IBM Storage Protect vs N-able Cove Data Protection comparison

IBM and N-able are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.0, while N-able is ranked #36 with an average rating of 7.5. IBM holds a 1.8% mindshare in BRS, compared to N-able’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of N-able users who would recommend it.

IBM Storage Protect

Read 4 IBM Storage Protect reviews

5,105 Views
4,288 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

N-able Cove Data Protection

Read 23 N-able Cove Data Protection reviews

3,972 Views
2,185 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

IBM Storage Protect

N-able Cove Data Protection

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

N-able Cove Data Protection and IBM Storage Protect compete in the backup and data protection category. N-able Cove appears to have an upper hand in usability and cloud backup flexibility, whereas IBM Storage Protect distinguishes itself with deep platform integration.

Features: N-able Cove Data Protection offers speed of transfer, efficient alert systems for failed backups, and automation for efficient backup and recovery, including Virtual Disaster Recovery and bare-metal recovery for full server restoration to different hardware. IBM Storage Protect provides incremental forever backups, deduplication, disaster recovery management, and extensive scalability for varied enterprise environments. It excels in client-agent specific features and offers extensive documentation.

Room for Improvement: N-able Cove could enhance Linux system restores, streamline backup initiation with mobile data, and provide unified dashboards for mixed product configurations. IBM Storage Protect can improve its GUI, simplify its reporting features, and ensure better cloud environment integration. Its complex licensing and interface could significantly benefit from simplification.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: N-able Cove supports hybrid and cloud infrastructures, offering flexibility and is praised for responsive technical support. IBM Storage Protect allows versatile deployment but often requires skilled administration and dedicated resources, contrasting with Cove's streamlined approach and user-friendly support.

Pricing and ROI: N-able Cove is competitively priced with a clear cost structure, eliminating hardware overheads and offering significant ROI through operational efficiencies. IBM Storage Protect is generally considered expensive with complex licensing schemes, providing substantial enterprise value but may be prohibitive for smaller entities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Storage Protect vs. N-able Cove Data Protection Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Storage Protect vs. N-able Cove Data Protection

December 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

1.0

IBM Storage Protect enhances data recovery, reduces downtime, and aids compliance, making it a valuable investment for organizations.

Sentiment score

7.8

N-able Cove Data Protection provides high ROI, efficient backups, cost savings, seamless transitions, and reduced downtime compared to competitors.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

I have experienced time savings and money savings.

reviewer2380554

Senior Product Owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

We think the ROI is very good; we are very satisfied with our return on investment, even though I don't sit and calculate what would be better.

Per MøllerJacobsen

Senior consultant at Azend A/S

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.6

IBM Storage Protect's support shows mixed experiences, with praise for expertise but concerns over response times and service consistency.

Sentiment score

7.6

N-able Cove Data Protection offers fast, knowledgeable support via multiple channels, ensuring high user satisfaction despite minor frustrations.

Support from IBM is very good, and they always have knowledgeable people.

reviewer2787573

Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Some support staff are highly skilled, others are not, leading to longer times to resolve issues.

Markus Buchner

CEO at Fischerei Leipold

Support is good from IBM, although it mainly comes from my local partner.

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

if it gets complicated, the backend support comes in quickly

Per MøllerJacobsen

Senior consultant at Azend A/S

If I raise a ticket, they get back to me.

reviewer2380554

Senior Product Owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

IBM Storage Protect is praised for scalability and adaptability, though some users cite challenges in features and large-scale integration.

Sentiment score

7.8

N-able Cove Data Protection is praised for adaptability, ease of integration, scalability, advanced features, with minor storage issues.

It is one of the most scalable platforms, and that is its strong point.

reviewer2787573

Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

TSM is a generic and robust product, which is why I continue using it for my core banking.

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

Scalability is great in IBM Spectrum Protect; there are several options available to scale.

reviewer1832367

Solution architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

There are some limitations, such as storage, where I cannot support a large number of employees who need to back up their data.

reviewer2380554

Senior Product Owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.0

IBM Storage Protect is highly stable and reliable, with consistent enhancements despite occasional minor issues with new features.

