IBM Spectrum Protect vs Iron Mountain Connect comparison

IBM and Iron Mountain are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.2, while Iron Mountain is ranked #69. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to Iron Mountain’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Iron Mountain 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

Iron Mountain Connect

Read 2 Iron Mountain Connect reviews

408 Views
305 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Iron Mountain Connect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and Iron Mountain Connect are two leading solutions in the data protection market. Users are generally happier with IBM Spectrum Protect's pricing and support, though Iron Mountain Connect is appreciated for its extensive feature set.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect's valuable features include automated data protection, scalability, and comprehensive disaster recovery options. Iron Mountain Connect is praised for its secure data management, ease of use, and compliance support. Users favor Iron Mountain Connect for its specialized features, despite IBM Spectrum Protect's strong foundational capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest IBM Spectrum Protect could improve its reporting tool and speed of updates. For Iron Mountain Connect, users desire more flexible integration options and enhanced customization features. This indicates both products have well-defined areas needing refinement, with IBM Spectrum Protect facing technical challenges and Iron Mountain Connect requiring better adaptability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is reviewed as complex but manageable with strong customer service backing. Iron Mountain Connect is noted for its straightforward deployment process and reliable customer assistance. Comparatively, Iron Mountain Connect offers a smoother initial setup experience, while both provide solid support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is often seen as cost-effective with a stable ROI, whereas Iron Mountain Connect is considered expensive but justifiable due to its feature set. Users feel IBM Spectrum Protect offers better value for its price, though Iron Mountain Connect’s feature-rich environment justifies its higher cost.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Iron Mountain Connect

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

Iron Mountain Connect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

69th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.3

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 Iron Mountain Connect is 0.3%, up from 0.2% 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.

Read full review

Raj Bhaduri

Enterprise architect at Centrica

Good policies related to data

I primarily use it for various policies related to data, such as data retention, data deletion, and archiving policies. All policies can be set using this system The most valuable feature for me is the policy management capabilities. I would like to see more integration with different platforms,…

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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 backup is very good. In other backup systems, you need a lot of storage to gain the same backup policy."

"It helps our customers protect their data, especially with stuff like ransomware, compliance, and regulatory requirements."

"IBM support is friendly, knowledgeable, and they always respond quickly. They've always been able to find the cause of my problem."

"It is a very stable solution."

"It is more efficient than most traditional backup solutions."

"The deduplication and compression features are the most valuable features."

"The most valuable features are the stability and also how it's seamlessly integrated with other IBM offerings."

"It protects our data. That is what it is there for."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"The most valuable feature for me is the policy management capabilities"

Cons

"In a future release, it would be a benefit to have the ability to add an application as a storage target, as a storage pool. Additionally, they should add more functionality to the administration for the Operation Center."

"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."

"The initial setup is complex."

"If you take Spectrum Protect into account, and you have it along with restrictions to Spectrum Archive by means of LTFS, this is also something which should be made better within the overall product's program."

"The solution could be more user-friendly and provide better monitoring. The monitoring should be improved first since it is a higher priority."

"We have had some problems about using storage agents on the X6 environment. It is not quite stable, but it is also not supported in a virtualized environment."

"Replication services would be nice. If these could be enhanced to be always on so multiple storage backup services could be added as a cluster pool. This would provide a better availability service."

"It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"I would like to see more integration with different platforms."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Customers need to pay for licensing in order to use IBM Spectrum Protect. The customers that have been using it for a long time are okay and happy with it. From a cost point of view, it's better for them to renew their licenses than to go through the difficult process of changing a backup product in their environment, and migrate from one product to another."

"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."

"Its licensing is complex, and its price is not really reasonable. It is on the expensive side. IBM, in general, is slightly expensive, but with IBM Spectrum for the virtual environment, they are looking into the aspect of helping customers with the cost and providing a cost-effective solution."

"Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less."

"It is expensive."

"Its licensing is complicated. It goes by CPUs, and it is pretty expensive as well."

"We chose IBM Spectrum Protect, because they actually have something called MSP pricing, which means managed services provider pricing. The pricing was attractive, and it seems to be a platform that IBM is totally investing on in terms of new functions and new capabilities."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

No data available

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?

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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

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Rubrik vs Iron Mountain Connect

Compared 46% of the time

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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 Iron Mountain Connect 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

Connected Accounting&ERP is a mid-range accounting program with single user and network editions for Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Connected can be shared concurrently by both Mac OS and Windows users on a single data file. Connected "Core Accounting" consists of the General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable modules. Connected "Enterprise" builds on the Core Accounting aspects by adding powerful inventory, job costing, and currency additions. Pricing starts at $399.00.

Iron Mountain

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

University of La Verne

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Iron Mountain Connect

March 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Iron Mountain Connect

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Iron Mountain Connect and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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