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IBM Spectrum Protect vs Veritas Backup Exec 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
Veritas Backup Exec
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
75
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 Veritas Backup Exec is 1.8%, down from 2.7% 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.
Pawel Augustyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplified interface with good performance but needs monitoring
I need to use PowerStore and Veritas Backup Exec. It is a direct backup to types, and it is supported by my backup. It offers good performance and stability, and it works properly. I am happy with this program. It is still working on aligning with security requirements and data encryption for Amazon or ATAC. It has a lot of functions and security measures, which ensure our backups are secure.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's very robust and has been on the market for a long time."
"Incremental backup is highly valuable as it allows for significant time and cost savings."
"The technical support for Spectrum Protect is very mature. It is very committed to giving a top-notch support experience."
"The best functional system I utilize is integrated with the data domain and DIGS backup solution, which makes it easily manageable and comprehensive."
"IBM Spectrum Protect offers stable software and products."
"It's a very stable product, and we've never had any downtime with it."
"Once it is completed properly, it is low maintenance. Most of the functions do not require much deliberation. It is all the blueprints and technologies laid out, and it is straight forward."
"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."
"The product's most valuable feature is scalability."
"The product is good in a small environment when looking to a backup on a tape."
"This is a very flexible product, which allows you to back up not only the physical environment but also the cloud environment."
"It is a scalable product."
"This solution is not complex and you do not have to be too technical to use it."
"It's quite stable, and so far, we have had no technical issues with Veritas Backup Exec."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The product allows for versatile storage options, enabling users to store data on disk storage, NAS storage, or tape libraries."
 

Cons

"It does not do too well in our virtual environment."
"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."
"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."
"No one can fix every solution for backup and restore."
"The product’s recovery process in terms of agent installation needs improvement"
"I would love to see something which allows us to do an auto restart of backup jobs."
"It needs BMR (bare machine recovery) solutions for both Windows and Linux systems."
"Ease of use."
"Compared to other vendors, there are features that you will find not included in Veritas."
"There is no training provided, and their technicians are unaware of the features available."
"The pricing is an area of improvement and the mode of marketing it."
"The integration with SaaS applications like Office 365 needs to be improved."
"They can work on the issue of the job timing out when it is unable to reach a selection item. It sometimes hangs up on the selection item, thus preventing the job from continuing."
"Firstly, the GUI for 2014 is mostly confusing, i.e., if you need to add any additional technical features, then it doesn't require a change to the GUI."
"I would like to be able to create a restore task that can be scheduled so that the same restore action will be performed automatically."
"The solution is too heavy and complex with 1,000 menus and options that make it messy rather than lightweight."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"For my company, the tool is affordable and reasonable...I don't think most people know that when a company has large systems in place, the TCO is a lot lower."
"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."
"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive. However, there are a few packages and it is unclear because, for the entry suite they have both options, which are the back-end storage capacity and the front-end storage capacity."
"The licensing fees are between $8,000 and $10,000 per year."
"The licensing fees are on a yearly basis, which for us it is about R400,000 (approximately $27,000 USD)."
"We are paying for support and maintenance on a monthly basis."
"The solution's pricing is fair. Price-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"The pricing can be improved."
"Licensing depends on the part of the backup you're using. If you have SQL backup, then you must have a SQL license. If you have normal data backup, you would require a license for that."
"Pricing is similar, but they don´t offer the same options/technology."
"It is cheap compared to the other backup technologies. It all depends on the requirements."
"The pricing of Veritas Backup's license is comparable to Veeam."
"The price is reasonable for the features it offers."
"Its price is reasonable."
"This product is priced for smaller customers."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
 

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...
How do the backup solutions of Veeam and Veritas compare?
Technically, Veeam is best for hyper-v & VMWare replications, snapshots, HA failover, also support for file system backups inside VMs., support for tape library & FC too. But Veritas Netbac...
What do you like most about Veritas Backup Exec?
The most important feature is the variety of backup applications it supports, including ERP systems and most other programs, such as Microsoft.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Veritas Backup Exec?
The price is one of the best. When I compare it with others, it is twice or three times cheaper, however, the functionality is the same.
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec
 

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
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Veritas Backup Exec and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.