HPE Zerto Software vs IBM ProtectTIER comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #2 with an average rating of 9.1, while IBM is ranked #63. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 1.9% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 60% of IBM users who would recommend it.

HPE Zerto Software

Read 365 HPE Zerto Software reviews

28,672 Views
15,770 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

IBM ProtectTIER

Read 7 IBM ProtectTIER reviews

3,211 Views
2,537 Comparison Views

60% willing to recommend

HPE Zerto Software

IBM ProtectTIER

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

IBM ProtectTIER and HPE Zerto Software compete in data protection and recovery. IBM ProtectTIER leads with cost-effective pricing and support, while HPE Zerto is noted for its feature-rich offering, justifying its price premium.

Features: IBM ProtectTIER is known for its data deduplication, offering storage efficiency, seamless integration, and automation for tiered storage management. HPE Zerto Software excels in disaster recovery with continuous data protection, easy migrations, and analytics that provide essential insights.

Room for Improvement: IBM ProtectTIER could enhance its disaster recovery features and user interface intuitiveness. The setup process and scalability options also need refinement. HPE Zerto Software may benefit from improving price competitiveness, enhanced data deduplication like ProtectTIER, and further simplifying setup procedures to reduce complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ProtectTIER is appreciated for its ease of deployment and robust customer support. HPE Zerto Software provides rapid recovery but could improve deployment simplicity. Customer service for Zerto is comprehensive, focusing on advanced recovery solutions but may lack the straightforward support provided by IBM.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ProtectTIER generally offers a cost-effective solution with strong ROI due to lower initial costs and storage savings. HPE Zerto Software, while carrying a higher price tag, delivers value through its advanced features, appealing to businesses that prioritize operational continuity over budget constraints.

To learn more, read our detailed HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER

November 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 920,769 peers since 2012

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

HPE Zerto Software

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

2nd

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

365

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Migration (1st), Cloud Backup (2nd), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (1st), Autonomous Operational Resilience (1st)

IBM ProtectTIER

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

63rd

Average Rating

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of HPE Zerto Software is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.7%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
HPE Zerto Software	1.9%
IBM ProtectTIER	0.7%
Other	97.4%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Aslah Faseel K

DevOps Engineer at a media company with 201-500 employees

Near-zero downtime has protected critical workloads and now simplifies hybrid cloud recovery

The best features of HPE Zerto Software are mainly very sophisticated and relevant to the current market. The data protection CDP part has real-time replication, unlike other solutions that have snapshot backups. We can set it up hourly, making it ideal for use with workloads. Another attraction is the near-zero RTO, with automated failover within minutes and one-click failover and failback. Currently, we are using a hybrid cloud solution, and HPE Zerto Software supports multi-cloud environments, making it easy to migrate between on-premises and cloud. Regarding the impact of HPE Zerto Software on our RTOs, we have near-zero RTO, meaning the system must be back online within thirty minutes if we measure the time. It is very quick to recover services. With HPE Zerto Software's near-synchronous replication, we have some CDP protection, so we typically write interceptions along with some asynchronous replication. There is almost real-time replication available.

Read full review

Avdhesh Garg

Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Provides a short-term backup, archive, and cataloging for 20,000 people in our organization

The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time. I have a 24 hour cycle, so it doesn't get completed in 24 hours with the large amount of data. With Veritas NetBackup, I can take 20 terabytes of backup in a day.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup was very straightforward and easy. We were able to start replication within minutes of the initial setup."

"There are two things that are keeping us with the solution: 1. It does a very good job of keeping the data in sync at all times. 2. In the event of a failover or in the event of a contingency, we are able to retrieve the data very quickly without any issues."

"Zerto dramatically decreases the amount of time it takes to do a failover; I can essentially do it all by myself and I'm one person, and it allows me to restore our environment fully in a matter of seconds, literally."

"Zerto's two main features are ease of management and that the product just works. It does what they say it'll do."

"The biggest piece of advice I could give is if you want the best-in-class for failover and replication, as well as ease of management, there is no better product that I've seen so far."

"Now we're in a situation, at least with our key applications, that we could get those back up in a matter of minutes versus weeks."

"I like the fact that Zerto is target agnostic. It doesn't care what type of storage it writes to. The journaling is also excellent. You can easily and quickly restore to seconds before an event. The immutable data copies feature is one reason we adopted Zerto. That's one of its selling points."

"Overall, Zerto is a very good product for us."

More HPE Zerto Software pros

"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable."

"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."

"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."

"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."

"The most valuable feature is the incremental backup."

"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable. I've walked into the server room when it was at 60 degrees Celcius, and it was still running fine."

"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."

"The cataloging is the best feature, as it takes millions of frames for the backup and, because it's incremental, it takes less time to complete."

More IBM ProtectTIER pros

Cons

"The documentation needs improvement in terms of the setup, getting enough detail, and getting that up to speed."

"If there is a mass of changes to a server, Zerto will restart the replication. It would be nice to know why that happens."

"We have discontinued using HPE Zerto Software."

"The technical support has room for improvement."

"Zerto added the backup feature, but it's not quite up to speed yet when you compare it with the backup capabilities of other solutions out there."

"I want to have an OVF or some local deployment where I can deploy the ZVRA rather than having to push it from the console. Some of our smaller remote sites have relatively poor bandwidth, and they can't keep up with the constant deployment stream from our center console, meaning we have to find some creative hours to get around the bandwidth bottlenecks. If I could push out a small install file, install it locally, and then reach back to the console, that would be excellent."

