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

IBM Spectrum Protect vs NetApp SnapCenter comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.3, while NetApp is ranked #50 with an average rating of 7.5. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to NetApp’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.
IBM Spectrum Protect
Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews
  • 3,421 Views
  • 2,509 Comparison Views
86% willing to recommend
NetApp SnapCenter
Read 27 NetApp SnapCenter reviews
  • 1,135 Views
  • 627 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and NetApp SnapCenter are two prominent data protection and management solutions. IBM Spectrum Protect shines in pricing and support, while NetApp SnapCenter is noted for its feature set, which users feel justifies its higher cost.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect offers comprehensive backup and recovery capabilities, effective scalability, and flexible deployment options. NetApp SnapCenter integrates with various environments, provides high speed, and has intuitive management features.

Room for Improvement: Users of IBM Spectrum Protect point out the need for more straightforward configuration, better documentation, and enhanced user interface. NetApp SnapCenter users seek enhancements in stability, broader platform support, and optimization of resource utilization.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is praised for its flexible deployment options and responsive customer service. NetApp SnapCenter is also recognized for its deployment process and effective customer support, though some users report additional time spent during setup.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect offers competitive setup costs and a strong ROI, benefiting from lower ongoing expenses. NetApp SnapCenter is seen as pricier upfront, but users find the investment worthwhile due to advanced features and integration capabilities that enhance long-term ROI.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect vs. NetApp SnapCenter Report (Updated: June 2025).
Buyer's Guide
IBM Spectrum Protect vs. NetApp SnapCenter
June 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 860,592 peers since 2012

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
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetApp SnapCenter
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
50th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp SnapCenter is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

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.
Read full review
MervynMorgan - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables us to save data for data projection but could improve its integration with other backup solutions
NetApp SnapCenter is highly efficient because it allows you to automate the creation of snapshots. Instead of manually creating snapshots using IMS or HMS, you can schedule and automate them, specifying the timing and frequency. This eliminates the need for daily manual intervention and streamlines the process. SnapCenter also enables you to assign specific user roles to manage these tasks, enhancing efficiency. SnapCenter ensures that your LPOs and RTOs are extremely quick. Although it may seem expensive initially, after using it for a while, you'll appreciate the efficiencies and gains it provides. I recommend the solution. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main thing is to keep the data safe and in files, keep it on tape ready for a request from a bank, and it is working perfectly with all our hardware."
"We work very closely together with IBM using their Support Center, but we have a strong contact in their development teams, and we have dedicated people from IBM working with us."
"We optimize our costs of media and storage use, thanks to the Incremental Forever backup. The TDP software provides us many ways to protect our data, so we don't need to use monstrous scripts for doing backups now."
"With the new features that we have added, it has made a difference as far as faster recovery and speed."
"The most valuable feature for data recovery in IBM Spectrum Protect is its database protection capabilities."
"You can do restores very quickly. You can mount a drive and restore it right from the drive."
"The most valuable features are compression and de-duplication."
"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."
More IBM Spectrum Protect pros
"It's all together managing both storage and backup, which makes it easier for troubleshooting issues and the automation part of it"
"We have been very satisfied with the technical support's help. Their knowledge level is great. For a noncritical question, they will get back to us within a day."
"The most valuable feature is the RBAC, the Role-Based Access Control. In our managed service, we can have different layers of security."
"It's integrated with VMware vCenter. You can also see the backups there and you can do a restore completely out of vCenter."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"I like the instant backups and recovery feature that SnapCenter provides within NetApp storage systems."
"The backup process finishes very quickly."
"You can quickly deploy new virtual environments. It provides efficient and easy-to-use data protection. If a file goes missing or corruption occurs, you can restore it swiftly using the snap restore feature, allowing you to return to work almost immediately."
More NetApp SnapCenter pros
 

