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

IBM Spectrum Protect vs Rubrik comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

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
Rubrik
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
4th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (4th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (4th)
 

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 Rubrik is 7.8%, up from 7.2% 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.
CarlosCastells - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to do backup, easy to deploy and scalable
I have experience with different solutions like Oracle, Veeam, andCommvault Cloud. Right now, we are testing a solution for Kubernetes. We are trying to replace it, so we just don't know yet. I don't really know if Rubrik is a good solution for this. We are testing Velero (Open Source) or Kasten K10, and I don't know Rubrik's view for this type of technology.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best part of this solution is that it just works."
"From a tech perspective, utilizing deduplication is one of the most valuable features."
"We can freeze and start databases for consistent backups."
"Incremental forever: This feature helps us reduce backup time and backup storage space."
"It scales from very small to very large. It is easily the most scalable product out there."
"The business value comes from the capability to overcome data losses."
"The most valuable feature for data recovery in IBM Spectrum Protect is its database protection capabilities."
"When I have to do disaster recoveries, I can do it with this tool."
"The Auto-Snapshot SLA feature and recovery time are amazing. It took seven seconds to have a server back up and running in production from a total failure."
"Rubrik, when compared to Cohesity, Dell, and Veritas, was the best of the four."
"It is easy to deploy."
"The most valuable feature has been the Live Mount feature."
"The solution is stable."
"Mounting recent backups to create new servers rather than cloning servers in VMware drastically cut down required time."
"It has a ​single pane of glass interface."
"Management is so simple that anyone can check the backups and do restores when necessary."
 

Cons

"The solution should have better integration with VMware and with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus."
"Enhancements are required for backing up our virtual environment."
"I want a better user interface, support, and integrations."
"It lacks reporting and an efficient alert mechanism. The GUI could also be improved."
"There have been some sizing issues now, and we are dealing with those."
"Needs more support for non-mainstream databases, in particular PostgreSQL, SQL, and MySQL."
"The usability of IBM Spectrum Protect could be improved, specifically additional features to the product in the operations center. Additional reporting facilities and stronger reporting tools such as build dashboards would be beneficial."
"The product should be improved to save more space."
"Initially, we encountered compatibility challenges with some of our technologies."
"When errors do occur, it can be a somewhat painful process to get to the bottom of issues."
"The deployment and configuration of the backup service is something that could be streamlined a little bit, particularly when you're trying to do a SQL workload. You have to install a backup service on the server. You only have to do it once and then you're done, but you have to do that on every server that you want to protect."
"The product’s user interface needs improvement."
"If I could take a snapshot from a physical and be able to stand it up as a virtual immediately without the need to rebuild an entire system and restoring files, that would be HUGE."
"It would be nice if they could work on the pricing a bit."
"Needs integration with video CD (coming in the next release) and a multi-tenant GUI."
"It is already very well furnished, but live mounts for Nutanix AHV would be amazing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."
"The licensing is varied. If we have small environments (not many TB being managed) it is best to license by PVUs (depending on the number of cores of the machine). If we manage many TBs we look at licensing by capacity which allows us to use all the agents of the product."
"We are paying for support and maintenance on a monthly basis."
"Regarding retro-compatibility of the product between versions, your data is always available and the ROI is unquestionable."
"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."
"The pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."
"It can be perceived as expensive since it is designed for enterprise use."
"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective.​"
"The initial setup cost includes support and maintenance costs, followed by a monthly fee."
"Rubrik is not the cheapest solution, but we've been happy with the time savings that we have seen. At least from what we have spent so far, we have been happy with the return on investment."
"Rubrik is not cheap. Hopefully, you can archive your data on cheap storage to keep the investment minimal."
"The cost was less than our previous provider, and this is a much better product."
"Due to this effective, faster backup and recovery solution, we are now able to focus on other creative tasks to meet our entire pipeline. So, we have seen ROI in terms of the improvement of productivity in our team. We save around one million dollars a year."
"Rubrik was probably the most expensive solution but in the long run, it's justified by the value of the data that it protects."
"The pricing has been quite good from our perspective, in terms of being able to negotiate with the Rubrik team to get the product that we want and be able to sell that out to our end customers."
"There is a license requirement for the solution. If you expand or if the maintenance period expires, there's a license renewal as well."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

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 would you choose - Rubrik or Veeam Backup & Replication?
Veeam Backup & Replication provides an easy-to-set-up solution to the issue of data storage and recovery. Setting it up is a relatively simple affair. For the most part it prompts you from scre...
What do you like most about Rubrik?
It's easy to manage and has an innovated solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rubrik?
Rubrik is considered expensive, with a price rating of three out of ten. Improvements in pricing and licensing would be beneficial.
 

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
Driscoll's, Red Hawk Casino, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Wabash National, Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Galliker Transport & Logistics
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Rubrik and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.