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BackupAssist vs Dell PowerProtect Data Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 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

BackupAssist
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
68th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
MSP Backup (15th)
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of BackupAssist is 0.6%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is 2.4%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager2.4%
BackupAssist0.6%
Other97.0%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

RM
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.
Jerome Edwards - PeerSpot reviewer
Ops Specialist: System Engineer Backup at BCX
Backup platform has provided faster, reliable RMAN protection for critical databases
I apologize, but I'm not in a position to answer what areas of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager I would like to see improved or enhanced. There is still a lot of features that we haven't tried yet. I can't say whether I can answer that because we basically don't experiment as often as we should on PPDM. I won't be able to answer that. Based on my use cases with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, I would like to see alerts improved, as streamlining the alerts could help. The alerts are becoming an issue because we don't always get notified of certain things via the alerts.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"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."
"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."
"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."
"I have found that the backups are usually very successful."
"I would recommend it, as it's stable and you don't have downtimes, even with upgrades."
"Dell PowerProtect Data Manager helps to reduce the amount of data being transferred and stored."
"The management part of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager has improved significantly."
"The features I appreciate about Dell PowerProtect Data Manager include the snapshot killer, which is a very good feature, and the ability to access the hypervisor directly to take backups from VMs."
"It's the perfect solution for virtual and container directives. The data reduction feature works well, and we haven't had any issues."
"The deduplication is the most valuable feature because it helps to control the overhead."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its integrated approach."
"I would say flexibility is the most important feature of the product. The performance and speed are the best on the market."
 

Cons

"Many solutions become stagnant over time. However, BackupAssist has been consistent in updates but they must continue to innovate and improve to avoid stagnation."
"Many solutions become stagnant over time. However, BackupAssist has been consistent in updates but they must continue to innovate and improve to avoid stagnation."
"The solution needs a dashboard or some form of central control from which you can manage all backups."
"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."
"There is always room for improvement. The compression ratio should be improved as well as the efficiency."
"As a new product, there are some things that still need to improve a bit as it matures."
"When I raise a ticket, it sometimes takes a while to get a response."
"A lot of improvement is required in Dell's first level of support."
"We have not had enough time in the product yet to be able to evaluate what would be better or worse with this solution."
"Regarding data recovery improvements in Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, there are challenges with data sets larger than one terabyte that are not related to VM."
"The interface is too complex."
"You need to use additional software to back up entire environments. It will be good if they could support entire tape libraries."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"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."
"We offer monthly or yearly subscriptions. The price could be cheaper."
"The product is offered at a very competitive price in the market."
"The licensing costs and pricing model are based on capacity and the license is easy to upgrade."
"The solution is more affordable than other vendors."
"Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is not an expensive solution."
"The solution is not less expensive than competitors but pricing deals are available."
"The price of Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What do you like most about Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
One notable feature is its robust backup support for Kubernetes and container environments. Additionally, PPDM stands out for its ease of deployment and management compared to other backup solution...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
I think the license for Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is the same as other backup software.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
Regarding data recovery improvements in Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, there are challenges with data sets larger than one terabyte that are not related to VM. While VM recovery functions adequate...
 

Also Known As

No data available
PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerProtect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Monash University, NASA, NYU, Pfizer, RAF Association, Rockwell Colins, University of Arizona, US Department of State, Volvo
National Bank of Greece, USC Australia, PCS Publishing, Dell Digital IT, Rushmore Electric, Melanson Health, Arrow Electronics
Find out what your peers are saying about BackupAssist vs. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.