowerProtect Manager provides insights in managing backup processes. Its encryption mechanisms are very efficient, helping to secure sensitive data. Its integration with Dell EMC Data Domain is very good. It is easy to integrate with Data Domain. Multi-cloud options are enabled, and backup in cloud options exist in Dell Avamar.

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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

"I have found that the backups are usually very successful."

"I would definitely recommend this solution to others."

"We can configure the notifications themselves so that the right people get the notifications. This is very helpful. It allows key stakeholders to know if backups have happened and to remind each other to check the backups if something is not right."

"Now that we are using the solution, we get notified online when our backups are done."

"I get my reports. It is generally very reliable. Unless there is a major change, it doesn't stop backing up. I've got my server room set up with everything connected to the same power, and I never have power issues or failures of backups because a sub-site has gone off."

"We managed to have good backups which were easy to recover, and easy backup of MS Exchange and SQL databases."

"The most valuable features of BackupAssist are ease of use, configure is simple, and more importantly, ease of recovery. If you needed to do a complete system recovery or another recovery it is straightforward."

"I find BackupAssist very convenient to work on and I really like its user interface."

More BackupAssist pros

"In general, the product has been extremely easy to use."

"The product is very powerful and offers very good performance."

"The performance of Dell EMC Avamar is good."

"Technical support for this solution was great."

"Avamar is a very good solution, and it stands out compared to other options, especially when we expand storage with Data Domain or other accessible storage systems."

"Quick incremental backups and product replication are the two highlights of the product. Once you capture a full backup, incrementals are pretty quick. It is fairly efficient from that perspective."

"Dell Avamar has helped our organization by allowing us to do backups."

"Avamar's source side deduplication is very strong, it can easily back up remote sites' data, and not much bandwidth is required on the Avamar side."

More Dell Avamar pros

Cons

"One issue I had with this program, was that I couldn't get it to back up my Linux virtual machines."

"The solution needs a dashboard or some form of central control from which you can manage all backups."

"Many solutions become stagnant over time. However, BackupAssist has been consistent in updates but they must continue to innovate and improve to avoid stagnation."

"It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it."

"In the future I would like to see more support for Linux."

"Has a few problems working with snapshots time-outs and failed backups."

"This solution could improve by introducing daily verifications and another repository."

"Setting up Avamar wasn't so easy, and we had a partner doing the installation for us. Though it was hard at first, it's getting better. The main difficulty was finding plugins for Oracle Database. It took some time to open a ticket with Dell, but everything was fine after that."

"The licensing model is not very flexible. Every time we upgrade our storage size, we need to upgrade the Avamar license."

"If you don't have DPA, the reporting features are not as user-friendly, so reporting is something that they can improve on."

"It is very scalable, and that's its claim to fame, but that also makes it hard to make changes."

"The solution is not very strong on the Cloud. They should work out how they can use this as a backup as a service."

"It is very scalable, and that's its claim to fame, but that also makes it hard to make changes. Anytime there is a large piece of software, changing that piece of software is harder. You've got a larger install base, so you can't just rapidly change. We also use another product called Veeam, and it has this new feature called Continuous Data Protection, which basically lets you get very close to the way the system was in time. We have a system or two up there on which we have set 10 minutes Continuous Data Protection. So, we can roll it back to whatever it was 10 minutes ago, 20 minutes ago, or 30 minutes ago. This feature doesn't exist in Avamar Data Domain. That's the one feature I'd like to see first."

"The newest version is not very stable, which is something that should be improved."

More Dell Avamar cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's on a yearly basis, but I'm not the one who does the licensing on that. I don't have any figures, but it's on a yearly basis, and I believe it's reasonable."

"The cost of the solution is reasonable and there are add-on options that can be purchased. I have used other solutions that are a lot more expensive that are not as good. The ability to get support is very simple and very reasonable from a cost standpoint."

"The product pricing here in Zimbabwe is good, I cannot complain."

"There's a yearly licensing cost. The costs might be around $2000 USD annually."

"It was approximately $70-80,000 when it was under support, but right now EMC has not been supporting this product for two years."

"There are licensing costs for Dell EMC Avamar and it is paid annually."

"Avamar's pricing is quite competitive compared to other vendors."

"It's an expensive tool"

"Dell Avamar, including its virtual add-ons and cloud-based offerings, is cheaper than other solutions, but in the end, the price still depends on your use case. Price-wise, I'm rating Dell Avamar as six out of ten."

"It might not be beneficial to smaller businesses due to its high cost."

"Dell Avamar is expensive."

"Dell Avamar is free when we deploy the data protection. When we order data protection, this software is included in the hardware."