Cons

"They should have a proper technical support team serving the customers and get issues resolved earlier."
"One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past."
"IBM Spectrum Protect could be improved by making the installation easier. Once it's implemented, it's okay. IBM started lagging behind when things started moving to storage and cloud-based solutions. Even though they've recently released updates that give cloud-based protection, personally, I still believe they are not up to par with the likes of Rubrik. The entire product is a little bit clumsy because they have co-joined two different products, so it's complex. Even from a sales/explaining to people what it does point of view, it's complex. Whereas, if you take more current products, it's a single box solution. You reel it in, you fire it up, you do a couple of points and clicks, and off you go, whereas the IBM system is seriously complex. There's a lot of training involved and it's a massively difficult product to sell at this point in time."
"It can be improved for large file systems with many files. Spectrum Protect can restore large files very well, but if you're restoring millions of little files, it is not as great. At one point, we tried to implement the VMware module with it, and it was awful and terrible. I don't know if that has improved. If it hasn't, this would be one big improvement."
"The reporting could be better."
"Our customers would like to see metadata replication, tearing to tape, and more cloud capabilities."
"They are behind on many things, especially security. They are catching up a little bit now, but the competitors are doing better security-wise. There should be malware detection and prevention and higher security."
"The licensing isn't very clear. They should work to simply or clarify the cost structure."
More IBM Spectrum Protect cons
"The documentation could be a little bit better so that we could handle more of the troubleshooting ourselves, rather than having to go through support."
"The UI, the User Interface, needs to be improved. It's not as clean or modern as it could be."
"I would like to see replication support between systems. Right now, it's kind of limited. We manage them separately from the storage system interface, not from SnapCenter. It would be nice if it was integrated into SnapCenter."
"I feel a little bit that during the whole process of putting this software into production we were like a beta program. It was full of bugs... For example, we had a problem with truncating our Exchange log files... It has improved over time."
"The product lags in terms of availability."
"My major issue is when I upgrade. I have to touch every last client that I have in SnapCenter, and right now I have 60... They said that in another release that will get better, but right now it's not better and I've had to do this three times."
"What I did witness lately are issues with some Microsoft KBs, the updates. But it happened only once, and not on a major platform, it was on a small one."
"Since the solution's initial setup is complex, it should make training documents available in the public space."
More NetApp SnapCenter cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective."
"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."
"There may be an advantage to going with IBM in terms of pricing. They have a pay-as-you-grow policy, so there is no need to take one license for the entire datacenter. You can start with small licenses and then grow, and pay, as you use more."
"The product is not cheap."
"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."
"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."
"The product is low cost. It is very cool when we design it to using licensing based on post capacity."
"IBM Spectrum Protect can be considered an averagely-priced product."
More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice
"We see a financial value with SnapCenter because we don't have to license Commvault, which is pretty expensive."
"The license for SnapCenter was included with the storage array."
"The product is inexpensive."
"It's free. The license is included with other NetApp products."
"It comes free with the amount of equipment we purchase from NetApp. In terms of pricing, zero is my favorite number."
"The licensing is well-designed because it's already included in some packages with NetApp storage. Therefore, for most customers, it's okay as the SnapCenter license is already included in some NetApp bundles."
"Pricing is very good because if you already have NepApp controllers, then it's included."
"We have a site license, so it comes with the product."
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect?
IBM Spectrum Protect is stable.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect?
It's expensive. I acknowledge the cost associated with it.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum 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...
See all answers
What do you like most about NetApp SnapCenter?
Most banks and financial institutions use the solution.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp SnapCenter?
The product should be free because it is just software to administrate systems purchased from NetApp, which are already expensive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with NetApp SnapCenter?
The interface usability needs improvement. It should be more user-friendly and easier for customers to use.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect Logo
Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect
Compared 15% of the time
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect Logo
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect
Compared 15% of the time
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect Logo
Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect
Compared 12% of the time
Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect Logo
Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect
Compared 10% of the time
IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Logo
IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect
Compared 7% of the time
More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors
Synology DSM vs NetApp SnapCenter Logo
Synology DSM vs NetApp SnapCenter
Compared 24% of the time
Commvault Cloud vs NetApp SnapCenter Logo
Commvault Cloud vs NetApp SnapCenter
Compared 16% of the time
Veeam Data Platform vs NetApp SnapCenter Logo
Veeam Data Platform vs NetApp SnapCenter
Compared 13% of the time
Veritas NetBackup vs NetApp SnapCenter Logo
Veritas NetBackup vs NetApp SnapCenter
Compared 9% of the time
Rubrik vs NetApp SnapCenter Logo
Rubrik vs NetApp SnapCenter
Compared 9% of the time
More NetApp SnapCenter Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
IBM Spectrum Protect
June 2025
IBM Spectrum Protect reportDownload IBM Spectrum Protect product report
Buyer's Guide
NetApp SnapCenter
June 2025
NetApp SnapCenter reportDownload NetApp SnapCenter product report
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
SnapCenter
 

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

Unified, scalable platform for application-consistent data protection and clone management. This software simplifies backup, restore, and clone lifecycle management with application-integrated workflows.

NetApp
 

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
All for One Steeb AG, Accenture
Buyer's Guide
IBM Spectrum Protect vs. NetApp SnapCenter
June 2025
Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. NetApp SnapCenter
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. NetApp SnapCenter and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See our IBM Spectrum Protect vs. NetApp SnapCenter report.
See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.