We primarily use the solution as a backup.
IT Senior Systems Engineer at Southland Industries
Easy to use with great technical support and easily integrates across platforms
Pros and Cons
- "They have a strong development team and are market leaders in the space."
- "The solution needs better Office 365 data backup management."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Our other solution deploys every agent on every single server, and then you back up that way. However, when you have to deploy to the APIs using the Commvault to their instance, due to the fact that we are a VMware shop, we are capable of leveraging the snapshot capability within the VPI. And then we back it up, the entire VM.
The license is counted as one VM. The other option is based on the capacity model. The cost on a capacity model is more expensive than the VM path model. That's why we switched. The functionality is very similar.
What is most valuable?
The VSA, the virtual system agent backup, is the most useful aspect of the solution for our organization. Based on our use case, it cuts our costs significantly. Early on, when we had the software at one point, we were using the front-end data protection, the DPE model, with the licensing using an agent. Then, as the technology continued to evolve, they added additional features like the VSA path, VM path model and other things. We are switching from the DPE model to the VSA model. That helped us to eliminate some of the costs.
Once you get comfortable with the solution, it becomes pretty easy to use.
People are going to be very impressed with that kind of support that they get from Commvault. It's excellent.
It's a comprehensive data management for all platforms. It works with multiple clouds and vendors.
They have a strong development team and are market leaders in the space.
What needs improvement?
With any product, there could be improvements made.
I can't think of exact features that are lacking.
It's been a while, however, it's my understanding that they have new features coming out.
Our cloud is still pretty old-school, I continue to use the console as the traditional admin tool for daily troubleshooting. In a newer version, they're using something called Command Center. I haven't played around with that yet. I heard that it's very sleek. At this point, the console is pretty dated, so it's good they're doing an update.
The Chargeback feature has recently changed as well. I haven't had a chance to explore it, however, I believe they've improved on it quite a bit.
The solution can be a bit complex for new users.
The solution needs better Office 365 data backup management.
Buyer's Guide
Commvault Cloud
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Commvault Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for six years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is very solid. They are the number one data management platform on the market. They are leading in that sense above the competition.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
At this point, there are no plans for increasing usage right now. We are reducing our footprint on-prem and we've moved everything to Azure. Unfortunately, we leveraged some of the native protocols from Azure side. Commvault has gotten reduced. Due to that change, the pricing or licensing that supports the functionality of it may be impacted a little bit.
How are customer service and support?
While you can call support for anything, they have great online documentation that you can reference for assistance. It's easier to check out that before reaching out to them directly.
Their support is the best. They're worldwide, 24/7. I give credit for that. I deal with a lot of other vendors. Their support model is far superior. Once you open the ticket, if, after an hour, it's not resolved, you can click on it and another engineer will come online within the hour to assist, depending on the severity of the case.
I'd rate them nine out of ten for sure.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
At one point, we almost tried to switch to another vendor. However, due to the economic scale and other factors, we didn't move forward. We decided to stay with Commvault in order to leverage all the modeling and pricing, and we were able to accomplish what we needed.
Since I have worked here, the company has always used Commvault.
How was the initial setup?
The initial implementation has a moderate amount of difficulty. It's complex at times, however, it depends on what it is. Once you know it, it's not that complex to set up. Overall, it is easy to use. It's not that difficult.
Deployment is probably just a couple of hours. In that time, you can spin up the environment and then you can set it up and deploy it and get a backup.
While we have a lot of users on the solution, I am the main person who handles the maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
Most of the upgrades we do ourselves. In the cases where we have a major upgrade, we typically use a consultant. We did use a couple of consultants in the past for the upgrade. Early on, we didn't have the resource and personnel to handle everything.
After using Commvault for six years now, I'm a bit more comfortable and confident in handling everything myself more and more.
We work directly with Commvault consultants.
What was our ROI?
The ROI comes from the fact that it's a solid product that works the way it is supposed to. When you need data recovery, it's perfect. That's your money's worth right there.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing costs are determined on a yearly basis. It might be around $40,000 or $50,000. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.
What other advice do I have?
Originally, we were on a private cloud, however, we've since moved to a public cloud.
I'd advise others that the implementation depends on the skill level of those setting it up. It's best to consult with the technical manager or the technical team. They can give recommendations. The costs are very reasonable. It may be only $4,000 or $5,000 for three or four days worth of consultant work. They handle the consulting remotely, not on-premises.
