IBM Spectrum Protect vs IBM Storage Protect comparison

IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Storage Protect are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM Spectrum Protect is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.2, while IBM Storage Protect is ranked #41 with an average rating of 8.5. IBM Spectrum Protect holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM Storage Protect’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM Spectrum Protect users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM Storage Protect users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

4,073 Views
3,133 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Storage Protect

Read 3 IBM Storage Protect reviews

343 Views
245 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

IBM Storage Protect

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Storage Protect cater to organizations seeking data management and protection solutions. IBM Storage Protect has the upper hand with advanced features and user satisfaction despite higher costs.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect offers robust data recovery and scalability features. It also supports straightforward integration and has strong automation capabilities. IBM Storage Protect provides a comprehensive data protection suite, advanced encryption, and fine-grained control over data management policies.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect requires enhancements in performance speed, better integration with other software, and more intuitive navigation. IBM Storage Protect could improve its documentation and error reporting mechanisms.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect users find deployment straightforward but note variability in customer service quality with occasional support challenges. IBM Storage Protect users experience smoother deployment and consistently responsive customer service, aided by well-organized documentation.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is perceived as cost-effective with reasonable setup costs and satisfactory ROI, making it suitable for budget-conscious buyers. IBM Storage Protect is more expensive with higher initial setup costs, but it delivers high ROI due to its extensive features and reliability.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IBM Storage Protect Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IBM Storage Protect

March 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 Spectrum Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

17th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Storage Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

41st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 0.4%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

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.

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Maik Zutz

Produktverantwortlicher Storage und Backup at BITMARCK TECHNIK GmbH

A stable enterprise solution for backup and restore

New workloads are not good for storage protect like container or virtual machines. IBM acknowledges that users and partners with companies do it better and integrate it into the product. It takes too much time to implement it in old Storage Protect. It have features for big databases and big data environments. Although, the product seems to be old fashioned, but it is stable, robust and works for the most use cases where a lot of data is to be protected. It could be easier to manage client data. You have to use configuration. It is not on modern architecture. They should change it on the client area. You can achieve a better environment using Protect. IBM tapes serves as an air gap, consumes less energy, and provides a resilient, stable environment with fewer infrastructure and environmental costs. Intergrating it can help store large amounts of data more cheaper than on disk.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very stable. It is one of the most important features that we look for in a product before putting it into the market and when establishing a strategy with our customers."

"You can do restores very quickly. You can mount a drive and restore it right from the drive."

"Scalability, performance, mass platform coverage. It's one of the few backup products on the market right now which an organization can bring in and it will serve all of their backup needs. It's a completely centralized solution."

"Its incremental forever approach is valuable, so we don't have to load tapes to do a restore."

"Support of the IBM X platform and the backup data replication to DR are the most valuable features."

"We can freeze and start databases for consistent backups."

"What I found most valuable in IBM Spectrum Protect is that it allows you to back up physical machines, and its proxy feature lets you back up virtual machines."

"One of the main things that I like about IBM is the versioning of the data - meaning that we can have multiple versions of a file or directory of a server."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"Overall, my experience with the solution is very positive, and I rate it a 9 out of 10."

"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."

"The tool's backup engine is very powerful. Previously, our client finished backup with HPE product in 48 hours. IBM Storage Protect completes backup in 8 hours."

Cons

"The solution needs to work on disaster recovery integration. Basically, VMware applications to the cloud, for example. There needs to be integration with the storage, and integration with VMware."

"RTO is a huge gap for us. If we had a disaster scenario and had to recover a bunch of stuff from tape, the RTO would be too long for us."

"If IBM could provide a partial module, that would be great."

"There were scalability issues only in the brand new features which were recently released."

"I find the solution somewhat difficult to use with virtual environments or VMware."

"It should have the ability to break down the data that's being backed up. It should have better reporting."

"We are having a balance issue between the reclamation and the backup function. It has to take the space back from the tapes before it can record to those tapes, but sometimes those two processes are overlapping."

"I would like a little more ease with the virtual platforms, because it is a huge thing that is coming up."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"The solution is expensive."

"Some features are outdated as the product does not use the latest technologies. The graphical user interface, known as the operation center, is not very well designed. Additionally, IBM Storage Protect does not work well with virtual environments such as VMware and Hyper-V."

"The product should improve its GUI. It should also support Windows clustering."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is fairly reasonable as compared to other solutions in the market."

"That's no longer my department, but I have some past experience with licensing. It is not cheap. I would rate it a three out of five in terms of licensing. In terms of additional costs, there is management overhead. It is a complex solution and a lot of work goes into managing clients. It has gotten better over the years, but compared to its competitor, it is still heavy on management overhead."

"It's very complicated. Licensing is a pain."

"One can go with either a PVU licensing model or a capacity based licensing model. Either solution does not block the usage, if over used."

"The platform is neither highly priced nor inexpensive. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"It is expensive."

"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective."

"It can be perceived as expensive since it is designed for enterprise use."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"IBM Storage Protect is not expensive and fits the needs of all business types. The licensing is based on a capacity-based model. You can take a license for one, two, or three terabytes."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

25%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect?

IBM Spectrum Protect is stable.

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

It's expensive. I acknowledge the cost associated with it.

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What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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

The solution is expensive. I rate the product’s pricing a three out of ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?

See all answers

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 19% of the time

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 18% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 24% of the time

IBM Storage Protect Plus vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 15% of the time

More IBM Storage Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

March 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

March 2025

Download IBM Storage Protect product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

No data available

Overview

IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. It is the flagship product in the IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) family. It enables reliable, cost effective backups and fast recovery for virtual, physical and cloud environments of all sizes.

IBM

IBM Storage Protect is designed for data backup and recovery, ensuring protection of critical information and business continuity. It is ideal for managing large-scale datasets and offers compatibility across cloud and on-premises environments.

IBM Storage Protect provides robust data backup and recovery features, supporting multiple workloads while integrating effortlessly with different platforms. It is known for reliable performance, scalability for growing storage needs, and automation of repetitive tasks. Users find it effective in protecting expansive datasets through efficient deduplication.

What are the key features of IBM Storage Protect?

Data Backup and Recovery: Comprehensive data protection in diverse environments.
Integration: Seamless collaboration with various systems.
Scalability: Handles growing storage demands effectively.
Deduplication: Efficient data deduplication to optimize storage use.

What benefits or ROI should be considered when evaluating IBM Storage Protect?

Reliable Performance: Consistently protects multiple workloads.
Compatibility: Works well with cloud and on-premises systems.
Automation: Automates repetitive tasks to save time and resources.

IBM Storage Protect is implemented in various industries, supporting sectors with significant data management requirements like finance, healthcare, and retail. These industries benefit from its robust data protection, scalability, and ease of integration, making it a preferred choice for organizations with large and complex datasets.

IBM

Sample Customers

CERN, Einstein Healthcare, Nyherji, Allianz Australia, TZM, ABT Online, NCT, Kindred Healthcare Inc., Cobalt Iron, TransGrid, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Cash America, Piedmont Healthcare, RWGV, Arkansas Tech University, British Columbia Institute of Technology

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IBM Storage Protect

March 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IBM Storage Protect

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