More Dell Avamar pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

27%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Outsourcing Company

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	27
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	47

Questions from the Community

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What's the difference between Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC NetWorker?

From the very beginning, Dell EMC NetWorker considers users and those who might potentially become users. In terms of both pricing and setup, this product offers an experience that is significantly...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC Avamar?

The cost is very significant, and it could be lower.

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What needs improvement with Dell Avamar?

It is a very good product. My only concern is that there is no tape backup. For tape backup, we have to use Dell NetWorker. They could add more features for cyber resilience and multi-cloud options...

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Compared 30% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell Avamar

Compared 4% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell Avamar

Compared 3% of the time

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs Dell Avamar

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar

June 2026

Download Dell Avamar product report

Also Known As

No data available

Avamar

Overview

BackupAssist is a versatile backup software offering tape and drive backups, customizable alerts, Exchange and SQL backups with options for network and cloud data storage, including AWS and Wasabi, ensuring data safety and ease of recovery.

BackupAssist provides reliable backup solutions for businesses with its intuitive interface and straightforward recovery process. It supports a range of storage media and offers cloud storage solutions. While consistently updated, it faces compatibility issues with Linux virtual machines and iSCSI connectivity. There's room for improvement in its marketing and a centralized dashboard is needed. Its Exchange backup processes require attention, and it lacks a dedicated support line, impacting user experience. Deployment covers a variety of servers including file and active directory, demonstrating flexibility in server management and backup processes.

What are the important features of BackupAssist?

Versatile Backup Options: Supports tape, drive, and cloud storage solutions including AWS and Wasabi.
Customizable Alerts: Keeps stakeholders informed with adjustable notifications.
Exchange and SQL Support: Provides dedicated support for critical applications.
Ransomware Protection: Incorporates ransomware checks to enhance security.
User-Friendly: Features an easy-to-navigate interface simplifying backup management.

What benefits should users expect in reviews?

Easy Recovery: Ensures straightforward data restoration processes.
Comprehensive Support: Knowledgebase resources aid in troubleshooting and feature evolution.
Reliable Updates: Regular updates promise continuous improvement.
Flexible Cloud Integration: Options for AWS and Wasabi cater to diverse requirements.
Stability During Power Outages: Maintains data integrity when power issues occur.

In industries, BackupAssist is implemented extensively for server backups, particularly in managing Hyper-V hosts to iSCSI devices, covering vast data volumes and supporting numerous virtual machines. It plays a crucial role in backing up essentials like Exchange, databases, payroll systems, and active directory across multiple sectors by providing on-premise and offsite data retention solutions.

BackupAssist

Dell Avamar offers advanced deduplication, efficient data compression, and high backup and recovery speed, enhancing backup management and operations optimization for virtual environments and data protection needs.

Known for its seamless integration with VMware, Dell Avamar provides a user-friendly interface and robust performance. Its centralized data handling and minimal bandwidth requirements make it effective for different backup scenarios. While Avamar efficiently supports virtual environments and provides broad protection capabilities, users often report challenges with the interface and backup speed. There can be complexities in training and management, and integration with cloud and external platforms can be troublesome. Additional complaints include high pricing, scalability issues, and challenging transitions that complicate data migration.

What are the standout features of Dell Avamar?

Advanced Deduplication: Significantly reduces data size.
Efficient Data Compression: Optimizes storage use.
High Backup and Recovery Speed: Enhances operational efficiency.
VMware Integration: Facilitates smooth virtual environment operations.
Centralized Data Management: Simplifies data handling.

What benefits and ROI should users seek?

Improved Backup Management: Streamlines processes and enhances efficiency.
Optimal Storage Usage: Through data deduplication and compression.
Reliable Disaster Recovery: Ensures business continuity and data security.
Enhanced Cyber Resilience: Protects against data loss and security threats.
Scalable Operations: Grows with business needs while reducing overhead.

In industries focusing on virtual machine protections, Dell Avamar is widely used for VMware environments, endpoint, server, and database backups. Often integrated with Dell Data Domain for storage efficiency, it supports diverse environments, including remote office backups. Companies also leverage Avamar for compliance with geographical data retention regulations, adapting for on-premises and cloud deployments.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

Monash University, NASA, NYU, Pfizer, RAF Association, Rockwell Colins, University of Arizona, US Department of State, Volvo

Dodge County, St Laurence's College, FieldCore (a GE Company), Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Getronics, Lewisville Independent School District, EnvisionRxOptions, Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist vs. Dell Avamar

June 2026

Free Report: BackupAssist vs. Dell Avamar

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