Of course, if you don't know the answer to something at any time, you can always call support. That's for break/fix scenarios. For most other things, the online documentation will get you through.
Overall, I would rate the solution nine out of ten. We've been very happy with the product.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

CISO at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Covers everything, protects our data, and gives immediate results
Pros and Cons
- "The expanse of the decoys that they have is valuable. They cover everything on the corporate side that you would think of, such as Windows, Linux, and even applications like SAP. They also go into the OT environment and emulate OT devices as well."
- "If I were to ask them to work on something, it would be the fidelity of the alerts that occur. They should tell me if it is a real event or not. It is easy for it to identify that something hit it but give me more information. They can build AI into the engine so that I get better output from an alert to tell me if I should really be interested in that or not."
What is our primary use case?
We use the deception piece of Commvault, not the backup solution.
We use deception decoys across our corporate networks and across our OT networks to emulate vulnerable systems so that if a threat actor were to get inside and start scanning the network, the hope is they would bump into one of these, and we would get the alert, and we would be able to react and know some of these inside. Most of what we deploy in terms of decoys have some level of vulnerabilities that threat actors would be interested in, such as an old version of an operating system.
How has it helped my organization?
Building and deploying a decoy is fairly straightforward. If there is any work involved, it is just tuning the noise in terms of what happens inside your network. Most people probably do not realize how many times they are scanning their own network internally, and that decoy is going to feel like it is getting scanned, but that scan is being done by a dedicated device that you want to scan. You then build your exception rules in to not trigger on that and trigger on other devices when it is scanning. We have built the alerts back into our automation platform, so if we get alerts, our automation platform will do some runbook evaluation that is automated and then hand it off to an analyst if they think it is a real event.
They do a good job of building the decoys and deploying them, and then giving you good insights. When something happens, you can look at how the decoy was connected or attached to a scan and figure out if that is a real threat or not.
I like the coverage. We have 250 locations across the US, and we deploy decoys across every one of those networks.
We saw its benefits immediately. The first time we got it and deployed it into one of our operating plant environments, the plant engineer noticed right away that there was a foreign device on his network that he did not really realize was out there. It was a support vendor coming in, and that vendor was scanning parts of his network that he did not realize. They were not necessarily doing it maliciously, but it gave him great insight, so he was sold on the product right away as we were. Shortly after implementation, we did our regular PAN and Red Team testing. I can say with 100% confidence that every time we do one of those, those teams come in and they tip over one of the decoys, and we see them fairly quickly.
The decoy side protects my data because I get early insight into if there is a threat actor in my environment and it is moving laterally because they typically will hit one of these decoys, so it gives me quick access. If a ransomware threat actor was in my environment, they would be moving laterally trying to get to a vulnerable system, so before they ever get to the point of deploying the ransomware payload, they are going to hit a decoy. I am going to get early insight, and hopefully, I can get them out of there.
In terms of its effect on the total cost of ownership (TCO), as with almost any security product, we are mitigating risk and protecting revenue. The total cost of ownership is an overhead when it comes to security. You want to spend as much as you think is necessary to mitigate high-risk areas. Otherwise, it is just money out the door. You are protecting revenue, but I would not put a TCO on it.
It has helped our organization reduce or avoid downtime a great deal. It has avoided a potential downtime because the decoy typically gets the threat actor. My threat actors are PAN Test and Red Team people. They are identified before they can get too far and cause a scenario where I have downtime because of whatever they are doing in the environment.
What is most valuable?
The expanse of the decoys that they have is valuable. They cover everything on the corporate side that you would think of, such as Windows, Linux, and even applications like SAP. They also go into the OT environment and emulate OT devices as well.
What needs improvement?
If I were to ask them to work on something, it would be the fidelity of the alerts that occur. They should tell me if it is a real event or not. It is easy for it to identify that something hit it but give me more information. They can build AI into the engine so that I get better output from an alert to tell me if I should really be interested in that or not.
For how long have I used the solution?
We bought TrapX before Commvault acquired them, so we have been a customer of the deception technology, and a specific one, for over seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable. We do not have a problem with availability or uptime on the product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. We started with hundreds, and now, we have got thousands of decoys. The only thing that you have to be careful about is the more decoys, the more alerts. Can you handle them, tune them, and get them cleaned up so that you are effectively looking at real alerts when they come in?
How are customer service and support?
