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 9.0, while IBM is ranked #62. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 1.8% 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 360 HPE Zerto Software reviews

25,432 Views
14,242 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

IBM ProtectTIER

Read 7 IBM ProtectTIER reviews

2,726 Views
2,181 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: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

HPE Zerto Software vs. IBM ProtectTIER

September 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 913,683 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

360

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

62nd

Average Rating

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of HPE Zerto Software is 1.8%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
HPE Zerto Software	1.8%
IBM ProtectTIER	0.7%
Other	97.5%

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

"HPE Zerto Software saves hours because once we have been hit by a ransomware attack or some form of hack or anything like that, we are scrambling to find out how it happened, where it happened, and what all is affected."

"The ease of use, ease of setup, and the dashboard, which is quite user-friendly, are valuable features."

"The dashboard was easy and the UI was simple."

"We've seen a massive benefit from using Zerto in terms of time savings and consistency. You see a consistent outcome every time you do the conversions. We're moving from one platform to another, but the payloads in what we're moving are different. We see consistent delivery."

"Zerto is simple, fast, and reliable, and our clients like the charts we can produce and its near real time capabilities."

"Zerto stands out for its user-friendly approach to data protection and recovery, allowing for quick and efficient backups and restores."

"If you are a numbers person, the benefit far outweighs the cost from any other competing software or service provider."

"Zerto is a flexible and resilient business continuity and disaster recovery solution."

More HPE Zerto Software pros

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

"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."

"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."

"The solution is highly stable."

"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."

"The command-line interface is good."

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

More IBM ProtectTIER pros

Cons

"The support for this solution could be improved. It is challenging for staff who actually understand the product."

"When we do failover and failback, it doesn't maintain some of the settings that it should and I don't really understand why that happens."

"The alerting could be fine tuned and improved. It does a lot of alerts, but it's a little bit cumbersome to modify them."

"Backup capability as it is limited and not as streamlined as it could be."

"If I were to nitpick, I would say that I wish I had a better account manager. Our sales guy has changed a couple of times. I would like a little more responsiveness from our account manager. I've had a couple of issues where getting in touch with him has been a little difficult, and I end up just going around him and dealing with support and support has handled it right away."

"You can back up VMs but can't back up individual objects, like email objects, which could be improved."

"They just came out with improvements for ransomware protection last week. I haven't used them yet but, overall, security and preventing ransomware is really a hot topic these days. I would like to see it detect when the ransomware occurs and provide more information on it."

"The amount of storage that it takes up for the journals could use improvement. Outside of that, it's been great."

More HPE Zerto Software cons

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"License-wise, we budgeted $1,000 per VM. The minimum spend on it, in the beginning, can sometimes be a little bit of a headache for people, and they might have to budget creatively to get there, but once you're there, the renewals are worth it."

"Zerto previously had a perplexing licensing structure, but they have since resolved it by implementing a unified license."

"From a pricing standpoint, there is value in it without question. However, it can become quite expensive when you start looking at the number of workloads you have in the environment and what you would like to do."

"It was a little bit expensive. It took a long time for us to get DR for our workstations. It's one thing when you have 15 servers, but when we needed to bring on almost another 200 users, and each was the same price as the servers, it was too expensive. But Zerto worked with us and gave us a solution that was pretty decent in terms of price."

"My impression is that Zerto is more expensive than other solutions, although I don't have exact numbers."

"It's fair. My biggest gripe with Zerto is the initial scoping. What we were promised didn't work with what we ended up with."

"The pricing is top tier but offers good value."

"Zerto is not overly expensive. It's worth what we're getting for it, but with tough times, a discount would be beneficial."

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."

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

"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."

"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

913,683 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%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Outsourcing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	94
Midsize Enterprise	93
Large Enterprise	207

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?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is good.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zerto?

HPE Zerto Software's GUI needs modernization to match the flexibility and user experience of other HPE software solutions, as there is still room for improvement in software-level flexibility and t...

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

Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 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

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 7% of the time

Rubrik 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 6% of the time

More IBM ProtectTIER Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

HPE Zerto Software

September 2026

Download HPE Zerto Software product report

Buyer's Guide

Deduplication Software

September 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

September 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: September 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

913,683 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.