Sentiment score

8.1

N-able Cove Data Protection is praised for stability, minor issues, compatibility, and reliability with minimal downtime over years.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Room For Improvement

IBM Storage Protect needs an improved interface, intuitive features, better cloud integration, and enhanced reporting and virtualization support.

N-able Cove Data Protection needs improvements in dashboard, cloud integration, backup speed, disaster recovery, and support response.

The new software, such as Rubrik, is very easy to use and more relatable to younger engineers because its interface design is more similar to Office 365 and the newer controls and labels that we are accustomed to.

reviewer2787573

Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux.

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is why we are using Cobalt Iron.

reviewer1832367

Solution architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

There should be the ability to take out data from Microsoft 365 in a portable format.

Per MøllerJacobsen

Senior consultant at Azend A/S

N-able Cove Data Protection does not provide a lot of SaaS backup products, which is an area they can improve.

reviewer2380554

Senior Product Owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Setup Cost

IBM Storage Protect offers varied and complex licensing, often seen as expensive but potentially cost-effective with tailored agreements.

Enterprise users appreciate N-able Cove Data Protection's fair pricing, flexibility, no lock-ins, and competitive costs compared to others.

We do not see the cost of the licensing.

reviewer2787573

Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

It's expensive.

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

New customers can expect very high prices.

Markus Buchner

CEO at Fischerei Leipold

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

In terms of pricing, N-able Cove Data Protection is neither cheap nor expensive compared to other competitors.

reviewer2380554

Senior Product Owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Valuable Features

IBM Storage Protect excels in efficient backups, cost-effective storage, scalability, reliability, user-friendliness, adaptability, and robust disaster recovery.

N-able Cove Data Protection provides reliable cloud-based data protection with easy management, fast setup, and seamless integration for diverse needs.

IBM Spectrum Protect has excellent integration capability.

reviewer1832367

Solution architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The product works efficiently with very large tape libraries, unlike most other products in the market that have problems handling large tape libraries or more than one tape library.

Markus Buchner

CEO at Fischerei Leipold

Incremental and differential backup features are built-in, which I frequently utilize on a weekly and daily basis.

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Storage Protect report

The integration of N-able Cove Data Protection into our existing infrastructure is easy.

Per MøllerJacobsen

Senior consultant at Azend A/S

The most valuable feature of N-able Cove Data Protection is its ease of use.

reviewer2380554

Senior Product Owner at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the N-able Cove Data Protection report

Categories and Ranking

IBM Storage Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

N-able Cove Data Protection

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

36th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Backup (17th), SaaS Backup (8th), MSP Backup (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 1.8%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able Cove Data Protection is 1.1%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Storage Protect	1.8%
N-able Cove Data Protection	1.1%
Other	97.1%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

reviewer2787573

Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Backup coverage has supported immutable protection and now needs a more modern, intuitive interface

IBM Storage Protect is from a previous generation of backup software. In those days, backup software was complex in setting up and complex to manage. The new software, such as Rubrik, is very easy to use and more relatable to younger engineers because its interface design is more similar to Office 365 and the newer controls and labels that we are accustomed to. The difficulty that we now have with IBM Storage Protect is that for this day and age, compared to other products that are out there, it seems complex. If we look back 15 years ago, all enterprise class backup software was complex, so IBM was not any different. However, many of these older systems, such as Commvault, still have the same complaint that they are very complex because they have tried to keep that same interface and the same way it works. This suits them, but it probably needed a complete overhaul to bring it into the ease of use that we have with modern software. However, that upgrade has not been done. IBM Storage Protect has not been upgraded into a modern platform. It still looks a legacy platform.

