Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Storage Protect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2025

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 Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
49th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Storage Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Storage Protect2.1%
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus1.0%
Other96.9%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Syed Habib - PeerSpot reviewer
Manageable and comprehensive and integrates robust backup features for core banking
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum. This is why I am searching for another solution. The product also lacks any centralized graphical user interface (GUI), such as Jarek Pod, and I am limited to using a console-based text user interface, which my local partner handles completely.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution offers a very straightforward deployment. You click, click, click and it's done. There's not much configuration to do."
"Virtual snapshots that offer incremental backups."
"The initial setup of IBM Protect Plus is simple and not complex."
"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."
"The biggest benefit of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is that it's an agentless backup product which is very easy to configure and use."
"The support from IBM is very good."
"The solution integrates well with other tools."
"This is a multi-platform backup solution where you can take a backup from AIX, Windows, or Linux servers and restore from CD, disk, or tape."
"A robust tool which allows us to backup pretty much any environment, virtual or physical."
"The components of IBM Spectrum Protect explain how the data is protected. The administration is very easy, and the vertical migration is intuitive."
"Performance and recoveries are better. Our clients and customers are happier with the performance of it."
"The scalability of IBM Spectrum Protect is good."
"The software-defined ability to do data reduction through deduplication and compression, as well as being able to replicate data to a cloud container."
"You can do restores very quickly. You can mount a drive and restore it right from the drive."
"Data archiving is easier and less time-consuming."
"Regarding stability, it's been rock solid."
 

Cons

"Not particularly user friendly."
"In the future, I would like to see support for global deduplication."
"I would like more integration with security. We need to show the value of the product in regards to handling security. For example, how it handles current malware or viruses. IBM should be more proactive in this direction."
"IBM has made a decision to withdraw the product and replace it with IBM Data Protect."
"I would like integration into where the VMware guys can do their own restores."
"The security must be improved."
"The backup support for IBM Power Virtualization needs to be added."
"The administration needs to be improved and made simpler to use."
"Scalability is poor. As you get to bigger environments, this is where our gaps have been introduced. As we have grown over the past couple of years, the gaps have become more apparent."
"In terms of features, they've got it all covered. The features they have are quite good. The only downside to it is that it is for an enterprise or big organization. In my opinion, it is not for a small business."
"We should be talking about the capacity of the tape drives. That's the only problem."
"Although I am not a technical user, I would say the cloud integration features could be improved."
"Our customers would like to see metadata replication, tearing to tape, and more cloud capabilities."
"The software is complex; setup is complex."
"Their support is lacking. I've talked to their developers and stuff in the last couple of weeks and they reassure me that some people have retired, and they're working on getting that bumped back up. But the support lacks a lot to be desired at this point."
"It might be seen as leaning towards the legacy side, missing some features of newer solutions. The main drawbacks would be its complexity and high pricing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."
"The licensing model of Spectrum Protect Plus is more efficient and cheaper compared to the original."
"If you need to extend it, it can be extended acting like a normal Spectrum Protect with a long archive."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."
"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."
"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."
"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."
"The price offering from IBM is coming down because it is based on number of VM machines. So, IBM is coming to the market to show the added value of the product."
"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."
"The licensing fees are between $8,000 and $10,000 per year."
"Licensing can be either complicated or simple depending on what type of licensing you wish to use and what works best for your environment."
"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective.​"
"The solution is expensive."
"The licensing fees are on a yearly basis, which for us it is about R400,000 (approximately $27,000 USD)."
"Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less."
"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
868,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise94
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Technical support could be improved significantly. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
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?
IBM Storage Protect is generally an expensive tool. However, with good contracts with IBM or its partners, the cost might not be so high. New customers can expect very high prices.
What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?
One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past. There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is wh...
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Spectrum Discover
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
CEMEX
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs. IBM Storage Protect and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.