I am the CISO here. I do not contact them, but my team certainly has used their support organization before.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have not used any other solution. We have been a TrapX customer from early on when they were just coming out.
How was the initial setup?
It was originally on-premises. They have since come out with the cloud version, and we are migrating to it right now. It should be done by the fifteenth of March, which will make it a lot easier because before, I had to buy hardware and deploy assets across my environment. Having a cloud solution is a much better model for me.
The deployment for the cloud one has been good so far. It has been going fairly well. We are on-prem, and we are moving to the cloud. I do not know if it would be different if I was deploying the cloud only and I had never deployed it before. I would imagine it would be easier than what I did in the past with on-premise equipment. I was building servers and VMs and allocating those types of resources to run this environment.
What about the implementation team?
When we started, we did get help. We had professional services included. They were early to the market, so it kind of made sense. For this deployment in the cloud, we are just doing it ourselves.
I have one person doing the migration, and that one person does other things too. The lab time is going to be about 15 days, but he is not working a hundred percent on that. He has got other responsibilities. It is not difficult.
All the time, we have only had one engineer dedicated to this platform. Our SOC uses the output, but the person who manages it day to day takes upgrades, performs the upgrades, and does those types of things. There is just one person, and that is a part-time person, not a full-time person.
The maintenance is largely around what decoys you have deployed and the tuning of those decoys. Some of the maintenance is just internal processes, such as when the decoy gets tipped over, what exactly did that? Did somebody start up a new engine or a new scan internally that we did not know about? We have to manage that change process to make sure that we put an exception on the decoy so that it does not get alerted when it is not necessary.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Originally, it was really attractive when we were deployed on-prem. They have since built and moved it to the cloud, which I am a big fan of. I have all my security tools in the cloud, but it came with a significant increase in pricing. We ended up negotiating a better price because we have been a long-term customer, and I have also spoken on their behalf quite a few times, but if I have to buy it at its current rate, I am not sure if I would be a customer. It is expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did look at a couple, but I cannot say what they were because it was a while ago.
What other advice do I have?
To those evaluating this solution, I would advise looking at the maturity of their security organization. Do they have a SOC and are they going to be able to address the alerts that they are going to get on the decoys? If it is just more noise on top of the noise they are already dealing with, they probably should not put this type of technology in until they clean up their environment and have a good handle on the alerts they are getting. That is because you cannot put it in and ignore it. It is a decoy. Something is hitting it, and that something might be real, and you need to take action on it.
I would recommend Commvault to others. They have been an easy organization to work with. They have good technical support, and I still like their technology.
Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Buyer's Guide
Commvault Cloud
April 2025

Learn what your peers think about Commvault Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Backup Engineer at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a single console, internal workflow automation, and fully automated deployment; no need to access an OS or app platform
Pros and Cons
- "Among the best features are the BMR (Bare Metal Recovery), Live Sync, and IntelliSnap, which is used for snapshots of hypervisor storage. It's predefined so you only need to enable it and it works. I haven't seen anything like this in other backup tools like Veritas NetBackup or Dell EMC or TSM. We will use snapshotting for all our machines."
- "They should move the CommServe outside of Windows machines and the database should be distributed among servers. It's still a single point of failure."
What is our primary use case?
We're using it mainly to back up operating systems like Windows, Linux, and databases such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL.
How has it helped my organization?
It has simplified disaster recovery and we have used it for migration as well. For migrating from old FX servers to new FX servers, it was not possible to use any new feature from VMware. There was just vMotion and the success rate of migration of the whole disk was less than 50 percent. It was not possible to manage it that way. We used Live Sync and it was able to migrate 150 machines every day during the weekend, without major problems. That saved us a couple of weeks of time, probably 50 percent of the time it would have taken us. Without Live Sync it wouldn't have been possible to manage it.
The fact that the solution is a single platform has definitely enabled our company to accelerate growth because you don't need to leave the Commvault console. With NetBackup or TSM (IBM Tivoli Storage Manager) when it comes to customization of scripts for databases, you have to go into the client at the operating system level and modify the scripts. With Commvault you don't have to do that. You don't need to access the operating system, which simplifies the work.
Commvault helps minimize the time spent on backup tasks, creating time for other projects. I'm able to write a workflow in Commvault's internal environment and I can automate any action I did manually before. For example, deployment of remote offices can be fully automated.
It also saves us money on infrastructure because the configuration which will be used for IntelliSnapshotting is very simplified.
