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Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs IBM Storage Protect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

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
4.7
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers cost-effective performance but doesn't outperform Cohesity or Veeam in financial returns for all users.
Sentiment score
1.0
IBM Storage Protect enhances data recovery, reduces downtime, and aids compliance, making it a valuable investment for organizations.
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
5.9
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager support is generally good but uneven, with room for improvement in responsiveness and local accessibility.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Storage Protect's support shows mixed experiences, with praise for expertise but concerns over response times and service consistency.
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
Delays in feedback and scheduling can affect interactions, but generally, support provides good solutions once engaged.
System Engineer at Konvergenz
Organizations considering Dell PowerProtect Data Manager should be aware that customer support responsiveness could be improved.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Support from IBM is very good, and they always have knowledgeable people.
Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Support is good from IBM, although it mainly comes from my local partner.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
Some support staff are highly skilled, others are not, leading to longer times to resolve issues.
CEO at Fischerei Leipold
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is scalable with licensing flexibility but faces cloud scalability and disaster recovery limitations.
Sentiment score
7.7
IBM Storage Protect is praised for scalability and adaptability, though some users cite challenges in features and large-scale integration.
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
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager performs well from a scalability perspective and is functioning properly with our current implementation.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
TSM is a generic and robust product, which is why I continue using it for my core banking.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
It is one of the most scalable platforms, and that is its strong point.
Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Scalability is great in IBM Spectrum Protect; there are several options available to scale.
Solution architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is stable and efficient, though some experience connection issues and minor bugs during upgrades.
Sentiment score
8.0
IBM Storage Protect is highly stable and reliable, with consistent enhancements despite occasional minor issues with new features.
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 PowerProtect Data Manager needs integration, compatibility enhancements, improved UI, better support, and advanced features for modern infrastructures.
IBM Storage Protect needs an improved interface, intuitive features, better cloud integration, and enhanced reporting and virtualization support.
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
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
The main issue that needs improvement is the support system.
System Engineer at Konvergenz
It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
IBM Storage Protect does not work well with virtual environments such as VMware and Hyper-V.
CEO at Fischerei Leipold
There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is why we are using Cobalt Iron.
Solution architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers competitive, flexible pricing options, seen as cost-effective despite some viewing it as slightly expensive.
IBM Storage Protect offers varied and complex licensing, often seen as expensive but potentially cost-effective with tailored agreements.
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
We do not see the cost of the licensing.
Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's expensive.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
IBM Storage Protect is generally an expensive tool.
CEO at Fischerei Leipold
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers flexible, user-friendly, and secure data protection for container and virtual environments with strong integration capabilities.
IBM Storage Protect excels in efficient backups, cost-effective storage, scalability, reliability, user-friendliness, adaptability, and robust disaster recovery.
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
The product works efficiently with very large tape libraries, unlike most other products in the market that have problems handling large tape libraries or more than one tape library.
CEO at Fischerei Leipold
IBM Spectrum Protect has excellent integration capability.
Solution architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Incremental and differential backup features are built-in, which I frequently utilize on a weekly and daily basis.
Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (6th)
IBM Storage Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is 2.6%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 1.8%, down from 2.3% 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 Manager2.6%
IBM Storage Protect1.8%
Other95.6%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

AM
Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Streamlined VM protection has improved recovery speed and strengthened data security
The specific features and functionalities I find most beneficial in Dell PowerProtect Data Manager include good integration with other Dell products, such as Dell Data Domain, which makes it a very good use case for environments that already have Dell Data Domain or any other Dell products. My impression of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager's dashboard interface is that it is good, easy to use, and quite interactive, so there are no major issues there. The deduplication feature of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager has allowed me to reduce or save some 15% of storage compared to what I was using earlier.
reviewer2787573 - PeerSpot reviewer
Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Backup coverage has supported immutable protection and now needs a more modern, intuitive interface
IBM Storage Protect is from a previous generation of backup software. In those days, backup software was complex in setting up and complex to manage. The new software, such as Rubrik, is very easy to use and more relatable to younger engineers because its interface design is more similar to Office 365 and the newer controls and labels that we are accustomed to. The difficulty that we now have with IBM Storage Protect is that for this day and age, compared to other products that are out there, it seems complex. If we look back 15 years ago, all enterprise class backup software was complex, so IBM was not any different. However, many of these older systems, such as Commvault, still have the same complaint that they are very complex because they have tried to keep that same interface and the same way it works. This suits them, but it probably needed a complete overhaul to bring it into the ease of use that we have with modern software. However, that upgrade has not been done. IBM Storage Protect has not been upgraded into a modern platform. It still looks a legacy platform.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise95
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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?
I do not know the current licensing cost for IBM Storage Protect and how we get our support because our licensing model is not quite standard. We do not buy IBM Storage Protect direct from IBM. We ...
What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?
IBM Storage Protect is from a previous generation of backup software. In those days, backup software was complex in setting up and complex to manage. The new software, such as Rubrik, is very easy ...
 

Also Known As

PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerProtect
IBM Spectrum Discover
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Bank of Greece, USC Australia, PCS Publishing, Dell Digital IT, Rushmore Electric, Melanson Health, Arrow Electronics
CEMEX
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs. IBM Storage Protect and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.