No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM ProtectTIER vs Rubrik comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
65th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (12th)
Rubrik
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (6th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rubrik is 3.1%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Rubrik3.1%
IBM ProtectTIER0.7%
Other96.2%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

AG
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.
reviewer2588997 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Support Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Reliable automated backups have protected critical databases and simplified recoveries for our operations
Portal identity management should improve. We end up losing people's identity, which was not sufficient enough to read the events. That was the only place I could see for improvement. They keep changing the layouts and descriptions, giving the user confusion if they have not used it for maybe three months. When they come back, the interface is changed. They lost the legacy support, and it is not consistent. Some of the options for the restore give a very hard time for the engineer if they come back after three months to use it because the phrases have changed completely. That is why they were not able to select whether they should select this option or should select another option. Where it comes from, the documentation we gave them does not match anymore. That was a challenge.My consultation part was about how to integrate the technology with each other for the platform or storage or database. I did not deal with any price metrics or scaling the storage. I have no idea about the pricing part. I never joined any meetings or any documents to disclose the pricing. It was quite good in general. Recently, in March 2025, they did a new update which enabled them to update their agents remotely and built in, in-place mode. That is bringing the cybersecurity perspective. That was a big challenge. I said it is a challenge, but I do not know because I left the company, so I am not sure if cybersecurity addressed the solution. Rubrik support is usually very accommodating and very flexible. I am not sure, but the last challenge I saw was that.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"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."
"The solution is highly stable."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"My advice would be in the form of a question. If you have the money to purchase Rubrik, the real question is do you want success? Do you want it to work? Because if you want it to work and you want it to be easy — I don't know if Rubrik has won awards for support and service, although I feel like they should have — if you want that support for the few times that you need it, then you go with Rubrik."
"For data security, anomaly detection, site monitoring, and threat hunting are very important features that help customers."
"Since switching to Rubrik, our backup times have decreased significantly, going from two and a half days to one and a half hours for certain systems."
"The product's protection against ransomware is a significant benefit."
"It has reduced our maintenance efforts. The amount of time and effort that would have gone in troubleshooting various issues related a data crash has been addressed by Rubrik. So, it has helped to improve our productivity. The data is being captured about our customers periodically that is secure and safe."
"One platform for instant recovery."
"I think Rubrik is a very good backup solution; it works well, is pretty reliable, stable, and easy to use, and I don't see any negatives in Rubrik, only positives."
"The most valuable feature of Rubrik is its concept of a 'backup airbag', which provides a robust defense against attacks."
 

Cons

"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 configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"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 is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."
"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."
"Its cost is high."
"It would be nice if they could work on the pricing a bit."
"The functionality is missing, but they are very receptive to our thoughts and ideas."
"It is already very well furnished, but live mounts for Nutanix AHV would be amazing."
"The solution could improve by having fewer VM Stuns."
"There is always room for improvement with some shortcuts for the web interface. They could make it even more beautiful."
"There are some corner cases where the Rubrik Connector (Agent) still doesn't work for our clients, but Rubrik Engineering listens to our feedback and has been delivering the features that we have been asking for over the last year, so we are confident that they will knock those out soon, as well."
"I would rate the stability a seven out of ten. There is always room for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"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."
"This solution is very expensive."
"We pay annually for the license for Rubrik. There are no additional costs. Initially, we needed to set it up, negotiate and finalize the offer."
"Rubrik's competitive pricing and strong return on investment make it a compelling choice, especially compared to alternatives like Data Domain and Avamar. Commvault was considered but deemed too expensive."
"The initial setup cost includes support and maintenance costs, followed by a monthly fee."
"You pay a premium for Rubrik, but you're getting a premium service that comes with immutable backups, instant recovery, and world-class support."
"Rubrik is not the cheapest solution, but we've been happy with the time savings that we have seen. At least from what we have spent so far, we have been happy with the return on investment."
"There are additional costs for add-ons, and they recently upgraded a new cluster, which also carries a price."
"Rubrik is priced high, but it was the solution that was providing us encryption and was secure. The solution price is high, but you get what you pay for."
"I don't remember the cost, but I know that for Veeam, we were spending almost $250,000 a year for 205 licenses. It was an enterprise version. When we purchased Rubrik, it was just a little bit more. It was not a terribly huge amount, and if I recall, that was for three years of support as well. So, Veeam priced itself out of the market at a certain point in time."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise56
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
Which would you choose - Rubrik or Veeam Backup & Replication?
Veeam Backup & Replication provides an easy-to-set-up solution to the issue of data storage and recovery. Setting it up is a relatively simple affair. For the most part it prompts you from scre...
What do you like most about Rubrik?
It's easy to manage and has an innovated solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rubrik?
Regarding pricing, Rubrik is a costly solution, and I would rate it an eight.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
Driscoll's, Red Hawk Casino, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Wabash National, Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Galliker Transport & Logistics
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ProtectTIER vs. Rubrik and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.