IBM ProtectTIER vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

IBM ProtectTIER and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM ProtectTIER is ranked #89, while IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is ranked #46 with an average rating of 7.3. IBM ProtectTIER holds a 0.1% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM Spectrum Protect Plus’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 60% of IBM ProtectTIER users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus users who would recommend it.

IBM ProtectTIER

Read 7 IBM ProtectTIER reviews

445 Views
191 Comparison Views

60% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Read 31 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus reviews

1,482 Views
1,438 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM ProtectTIER

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM ProtectTIER and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are data protection solutions that cater to enterprises. Spectrum Protect Plus seems to have the upper hand in flexibility and adaptability, though it is more complex.

Features: ProtectTIER offers efficient data reduction, fast recovery times, and reliable performance. Spectrum Protect Plus provides integration capabilities, broad platform support, and versatile functionalities.

Room for Improvement: ProtectTIER could enhance scalability, user-friendliness, and streamline processes. Spectrum Protect Plus needs simplified management, quicker issue resolution, and reduced complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ProtectTIER is noted for straightforward setup with fewer deployment issues. Spectrum Protect Plus has complicated deployment but superior customer support.

Pricing and ROI: ProtectTIER is known for competitive pricing and faster ROI. Spectrum Protect Plus requires a higher initial investment but offers greater long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

July 2025

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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

IBM ProtectTIER

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

89th

Average Rating

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (13th)

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

46th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 0.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

ValereFEUGWANG

Information System Consultant at CFAO Technologies

Protects data in hybrid infrastructures, but it is an expensive product with poor support

The main challenge for our customers is to replicate the virtual environment upon restart, without using any additional solutions such as VMware SLM. 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. It would be much better for us. This solution can be made easier to use. Technical support is very frustrating and we are considering other solutions because of it. Stability is something that should be improved. The product is expensive and the licensing should be changed.

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Atif Najam

Chief Information Officer and Program Lead at Gatron Industries Ltd

Enables organizations to make large-scale recoveries easily, but the security must be improved

The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.

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 command-line interface is good."

"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. It takes millions of frames for the backup. It's incremental, so it takes less time to complete."

"The solution is highly stable."

"The most valuable features are the Self-Service, and the ability to search the data."

"The most valuable feature is how we can easily power speed up the VM even though the VM resides in remote storage."

"If the system were to go down, we needed to make sure that the system could be recovered and available as soon as possible. Spectrum Protect provides you access to directly bind the backup volume to the server and make the system available instead of restoring it and copying the system."

"Using this tool, we can easily backup and restore or recover the data for PCs and mobiles in case of system crashes."

"Some of the features we find very valuable and use a lot, are retention sets."

"What I like about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is its integration, plus it has very good technical support."

"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something."

"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."

"The feature I find most valuable is the offload to Spectrum Protect for long-term retention. I think the deduplication and replication are quite nice on Plus."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pros

Cons

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

"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."

"The backup for a large amount of data is slow."

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

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

"The user experience is very bad and the interface needs to be improved."

"Not particularly user friendly."

"The software's technical support could improve its response time for different time zones."

"The tool needs to increase the number of threats."

"The replication feature is not available."

"The administration needs to be improved and made simpler to use."

"Their first level of support can be improved. Often they are too junior to understand the issues we are having, and it takes too much time to get from them to the next level of support, which is what we actually need."

"The security must be improved."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus cons

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."

"The price is lower than that of some competing products."

"Unlike some other solutions, such as Veritas NetBackup where you have to pay for different licenses to use different features, there is a single license that allows you to use all of the features."

"I rate the price of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus a one on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap."

"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."

"The price is perpetual, but the maintenance cost is annual. That is, we pay once for the product and pay annually for the maintenance and support. The price was much cheaper than what we would have had to pay for EMC or Veritas. The pricing is competitive, and I would rate it at four out of five."

"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."

"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."

"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

It is probably based on the number of CPUs. They are fairly expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

I used IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but IBM is now replacing it with IBM Data Protect, which is a giant product now in common development with a well-known company in backup solutions.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 72% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 28% of the time

More IBM ProtectTIER Competitors

IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 50% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 14% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 10% of the time

Atempo Live Navigator vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 7% of the time

HPE Zerto Software vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Deduplication Software

August 2025

Download IBM ProtectTIER product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

August 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect Plus product report

Overview

IBM TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway is designed to meet the disk-based data protection needs of the enterprise data center while enabling significant infrastructure cost reductions. The solution offers industry-leading inline deduplication performance and scalability up to 1 petabyte (PB) of physical storage capacity per system, and can provide up to 25 PB or more backup storage capacity. Combined with IBM or third-party storage, TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway provides a powerful disk-based repository to improve the performance, retention and availability of backup and archive data in a small footprint for energy and cost efficiency.

IBM

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a data protection and availability solution for virtual environments that can be deployed in minutes and protect your environment within an hour. It simplifies data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It can be implemented as a stand-alone solution or integrate with your IBM Spectrum Protect environment to off-load copies for long term storage and data governance with scale and efficiency.

IBM

Sample Customers

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

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio

Buyer's Guide

IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

July 2025

Free Report: IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

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