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Cohesity DataProtect 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
Cohesity DataProtect delivers cost, time savings, enhances efficiency, simplifies backups, and ensures swift recovery, achieving ROI within months.
Sentiment score
3.5
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager improves ROI with automation, efficient recovery, and deduplication but lags behind Cohesity and Veeam.
Using Cohesity DataProtect is easier to manage, and it simplifies various components into one architecture, reducing the need for extensive human resources to manage backups.
Evangelist / CTO at fgnext
Previously they had somewhere around 100 TB of capacity for the backup for a few VMs on one side. Now, the overall setup is hardly 80 TB, where they use almost 240 TB of production data into that 80 TB.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would recommend Dell PowerProtect Data Manager to other organizations because it is cost-effective and delivers good performance compared to alternative solutions.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
I do find that with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, the ROI is good when compared to other Dell products, but when compared to others in the current market, such as Cohesity or Veeam, it is not as good.
Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Cohesity DataProtect offers knowledgeable and fast support, though some face challenges with regional differences and global case management.
Sentiment score
6.2
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager's customer service is adequate, with appreciated 24/7 support but inconsistent response times and regional presence.
The support can depend on the region, and for larger customers, I advise having a Technical Account Manager for better assistance.
Evangelist / CTO at fgnext
For the support, I can provide a rating of four only because they initially provide some steps, but later say they are not sure, which is a problem in a production environment.
Specialist at HCLSoftware
Dell provides reliable support for PowerProtect Data Manager, with 24/7 availability and a qualified support team.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
My experience with the technical support team of Dell is that they are actually great.
Ops Specialist: System Engineer Backup at BCX
When we had the compliances and any of the backups were getting failed or we identified that some of the backups were frequently failing, the system would alert us.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cohesity DataProtect is highly regarded for its seamless scalability, supporting both small and large environments with ease.
Sentiment score
6.1
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is scalable, easily customizable, well-supported, and aligns licensing with capacity needs, though cloud improvements are suggested.
Cohesity DataProtect is built on a scale-out architecture, which means it can effectively scale to meet various needs.
Evangelist / CTO at fgnext
Its capability to back up existing environments can be improved, particularly when it comes to disaster recovery in the cloud.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
As per the documentation, that is an easy process, whether you need to scale up or scale out.
Ops Specialist: System Engineer Backup at BCX
If you are okay to purchase the license, they have the feasibility to increase the capacity as well.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Cohesity DataProtect is praised for stability, quick support resolution, minor glitches, reliable updates, and consistent performance in diverse environments.
Sentiment score
8.1
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is stable, reliable, user-friendly, with minor upgrade issues; overall a dependable data management solution.
On the whole, any problems were more related to hardware limitations rather than issues with Cohesity DataProtect itself.
Evangelist / CTO at fgnext
It is extremely reliable and I have never experienced a crash.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Making sure the system is properly understood before deployment and handling upgrades efficiently would improve stability.
System Engineer at Konvergenz
I would assess the stability and reliability of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager as quite stable; there are no issues with the workloads I am using.
Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cohesity DataProtect needs improved restoration, customization, robust integration, and enhanced security features to boost user satisfaction and functionality.
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager needs improved installation, support, cost-effectiveness, user interface, and additional features like desktop backup and SaaS protection.
While there are improvements to be made, such as providing support for older systems like IBM iSeries and tandem systems from HP, the solution overall shifts from older methods to modern practices.
Evangelist / CTO at fgnext
There is room to improve the user interface of Cohesity DataProtect for more intuitive navigation.
Specialist at HCLSoftware
I would like to see improvements that include bare metal restore capabilities and enhanced data restore features in Dell PowerProtect Data Manager.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
This is an enterprise solution and a bit costlier, but it is a solution where people should be looking into if they want to go into one single umbrella and have the centralized backup solution, which integrates with the cloud and can manage their cloud workload as well as the on-premises workload, and can be managed with one dashboard.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enhancements for microservices and container backups would be beneficial, enabling a more consolidated management platform for modern architectures.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cohesity DataProtect offers cost-effective, straightforward pricing with bundled storage, quick setup, negotiable discounts, and affordable annual support.
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers flexible pricing options, often viewed as affordable, with discounts available and additional feature costs.
I find Cohesity DataProtect to be expensive.
Technical Director at Procloud
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is cost-effective, as it is licensed per socket rather than by workload.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Overall, pricing does not significantly impact our decision.
Business Development Manager at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
compared to some other products, it is a bit more costly.
Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Cohesity DataProtect offers fast backups, easy scalability, cloud integration, and robust features like deduplication, unified search, and ransomware protection.
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager provides efficient management, high deduplication, and seamless integration, enhancing data protection and operational cost savings.
