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Dell Avamar 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
5.8
Dell Avamar offers efficient data reduction, cost savings, enhanced IT operations, and strong data security against ransomware threats.
Sentiment score
3.5
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager improves ROI with automation, efficient recovery, and deduplication but lags behind Cohesity and Veeam.
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
6.9
Dell Avamar support is knowledgeable but slow, with communication challenges and limited first-level responsiveness hindering comprehensive assistance.
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.
When their technical person is online, the quality of service and technical knowledge are very good.
Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
The current technical support by Dell is very good.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
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
6.6
Dell Avamar offers scalability for medium to large enterprises but requires costly node additions and has infrastructure limitations.
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.
Dell Avamar offers very good scalability.
Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
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
8.2
Dell Avamar is stable and reliable, praised for smooth operation and low failure rates in various infrastructures.
Sentiment score
8.1
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is stable, reliable, user-friendly, with minor upgrade issues; overall a dependable data management solution.
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

Dell Avamar needs UI, backup speed, cloud integration, and scalability improvements, with concerns over pricing and technical support.
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager needs improved installation, support, cost-effectiveness, user interface, and additional features like desktop backup and SaaS protection.
They could add more features for cyber resilience and multi-cloud options in the next release to make it even better.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
There are instances where backups fail on certain applications, which is an area that could be improved.
Managing Director at Atlantic factorial
While Dell Avamar is a good product, the pricing is very high.
Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
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

Dell Avamar offers varying pricing experiences, with praised setup ease, but cost-effectiveness compared to competitors like Veeam is debated.
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers flexible pricing options, often viewed as affordable, with discounts available and additional feature costs.
I don't currently have detailed knowledge about the pricing, however, it is geared towards enterprise businesses and might be on the higher side.
Managing Director at Atlantic factorial
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

Dell Avamar provides efficient deduplication, scalable backup, and recovery with strong integration and platform support for robust data protection.
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager provides efficient management, high deduplication, and seamless integration, enhancing data protection and operational cost savings.
The most valuable feature is the instant recovery capability.
Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
The software delivers flexible and efficient backup and recovery options through its cyber resiliency features.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
The most valuable feature for me is the backup functionality.
Managing Director at Atlantic factorial
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

Dell Avamar
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
11th
Ranking in Deduplication Software
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
5th
Ranking in Deduplication Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell Avamar is 1.9%, down from 3.5% 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%
Dell Avamar1.9%
Other95.7%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

SamuelThomas - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
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 Business26
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise48
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about Dell Avamar?
Easy to configure and highly reliable for backup.
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

Avamar
PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerProtect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dodge County, St Laurence's College, FieldCore (a GE Company), Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Getronics, Lewisville Independent School District, EnvisionRxOptions, Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions
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 Dell Avamar vs. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.