Read full review

Per MøllerJacobsen

Senior consultant at Azend A/S

Delivers cost-effective data backup with room for search improvements

The challenges I face especially are those I've mentioned, that finding some specific data in N-able Cove Data Protection is not as easy as it is in some other systems. You cannot just search for something—you need to know where it was and when it was there to restore it, plus it would be nice to take out data from Microsoft 365 in some portable format, which is currently not an option. I would like to extract the data from Microsoft 365 in a portable format, something like a database or maybe just to take out a PST file or SharePoint and Teams files to the file system. Especially in these times, where we discuss potential risks with the Microsoft cloud for European companies, companies would want to know how to access their data from the backup if they suddenly don't have a tenant. I believe there should be the ability to take out data from Microsoft 365 in a portable format. I know that Cohesity is working on making such a thing. It's not there yet; I asked last week for something for forensics, and the support team said it's not possible yet, but I know from our technical account manager they are working on some solutions.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	53
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	95

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	1

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Storage Protect?

The best point about IBM Storage Protect is that it can use IBM tape environments, which we still use and will continue to use in the future.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Storage Protect?

I do not know the current licensing cost for IBM Storage Protect and how we get our support because our licensing model is not quite standard. We do not buy IBM Storage Protect direct from IBM. We ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for N-able Backup?

In terms of pricing, N-able Cove Data Protection is neither cheap nor expensive compared to other competitors.

See all answers

What needs improvement with N-able Backup?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for N-able Backup?

Our main use cases for enabling N-able Cove Data Protection include backing up our customers' data on servers hosted in data centers and servers hosted in our own data center, as well as a few onsi...

See all answers

Comparisons

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 9% of the time

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 9% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 7% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 7% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 6% of the time

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Veeam Data Platform vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 9% of the time

Synology C2 Backup vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 5% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 4% of the time

Boxafe vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 4% of the time

AWS Backup vs N-able Cove Data Protection

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Storage Protect

January 2026

Download IBM Storage Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

N-able Cove Data Protection

January 2026

Download N-able Cove Data Protection product report

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover

N-able Backup, SolarWinds Backup, SolarWinds MSP Backup & Recovery, SolarWinds MSP Backup

Overview

IBM Storage Protect offers data protection and management to secure critical business information efficiently. It's designed to be a scalable and flexible solution for data backup, recovery, and archive needs in complex IT environments.

IBM Storage Protect delivers comprehensive data protection by integrating backup, recovery, and archiving functionalities. It supports a range of workloads and infrastructures, from on-premises to cloud environments, facilitating efficient data management. Its platform provides seamless scalability to meet evolving business needs, underpinned by reliable security measures. Organizations leverage its capabilities to ensure business continuity and minimize data loss risks, making it vital in a data-driven world.

What are the key features of IBM Storage Protect?

Advanced Data Protection: Offers robust encryption and data integrity for secure backup processes.
Scalability: Grows with your data demands, supporting large data volumes without compromising performance.
Cloud Integration: Seamlessly integrates with cloud platforms, enhancing backup strategies with hybrid options.
Automated Operations: Simplifies management tasks with automation, reducing manual intervention and errors.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating IBM Storage Protect?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces storage costs by optimizing backup processes and data retention strategies.
Data Safety: Ensures data accessibility and integrity during recovery efforts, building trust in data protection strategies.
Operational Efficiency: Boosts productivity through streamlined and automated backup management workflows.
Compliance Readiness: Helps maintain compliance with data protection regulations by providing thorough reporting and audit trails.

Industries like finance and healthcare implement IBM Storage Protect to safeguard sensitive information against threats. In financial services, it's crucial for maintaining client data confidentiality, while healthcare institutions use it to protect patient records, ensuring both accessibility and compliance with regulations.

IBM

Cove Data Protection, from N-able, is a comprehensive solution designed to safeguard critical business data. It offers a range of features including backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and endpoint protection. With automated backups and flexible scheduling options, it ensures data is protected and easily recoverable.

The solution also includes advanced security measures such as encryption and ransomware detection to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches. Cove Data Protection provides seamless integration with various platforms and offers centralized management for efficient monitoring and control.

With its user-friendly interface and robust capabilities, Cove Data Protection is an ideal choice for businesses seeking reliable data protection.

N-able

Sample Customers

CEMEX

Computer Depot, Leading Edge Computers, IT Logic Australia

Buyer's Guide

IBM Storage Protect vs. N-able Cove Data Protection

December 2025

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Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. N-able Cove Data Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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