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Cohesity DataProtect vs IBM Storage Protect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2025

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

Cohesity DataProtect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
6th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
74
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (9th)
IBM Storage Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Cohesity DataProtect is 2.7%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cohesity DataProtect2.7%
IBM Storage Protect2.1%
Other95.2%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Giovanni Golinelli. - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, offers good scalability and responsive support
The deployment depends on the environment. Deploying on VMs is relatively simple. But for most of our customers, we implement physical clusters with at least three configured hosts using the existing model. So, it depends on the setup. Implementing DataProtect itself wasn't particularly challenging. One key requirement for successful DataProtect deployment is proper network configuration. If the network setup isn't right, you won't achieve optimal performance. We have developed a service for some of our customers where they implement an appliance or physical cluster of Cohesity at the customer site. Then, we use cloud clustering to replicate, and even in production, a second copy of the protected data. And in some cases, we have developed some disaster recovery procedures using Cohesity.
Syed Habib - PeerSpot reviewer
Manageable and comprehensive and integrates robust backup features for core banking
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum. This is why I am searching for another solution. The product also lacks any centralized graphical user interface (GUI), such as Jarek Pod, and I am limited to using a console-based text user interface, which my local partner handles completely.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
"The most valuable aspect for me is that I don't have to deal with media in terms of tapes like our existing system does."
"Its most valuable feature is its ransomware protection, so it has immutable backups."
"The ease of use and the GUI have really been most valuable to us. Configuring the system to do what we need is simple and straight forward and a lot of guesswork has been removed. One of my favorite features with Cohesity is Kroll for Exchange item-level recovery. The software is simple to use and fast."
"The enterprise search and instant restore are pretty valuable. Also, the Helios stuff is pretty good and the SAS engine for ransom malware detection."
"The solution is stable."
"Cohesity DataProtect is easily manageable, and you can see every option from the user interface."
"After linking a cloud subscription, like Azure for example (AWS and Google are also supported), you can "spin" a VM onto the cloud from any backup snapshot."
"I have found that the most valuable feature is useful documentation and troubleshooting."
"A robust tool which allows us to backup pretty much any environment, virtual or physical."
"The main feature of this product is a flexible architecture and functionality that allows you to solve problems of any complexity and scale. Most importantly, it is not just a product that simply makes a backup, but it restores and saves a large number of services in critical situations. By the way, it works fine with different types of clouds, supports S3."
"Replication processes with container storage pools allow reduction of storage space and network bandwidth, using deduplication and compression."
"The product helps us do data protection and restoration for disaster recovery (DR)."
"The backup is very good. In other backup systems, you need a lot of storage to gain the same backup policy."
"We do not lose data. That is why we are using this product and have a backup in place."
"Good user interface."
 

Cons

"Cohesity DataProtect takes hours to restore a single file, even a small one."
"A little more documentation on standard faults would help, as new features are being released quite often."
"The platform has certain limitations, mostly stemming from the restrictions imposed by the VMware API and some other factors. One area where there is room for improvement is the tracking of replicated copies, especially in the context of remote archive duplication."
"The solution has a more complex setup than Veritas and Veeam."
"Non-cloud services need improvement."
"The tool could benefit from further improvements in AI features, particularly in areas such as a generative AI chat interface. This feature could help answer queries about the data being protected. One feature that would greatly improve our experience with the product is the ability to identify data redundancies through a central console. This feature would help us reduce storage costs by managing redundant data."
"It would be great to add SQL ​Object Level restore, so user objects, tables, etc. can be restored without having to restore the entire DB."
"Initial setup can be complex if you need to change IP addresses. Hopefully, they improve that in a future release."
"Integration with Windows environments needs improvement. It should be more "assisted", both at the application and database level. It remains a product that fits better in Unix/Linux environments than in Windows environments, given its configuration procedures."
"Our customers would like to see metadata replication, tearing to tape, and more cloud capabilities."
"If you take Spectrum Protect into account, and you have it along with restrictions to Spectrum Archive by means of LTFS, this is also something which should be made better within the overall product's program."
"The initial setup is complex."
"Ease of use."
"Sometimes we experience trouble with the backup transfer of the control files."
"Its price can be better. It is very expensive. Its interface is very old and not user friendly. They can improve its interface. Their support can also be better. My clients are not very satisfied with the support because they are not really quick."
"The reporting could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It has reasonable pricing, and we know they can give discounts. If you look at the primary pricing or the list pricing, it conforms to the market pricing, but you have to have a discount on it. Otherwise, it is way too expensive."
"The solution's pricing is quite high, more so than that of its competitors, Veeam, Veritas and Rubrik."
"Ensure that you understand the per TB licensing model. Also, Exchange backups are not native to Cohesity and require Kroll."
"Cohesity came in at the best price. Setup was included and done in half a day."
"The pricing model is impressive and very effective."
"Cohesity came in at the best price."
"Sizing is important and it is easy to overestimate."
"We purchased support from Cohesity to ensure that should we face an issue, we don't have to deal with different service providers."
"There may be an advantage to going with IBM in terms of pricing. They have a pay-as-you-grow policy, so there is no need to take one license for the entire datacenter. You can start with small licenses and then grow, and pay, as you use more."
"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive and there is only a standard licensing fee."
"Customers need to pay for licensing in order to use IBM Spectrum Protect. The customers that have been using it for a long time are okay and happy with it. From a cost point of view, it's better for them to renew their licenses than to go through the difficult process of changing a backup product in their environment, and migrate from one product to another."
"IBM provides an open license policy, which is more like a gentlemen's agreement."
"We pay for a terabyte license to support our backend usage."
"When compared to the cost of other enterprise products, it seems to be in the same range. However, compared to the cost of non-enterprise products, it is really high."
"The licensing fees are on a yearly basis, which for us it is about R400,000 (approximately $27,000 USD)."
"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise40
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise94
 

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?
What areas have room for improvement? Is there anything that could be simplified to make it better?
What do you like most about IBM Storage Protect?
The best point about IBM Storage Protect is that it can use IBM tape environments, which we still use and will continue to use in the future.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Storage Protect?
IBM Storage Protect is generally an expensive tool. However, with good contracts with IBM or its partners, the cost might not be so high. New customers can expect very high prices.
What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?
One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past. There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is wh...
 

Also Known As

Cohesity
IBM Spectrum Discover
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tribune Media
CEMEX
Find out what your peers are saying about Cohesity DataProtect vs. IBM Storage Protect and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.