The platform is based on a scale-out architecture with each node having compute, RAM, SSD, and HDD.
Evangelist / CTO at fgnext
Global deduplication ensures that only unique data blocks are stored, significantly reducing storage consumption.
Specialist at HCLSoftware
Some of the most valuable features of Cohesity DataProtect for me include instant mass restore, anomaly detection, and its ability to handle large data volumes effectively.
Technical Director at Procloud
It provides a seamless backup solution integrated with a dashboard full of capabilities, enhancing recovery point objectives and recovery time objectives.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
It satisfies my customers' scalability needs and provides interactive features, allowing efficient integration.
System Engineer at Konvergenz
Compared to other products such as Veritas, Dell offers more competitive pricing while other vendors charge significantly more.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cohesity DataProtect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
10th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (10th), AI Data Analysis (16th)
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Cohesity DataProtect is 2.0%, down from 3.8% 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 Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager2.4%
Cohesity DataProtect2.0%
Other95.6%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Kalaiarasan Meganathan - PeerSpot reviewer
Specialist at HCLSoftware
Backup operations have become faster and daily recoveries run smoothly for on‑prem workloads
When compared to other tools, the deduplication in Cohesity DataProtect is very fast, and the restore performance is better than other tools. Global deduplication ensures that only unique data blocks are stored, significantly reducing storage consumption. Cohesity DataProtect's dashboard displays options and errors clearly, making it easy to access and understand how to fix issues. Cohesity DataProtect's ability to start processes automatically without manual selections enhances its reliability. Cohesity DataProtect's architecture ensures that agent installations automatically reflect in the dashboard, allowing for seamless integration into backup jobs. This improves operational efficiency, ensuring backups can be triggered without manual refreshes. Additionally, the user interface is intuitive, and the respect of the N-1 rule during updates helps prevent client-affecting issues.
reviewer2767527 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Centralized backups have simplified hybrid protection and improved ransomware recovery and compliance
The majorly needed improvement is that the product should easily simplify the upgrade and installation process. Sometimes Dell support should be more active. They take time for P1 issues. Sometimes it is not a P1 for Dell, but it is P1 for the customer, and the support needs to be very mature. That is a major drawback I see. Otherwise, the product is quite well. This is an enterprise solution and a bit costlier, but it is a solution where people should be looking into if they want to go into one single umbrella and have the centralized backup solution, which integrates with the cloud and can manage their cloud workload as well as the on-premises workload, and can be managed with one dashboard. In that way, it makes their backup management easier and they can get detected anomalies as soon as possible. This is one of the solutions I would recommend. However, if it is a very small company, they really need to think about the cost, as it is very costlier for them. But as an enterprise solution and a mid-enterprise solution, this is the solution where companies think their data is very critical, in sectors such as financial, banking, and health. This kind of sector should go with that solution because it always gives the compliances of HIPAA, GDPR, and all those things that are really required for them. From management perspectives and consolidation solution perspective, the integration is quite easy. With respect to the backup administrator and everything, it is quite straightforward. There are some layers that need to be improved and should have the internal feature instead of creating the additional VMs for the NAS backup. It should be internal and directly have the agent base or something that can communicate easily with Dell storage. If it is third-party, I would understand, but it should be able to communicate. The benefit of it is that it is easily understood and you can do knowledge transfer with a lot of documents available. The drawback of it is that when it comes to the installation, Dell always takes a lot of time for all these things with third-party involvement in between Dell and the customer. Support is the major part of it. People need to understand that when a customer raises their ticket for P1, they should treat it as a P1. Instead of by their book being P3 or P2, sometimes they only treat it as such when the complete backup server is down. However, for the customer, if it is not happening with the critical system of backup, then it is a P1 for them. From Dell support, they do not treat it as a P1, or they treat it as a P3 or P2. That kind of understanding and some agreements need to be done between the customer and Dell. It is a costlier solution. Comparatively, other backup solutions make this one of the costlier solutions. However, someone who has their enterprise data or needs protection in a good way can go for it. I could say it is a mid-enterprise or enterprise level solution. Otherwise, people do have the same solution but with differentiated features. However, it is costlier compared to the other.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise43
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cohesity DataProtect?
Several features enable us to perform fast recovery, such as instant fast recovery. All our virtual machines protected with the product can be quickly restored to another healthy environment with m...
What needs improvement with Cohesity DataProtect?
There is room to improve the user interface of Cohesity DataProtect for more intuitive navigation, despite being content with its existing features.
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?
Regarding the pricing aspect of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, I am not very happy with that; compared to some other products, it is a bit more costly, and there are definitely areas for improvement.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
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...
 

Also Known As

Cohesity
PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerProtect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tribune Media
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 Cohesity DataProtect vs. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.