Another company I worked for previously was being attacked by a ransomware virus. The company lost its whole Windows infrastructure, so it didn't have Active Directory. Commvault was on Windows as well and the Knowledge Base which ran on Linux was authenticated with AD. Everyone lost their workstations.
The recovery process was that we got the database from Commvault, because part of raising cases includes the ability to upload databases to Commvault. The Windows team found a backup of the main controller and the most important thing was to start communications and for every one to have Active Directory. With Commvault's support, we were also able to develop a process which recovered Volume C, and that was sufficient to fix the images. Within two months they were able to recover the whole infrastructure from scratch. Without Commvault, or with another solution based on Windows, I don't think the recovery would have been possible.
I had never seen this kind of disaster. Nobody expects to lose everything. You think about losing the primary location or a remote office location, but no one thinks about losing the whole platform.
What is most valuable?
Among the best features are the BMR (Bare Metal Recovery), Live Sync, and IntelliSnap, which is used for snapshots of hypervisor storage. It's predefined so you only need to enable it and it works. I haven't seen anything like this in other backup tools like Veritas NetBackup or Dell EMC or TSM. We will use snapshotting for all our machines.
Live Sync replicates incremental data to remote locations. If you lose your primary data center, you enable the replicated machines in your DR location so you don't need to restore data.
It's great as a DR solution because it has a lot of capabilities for syncing with a cloud provider. But if you want to keep everything in-house, it's great that way as well because the replication is done by incrementals.
When it comes to the user interface for managing on-prem, cloud, or multi-cloud environments in one place, it's always better to have everything in one. I myself like multiple consoles, a Java console and an admin console. I only work with the Java console. It's great because it's possible to configure everything from there. But operations has that nice console, and having that one console is better than having multiple consoles.
What needs improvement?
They should move the CommServe outside of Windows machines and the database should be distributed among servers. It's still a single point of failure.
Also, I work a lot with workflows, which means a combination of XML files and commands. It would be helpful if they unified the use of workflows.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Commvault at my current company for almost two years but I have a total of five years of experience with it. I'm a Commvault engineer. I have built Commvault from scratch using the approach that is best for the client, and then prepared the documentation.
We are using service pack 16 because it is a new deployment so we have to deploy that before we push updates.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't seen a crash of the database. The stability is great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
When I started with Commvault and compared it with NetBackup, I found that Commvault had features that NetBackup didn't have. Currently, we are able to cover 12,000 virtual machines.
Commvault has what it calls a HyperScale Appliance which is a media agent with the disk. This is the best option for storing data. The media agents are in clusters so they share data. It's a nice feature and I haven't seen any other backup company that has integrated this kind of solution. They always use a third-party vendor for this capability. But that involves communication over the network, something which HyperScale skips.
We plan on using IntelliSnaps more and we are testing the cloud backup. We will use the cloud as a hot-DR location. I expect that will happen this year.
How are customer service and technical support?
From my experience, I have had the best support interactions with Commvault. I always get a response within a couple of hours. If there is a task for Commvault's development side involved in the issue, I get an update every three days that someone is working on it.
I have yet to find a support engineer at Commvault who has to speak to someone else. They are always able to troubleshoot the issue on the first strike. I can definitely recommend Commvault support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Our company previously used NetBackup and TSM. One of the reasons we switched to Commvault was that our company was not satisfied with IBM's support. It was challenging. If support is not able to help you manage problems, you can't use the solution.
The plus with Commvault is that it really focuses on automation for deploying machines and discovering databases, etc. A Commvault administrator doesn't need to understand, in-depth, the application he is backing up because he doesn't need access into the application. It's much more focused on snapshotting for the synchronization between locations. The BMR process can be used across the cloud and on-prem solutions, so you can easily move machines from your environment to a cloud environment. And from that cloud environment you can convert to another vendor in the cloud.
That is all built on the BMR process, which is better than any other backup tool I know. Some of them, like TSM, don't even include a native BMR solution. Instead there is a third-party vendor that does it, so it's not fully-integrated.
I like it when everything is in one console and things can be automated via an internal workflow and deployment is fully automated so I don't need to access the operating system or application platform. Those are all benefits of Commvault.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was really easy for me because I already had experience with NetBackup and TSM. It wasn't difficult for me to understand Commvault's logic. But, in my opinion, it's very easy to understand because the logic involved is minimal yet it offers a lot of configurable options. Because the process for the installation of agents, such as for databases and applications, is fully automated, you don't need to touch the application at all. That is one of the main reasons I prefer Commvault over other tools, where you always need to touch the client.
