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IBM Spectrum Protect vs NetApp FAS Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (16th)
NetApp FAS Series
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (4th), NAS (3rd), Modular SAN (Storage Area Network) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

IBM Spectrum Protect and NetApp FAS Series aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM Spectrum Protect is designed for Backup and Recovery and holds a mindshare of 2.2%, up 2.3% compared to last year.
NetApp FAS Series, on the other hand, focuses on Deduplication Software, holds 3.5% mindshare, up 3.1% since last year.
Backup and Recovery
Deduplication Software
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Paweł Jabłoński - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for VMs with replication a feature, but need upgraded SSDs
We use this solution. I configured and updated it. Of course, I was also a user of applications that store data on that storage. We already have an SSD solution. So, rather than planning to go with an SSD solution, we are focusing on expanding it. If a company wants to deploy something new, it should choose a product with SSD, and NVMe disks. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We have been using it for several years, and it is quite reliable and predictable. We are quite comfortable with this solution. They're coming up with new features as well. It has good scalability, and it provides good integrations with business-critical applications or databases, such as SAP HANA. It works as expected, and we don't see any issues."
"Forever incremental - allows TSM to optimize storage needs."
"I have found that the most valuable feature is useful documentation and troubleshooting."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is application-aware backups."
"It allows us to have one interface."
"It is scalable beyond anything my customers ever aspire to."
"Scalability: Our customers are able to grow the product without having to buy additional hardware, so it is very scalable."
"It helps our customers protect their data, keep it long-term, and feel pretty secure about it, basically sleeping well at night."
"The solution is stable."
"The best feature is its ONTAP product line for Ransomware protection. It also has features for file storage and block storage. The solution is stable. We've had no issues with it. The tool is scalable and meets our requirements. The technical support and the supporting partner are great. The initial setup is straightforward. It is very easy to maintain the product. The feature set is excellent. I recommend the solution."
"NetApp FAS is highly stable and reliable, especially under a heavy load. That is what I like most about the NetApp."
"Most valuable features are its ease of use, robust Snapshot functionality, and that you can use it in two datacenters with SnapMirror-ing."
"It's a stable product. No issues there."
"We can manage our applications from a single dashboard."
"It changed the way we do Disaster Recovery (DR) around NetApp replication."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its absolute reliability."
 

Cons

"The software is complex; setup is complex."
"I would like to advance reporting and analytics for the platform to see how much data is coming into the platform. how much data is expiring everyday, and what tape savings we are getting through reclamation."
"I am not really impressed with the Level 1 support, but once I get past that and go to Level 2, then we will usually get some type of resolution."
"Most customers still struggle with the reporting piece, especially generating reports. I think it needs some improvements in this area."
"They should have a proper technical support team serving the customers and get issues resolved earlier."
"We would like to see cloud integration."
"They should introduce more features for virtualization platforms and backing up IBMs. Backup speeds should also be improved."
"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."
"Needs to ​add wizards for newer, inexperienced users."
"There is room for improvement in deployment and configuration processes."
"The biggest issue we face is parts delivery. There's no local warehouse in Myanmar, so if a customer encounters a technical problem like an IMEI issue, they have to wait a long time for replacement parts."
"NetApp is costly when compared to Dell."
"Interfacing with the cloud environment could be better. I want to be able to move some cloud volume and integrate it seamlessly with my home on-premise storage. Sometimes I have issues with port permissions. NetApp probably needs to improve more on the integration side from on-premise to the cloud."
"The adoption of flash by NetApp has also been lagging behind the trendsetters, like TMS, Nimble, and others."
"The solution's configuration is not flexible."
"Installation of the additional switches and ETP could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive and there is only a standard licensing fee."
"We have capacity licensing. We use the front end. The capacity licensing is pretty okay on the licensing price. I used to use the old PVU-based licensing in the early environment, but now we use capacity-based licensing."
"I rate the pricing a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is not cost-effective, and ten is cost-effective."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is fairly reasonable as compared to other solutions in the market."
"At scale, the consumption license (per TB) is very expensive."
"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."
"Low-priced product, but pricing could still be made more attractive."
"NetApp FAS Series' pricing is competitive."
"it’s not an inexpensive solution and it may not be for the cost-sensitive customer."
"The price, compared to competitors, is quite high."
"The price it not low, but comparing features to other vendors, the price can be balanced."
"I've sold arrays for as little $20,000 USD and as high as $300,000 USD."
"The product is on the expensive side."
"NetApp FAS Series is a reasonably high-priced solution, partially because we select the configuration that duplicates the entire system."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Educational Organization
49%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
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 dash...
Which SAN product would you choose: IBM FlashSystem (FS9500) vs PureFlash Array/X NVMe vs PureFlash Array/XL NVMe?
Have you considered a NetApp FAS Storage for your NAS needs? I am sure it fits very well.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp FAS Series?
The pricing of NetApp FAS Series is not cheap, but in comparison to other vendors, NetApp FAS Series is affordable because they also have deduplication, compression, and inline compression. They fo...
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Children's Hospital Central California, Plex Systems, PDF PNI Digital Media, Denver Broncos, PDF KSM Legal, Clayton Companies, Virginia Community College
Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: May 2025.
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