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IBM Storage Protect vs NovaStor NovaBACKUP comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 22, 2026

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 Storage Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NovaStor NovaBACKUP
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
33rd
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 1.6%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NovaStor NovaBACKUP is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Storage Protect1.6%
NovaStor NovaBACKUP0.7%
Other97.7%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2787573 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Rainer Kummerfeldt - PeerSpot reviewer
IT-Teamleader at Bechtle
Easy to work and offers features for tape backups, disk backups, and whatever you want
NovaStor NovaBACKUP is still working on new features because they listen to the customers and integrate their needs into new versions. You can see they make progress with each new version. They are much faster than IBM, where you sometimes have to wait years for new features. It is very quick and fast. NovaStor have big competitors like Veeam, which is very fast and aggressive. It's good, but it depends on the price. I think NovaStor might be cheaper. They have a direct connection to their developers and sales teams, which makes getting answers very fast. Veeam has a lot of features, like a special reporting tool. However, I've heard from some customers that Veeam wasn't always the right decision because it couldn't work with their environment. But Veeam has aggressive marketing, which is why they are probably in first place at the moment, besides Commvault. IBM has lost its competitive edge and is trying to catch up, but it might be too late.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Nothing beats this solution for file backup."
"by backing up only the changed data, we average around 75TB per night. If we had to do full backups, even occasionally, we would not be able to complete the backup within 12 hours, or we would have to make a large investment to fit a full backup within the 12 hour window."
"It helps our customers protect their data, keep it long-term, and feel pretty secure about it, basically sleeping well at night."
"All other products contain the same features, but when I'm backing up an IBM Power server I feel more comfortable with IBM Spectrum Protect because it's the same vendor."
"The way it covers backup and archive needs. The flexibility of backup copy group always allows me to cover the customer's requests."
"Because of the flexible parameters, everything can be fine-tuned to the customers’ needs in their environment."
"The interface is easy to use."
"In the past, one of the most valuable features, and the biggest advantage, was the incremental forever feature. Not many other backup vendors provided that. In the pre-virtualization environment, it was very robust and simple technology, especially writing to tape."
"It is a very good and easy-to-use tool for non-technical people."
"NovaBACKUP protects your entire system with a single solution."
"It's the easiest way to configure it."
 

Cons

"The solution is a bit expensive, especially if you look at other competitors."
"I would love to see something which allows us to do an auto restart of backup jobs."
"The features should be a little bit closer together."
"Technical support will always be a challenge."
"The licensing can be a pain to manage."
"The entire product is a little bit clumsy because they have co-joined two different products, so it's complex."
"We would like to see cloud integration."
"I find the solution somewhat difficult to use with virtual environments or VMware."
"The room for improvement lies in the compatibility of NovaBACKUP with older operating systems."
"The price of NovaStor NovaBACKUP is an area that can be considered as a weakness or drawback, where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."
"The solution has a capacity based licensing, front and back-end license."
"License-wise regarding IBM, it's licensed per terabyte. And that is after compression and deduplication."
"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."
"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."
"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."
"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."
"My company has to make yearly payments towards the solution's maintenance and support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise95
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?
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 ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Storage Protect?
IBM Storage Protect is my primary tool for backup and recovery. We also use it for immutable backups to protect against ransomware. We use IBM Storage Protect for everything on-premises. The benefi...
What needs improvement with NovaStor NovaBACKUP?
The room for improvement lies in the compatibility of NovaBACKUP with older operating systems like Windows XP. Some customers still rely on outdated systems due to specific production requirements....
What is your primary use case for NovaStor NovaBACKUP?
It's developed in Hamburg. It's very easy to work with because it has a web interface, and the configuration is straightforward. It has features for tape backups, disk backups, and whatever you wan...
 

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
NovaBACKUP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
Ex'pression College, Osborne Wood Products Inc., REIT Technologies
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. NovaStor NovaBACKUP and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.