A basic implementation of Commvault depends on the size of the company. Installation of the server takes a couple of hours, but that is the same as with other backup tools. But the installation of it on clients and their configurations will take days if you don't want to customize it because Commvault comes with pre-defined groups. The process will take a number of days for a small company.
In terms of staff for deployment and maintenance, it could be just one person involved, depending on the roles of the people in the company. This person has to be able to do a lot of things, so it depends on whether he has these responsibilities and the capabilities.
We have about 100 users of the solution because we have a lot of operations.
What was our ROI?
The ROI is there, but I don't have figures on it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our deployment is primarily on-prem. We are trying to assess the cloud capabilities but it looks like the cloud is more expensive if you want to have the whole infrastructure.
What other advice do I have?
Commvault is more administrator-friendly than other backup tools.
We are using Commvault for cloud support, but that part is at the PoC stage. But it's the same as the on-prem solution. Whether the library is on physical disk or in the cloud, it looks the same in Commvault, so that's not an issue in terms of configuration or use. There are even more cloud vendors than I had heard of and it looks like Commvault supports all of them.
We don't use it, but there is an archive function in Commvault which allows you to move data from primary storage to another type which is much cheaper.
Version 11 of Commvault has been on the market for something like seven years now. They have changed the naming so what they called service packs are now called feature packs. That means they are no longer changing the version number and they do what they call a "platform release." That was changed in SP19. In each new pack they add new features every three months. They also have hotfix releases every week or so.
I'm still surprised that they continue to come out with features that are really nice and that you didn't even think were possible.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Sr. Enterprise Solutions Engineer at Palpay
The Command Center can give people the ability to view and restore their data
Pros and Cons
- "The Command Center is provided from the web interface. You can back up the data for everybody, but also you can give everybody the ability to view and restore their data. For example, if a laptop, machine, or environment is owned by X, then X can look in and see the environment and data that he has backed up. He can see everything that he owns and can manage the environment as he wishes. It gives him an excellent view of his environment and infrastructure. Also, if you are a service provider, you can back up data for multiple companies and give everyone an interface for their environment to manage, backup, and restore data. Commvault has done excellent work in this area."
- "I would like them to keep working on the new web interface to migrate out of the old interface because the old interface is a bit complex. It was driving customers away because of the complexity. If they migrate everything (100 percent of the features), this would make the product be perfect."
What is our primary use case?
I've done almost everything with Commvault, e.g., back and forth centralization for file systems and applications like SQL, Oracle, VMware, and Hyper-V. Commvault does a lot of integration.
Most of our installations are on-premise, but I remember doing one installation on the cloud.
We always work with the latest version of the solution.
How has it helped my organization?
We are not utilizing Commvault as it should be. Most installations are for backup and protecting data. We have it on cloud or on-premise. Most of the customers need only this. So, I haven't given real value other than backup and restore. However, we are working on this with our customers, trying to give them the culture of how to use this data and product with value. For example, using Commvault to migrate your applications.
What is most valuable?
You can back up everything from this one backup solution. You can do backups, archives, and replications. You can backup 89 percent of the application.
It can support the backup to and from the cloud. The cloud integration with Commvault is excellent. It can support a lot of cloud vendors, like Amazon, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
The endpoint protection for PCs, laptops, and mobile devices is a feature that they have done a lot of hard work with. It can do backups anytime, e.g., when you have a device connected from on-premise, when are you connected through the WAN, and if you didn't do the right setup. This is a good feature.
If you have cloud applications and payment applications, you can migrate from the payment app to the cloud and also migrate from one cloud to another cloud. There is a lot of flexibility on what you can do in Commvault.
In Commvault, they used to use only the CommCell Console for backup and configuration. They have been working on a new console for quite some time now. The last time I installed the solution (maybe last week), I used the Web Console, which is excellent. Commvault can be a bit complex, but on the Web Console, they have done very beautiful work. You can do a lot of things easily and simply with the Web Console. It has 90 percent solved the complexity of Commvault. You sometimes need to log into the complex interface, but almost everything can be done from the web interface.