"It would be good if we could store a snapshot of the images coming through so that we can always go back and have a vision history."

"Zerto gets most of the way there and would work for a smaller enterprise effectively, but for a larger enterprise, Veeam has capabilities that are beyond Zerto at this point."

More HPE Zerto Software cons

"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."

"My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to conduct a proof of concept first because everybody's needs are different, and this product is not suitable for every kind of backup."

"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."

"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."

"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."

"The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time."

"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."

"I would like the possibility to back up the infrastructure and then replicate it upon on restart, without having to orchestrate the starting of the VM."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We feel it is pretty cost-efficient. For the amount of protection that we get for Zerto, we feel that it is at an excellent price point, especially compared to some of the other vendors that were just backup solutions. For all that it does, we feel that the price is good."

"It was a little higher. We were in a corporate agreement, and we had a software package that included RP for VM. It is easy to compare pricing when you are already in a corporate agreement. Zerto lost on the pricing scorecard."

"We found that in an event that was massive enough to cause an entire cluster to go offline we would be happy with our core services up and running."

"Obviously, I wish it were cheaper and more affordable. But I get what I pay for, so I can't complain."

"If it were easier to license, and to scale it out a little bit more economically, that'd be a godsend. At the end of the day, my druthers would be to have all 200 of our servers protected by this platform. But for a company our size, that stretches our IT budget and it just doesn't make economic sense."

"When we purchased Zerto, we felt it was worth the cost as it would protect us from any potential problems and give us peace of mind knowing that any critical items could be recovered quickly."

"It is not cheap, but it is reasonable for what it is offering. It gives me the peace of mind that my data is protected. It is worth the cost."

"Nothing is cheap, but Zerto represents decent value."

More HPE Zerto Software pricing and cost advice

"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."

"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."

"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."

"This solution is very expensive."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user159711

Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Nov 9, 2014

VMware SRM vs. Veeam vs. Zerto

Disaster recovery planning is something that seems challenging for all businesses. Virtualization in addition to its operational flexibility, and cost reduction benefits, has helped companies improve their DR posture. Virtualization has made it easier to move machines from production to…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	97
Midsize Enterprise	94
Large Enterprise	210

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?

Ik fluister:VM Host Oracle en DataGuard hebben we per toeval vervangen door Zerto :-) tijdens de Zerto implementatie en VPG werden de Host Data in write-ack Block-Level gerepliceerd. Qua licentie 1...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zerto?

I find HPE Zerto Software affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zerto?

I would like HPE Zerto Software to support more hypervisor platforms than currently available. Support for additional hypervisors could be added in the future. Since we have multiple platforms, we ...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs HPE Zerto Software

Compared 7% of the time

Rubrik vs HPE Zerto Software

Compared 4% of the time

VMware Live Recovery vs HPE Zerto Software

Compared 4% of the time

Infrascale Backup & Disaster Recovery vs HPE Zerto Software

Compared 3% of the time

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery vs HPE Zerto Software

Compared 3% of the time

More HPE Zerto Software Competitors

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 10% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 7% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 7% of the time

CMIT Data Backup vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM ProtectTIER Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE Zerto Software

October 2026

Download HPE Zerto Software product report

Buyer's Guide

Deduplication Software

October 2026

Download IBM ProtectTIER product report

Also Known As

Zerto Virtual Replication

No data available

Overview

Zerto is used for disaster recovery, business continuity, data migration, and ransomware recovery, providing continuous data protection and near real-time replication. Valued for ease of use, efficient failover processes, and versatile integration, it enhances organizational efficiency, reduces errors, and boosts productivity.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

IBM ProtectTIER is designed for backup and recovery, providing efficient data management for IBM I Series environments. It offers valuable features like self-service, high adaptability, and data search capabilities.

IBM ProtectTIER stands out in environments requiring robust backup and recovery solutions, particularly suited for IBM I Series. Known for its efficiency in managing large volumes of data, it integrates a command-line interface, automatic workload distribution, and a virtual tape library. While highly functional, improvements in redundancy management, interface complexity, and user-friendliness are needed. It also faces challenges in integrating with legacy systems and ensuring fast backup speeds for substantial data loads.

What are the key features of IBM ProtectTIER?

Self-service: Empowers users to manage backups with ease.
Data Search: Facilitates quick retrieval of required data.
High Adaptability: Adjusts efficiently to data shrinkage needs.
Command-line Interface: Provides effective control over operations.
Incremental Backup: Ensures efficient data storage and saving resources.
Workload Movement: Automatically distributes tasks across storage tiers.
Virtual Tape Library: Configurable for multiple drives, enhancing capacity.

What benefits should users look for?

High Efficiency: Processes and catalogs millions of frames quickly.
Risk Reduction: Uses impressive raw capacity ratios to minimize risk.
Ease of Use: Offers capabilities that simplify backup and recovery tasks.

Organizations use IBM ProtectTIER to manage backup and recovery successfully, deploying it in physical and hybrid infrastructures. It supports short-term backup and archiving for internal IT within diverse deployment methods, accommodating thousands of users and multiple clients while securing database backups effectively.

IBM

Sample Customers

United Airlines, HCA, XPO Logistics, TaxSlayer, McKesson, Insight Global, American Airlines, Tencate, Aaron’s, Grey’s County, Kingston Technologies

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber

Buyer's Guide

HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER

November 2026

Free Report: HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER

Find out what your peers are saying about HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER report.

See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.