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Dell NetWorker 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

Dell NetWorker
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
10th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
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 Dell NetWorker is 2.3%, down from 3.1% 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 (%)
Dell NetWorker2.3%
IBM Storage Protect2.1%
Other95.6%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

ErmiasGirma - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers seamless integration and cost-saving benefits with enhanced recovery capabilities
Currently, in my organization, I am using Dell NetWorker for open-source solutions like PostgreSQL and MySQL databases, and some large VM environments. It also supports the Dell library and is used for the library archiving system Dell NetWorker allows for extensive customization, supporting…
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 of Dell NetWorker is its quick configuration and handling of large databases."
"If it's set up the right way, it's a stable product."
"The compression ratio is very flexible for designing all the required policies for backup."
"The solution is stable."
"It is the best umbrella, serving the best applications."
"This solution is really the best in the market! After evaluating other solutions, we automatically decided to use this one."
"The initial setup is simple."
"Dell EMC NetWorker integrates well with our domain and the performance is quite good on-premise. We receive approximately 1 terabyte within one hour."
"It helps our customers protect their data, keep it long-term, and feel pretty secure about it, basically sleeping well at night."
"Incremental backup is highly valuable as it allows for significant time and cost savings."
"One of the features which is most interesting in Spectrum Protect is the ability to scale out to great environments. This is something that not many vendors have on the market."
"Good user interface."
"In the past, one of the most valuable features, and the biggest advantage, was the incremental forever feature. Not many other backup vendors provided that. In the pre-virtualization environment, it was very robust and simple technology, especially writing to tape."
"It scales from very small to very large. It is easily the most scalable product out there."
"Their GUI has improved quite a bit. It's made the solution a lot simpler and less complex."
"It is good in terms of functionality. My clients are very satisfied with this solution."
 

Cons

"The licensing rules are difficult to navigate and understand."
"Support is definitely an area of concern because of the time it takes to resolve our issues."
"The end-user experience is not good."
"The initial setup is complex."
"They need to be compatible with the cloud because EMC NetWorker cannot compete with other products at the moment. EMC focuses only on their own cloud and do not take into consideration other cloud vendors."
"The interface could have a different appearance."
"Lacks a restore feature."
"Reporting and support for this product need to be improved. There are multiple bugs that need to be fixed."
"We recently had a situation where we quickly got code, and the number of tapes exceeded the library capacity so we were waiting a while to change. We got a fix for this right away."
"The solution is evolving, so it has to be evolved to fit all new types of software requirements too."
"I think Spectrum Protect's interface is not so user-friendly, but the interface is not so friendly. Some of the functions are too complicated. I prefer a simpler solution."
"There could be various client systems and process integration included in the product."
"An area for improvement would be the ease of use - the GUI is not up to the mark compared to other products in the market."
"I would love to see something which allows us to do an auto restart of backup jobs."
"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."
"A lot of my customers always ask for legal holds, especially on email."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."
"They are not cheap."
"Dell NetWorker is an expensive solution. None of the backup products are cheap. The licensing model offered is usually a five-year one."
"We use a license without a time term. We just need to buy additional support when needed."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"The pricing of this solution is very good."
"The solution follows a subscription model for licensing. We pay annually to use the solution and the price is high."
"The price of the license could be cheaper and it would be a benefit if they came up with a new pricing model. The competitors here in Oman sell universal licensing where a number of virtual machines are hosted at the customer place which can be licensed, or you can license the CPU sockets in those servers. However, NetWorker offers only CPU sockets or overall storage capacity to backup, but there is no universal licensing where you can provide a number of VMs. They should offer more options to stay competitive with other solutions, such as Veeam."
"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."
"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive. However, there are a few packages and it is unclear because, for the entry suite they have both options, which are the back-end storage capacity and the front-end storage capacity."
"The solution is not cheap."
"IBM Storage Protect is not expensive and fits the needs of all business types. The licensing is based on a capacity-based model. You can take a license for one, two, or three terabytes."
"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."
"The solution is expensive."
"We have capacity licensing. We use the front end. The capacity licensing is pretty okay on the licensing price. I used to use the old PVU-based licensing in the early environment, but now we use capacity-based licensing."
"That's a hard estimate. It depends on the licensing, the hardware, and other stuff, but it is fairly expensive. It is generally more expensive than other solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
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 Business24
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise37
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise94
 

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 NetWorker?
The feature that offers the greatest benefits in ensuring data integrity is its backup capability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell NetWorker?
The licensing cost is somewhat expensive. While we use a traditional license, there is a capacity-based license available, but our customer is not comfortable switching to it. A five to seven perce...
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

NetWorker
IBM Spectrum Discover
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Republic Bank, Westgate Resorts, Macquire Cloud Services, Shriners, Panatonni, Qatar Islamic Bank, Eurosport
CEMEX
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Storage Protect and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.