The Command Center is provided from the web interface. You can back up the data for everybody, but also you can give everybody the ability to view and restore their data. For example, if a laptop, machine, or environment is owned by X, then X can look in and see the environment and data that he has backed up. He can see everything that he owns and can manage the environment as he wishes. It gives him an excellent view of his environment and infrastructure. Also, if you are a service provider, you can back up data for multiple companies and give everyone an interface for their environment to manage, backup, and restore data. Commvault has done excellent work in this area.
What needs improvement?
I would like them to keep working on the new web interface to migrate out of the old interface because the old interface is a bit complex. It was driving customers away because of the complexity. If they migrate everything (100 percent of the features), this would make the product be perfect.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is excellent. Once you install and configure everything the right way, there is only the infrastructure. If there is a problem with the infrastructure, it will reflect on your backup. If there are no problems with the infrastructure, then there will be no problems. I have been working with Commvault for two years and don't remember opening more than 10 cases for a lot of customers.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easily scalable. You may need to add a gateway, proxy, or media server to the environment before adding more data to the environment.
Something that is not commonly used is that you can use Appian as a backup storage solution in one integrated package.
How are customer service and support?
I rarely use the technical support because of the stability. The technical support is very good. Once you have a case, depending on the severity, there is an engineer who will connect with you. That's the most important thing when you have a problem. They will connect with you and solve your problem on spot. Commvault has a built-in feature that if it's connected to the Internet with one click you can upload all the logs. Then, the Commvault engineer can see all the logs he needs. Most of the time, it takes one hour for a problem to be solved as they have excellent support.
It's an excellent solution for cloud support. One of the important features that I am selling and trying to convince customers to use is the backup for Office 365, SharePoint, and OneDrive from Microsoft. Microsoft can be in your environment with high availability and everything will be good, but if you delete it by mistake, then for a short period Microsoft can't restore anything. Also, the way Chromebooks integrates with the cloud services is excellent.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I started my experience with HPE Data Protector, which I now hate, because it's now Micro Focus and it's killing me.
I have worked with Dell EMC. Their solution does the work, but there are a lot of the problems with the ESXi.
I have worked with NetBackup. NetBackup is good, but I haven't seen the new feature like they have in Commvault for integration.
I have also worked with Veritas Backup Exec.
How was the initial setup?
With Commvault, if you need basic integration and configuration but no advanced features, then you can do the setup in maximum three to four hours. However, if you need to do everything, you will need everything to be organized for you to work.
What about the implementation team?
For the backup specifically, you have to implement the basic design with every client. It then depends on their needs, environment, and how we can make their life easier. Every time, we have to change something in order to give our customers the best experience.
What was our ROI?
The solution enables our customers to save on infrastructure costs by being able to manage what were disparate data management solutions in one place. It is one of the most important features: You can do backup for almost everything from one platform. Plus, you can reduce costs by using any cheap storage and still have the deduplication feature. You can present any cheap storage for the backup and not have to worry about the B2B high cost appliances, like HPE, Dell EMC Data Domain, etc. When you can do everything from one place, it's always better. It will reduce cost on the infrastructure and human resources who manage the environment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It was not very popular because of its previous cost, but they have been working on the pricing, and now anyone can afford to use Commvault. They changed the modeling criteria for their pricing. Previously, there was only the capacity modeling based on your content capacity. In this case, they would give you a license and you would have to pay it. Now, most of the environment is virtualized so you can have the best CPU, VMs, etc. You buy whatever you need and pay for what you need.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The most important feature that other backup solutions in the enterprise field are missing is a built-in feature for deduplication. It has a buildt-in deduplication engine and database. Therefore, you don't need another B2B vendor, like Appian, in order to do the deduplication. This is the most important feature that other solutions don't have. Most of them need another solution, like Appian or B2B storage. Also, the integration with storage and the snapshots (taken from the storage) have a lot of variety.
I'm a fan of Commvault. I have worked with a lot of backup solutions for about eight years. Commvault is the best until now that I have worked with.
Commvault is the best for cloud integration. I tried VMware where you can back up to the cloud, but it's not easy. With CommVault, you can see the cloud environment, cloud machines and virtual machines (such as on-premises virtual machines). With other solutions, there are a few limitations.
I am still working with Veeam.
There is also another solution, Cohesity. It is a good solution but it still has a lot to do.
What other advice do I have?
Buy Commvault. It is an excellent backup solution. I would recommend the solution.
What is important to Commvault is the flexibility. E.g., if you have a new application that you want to integrate, but it's not supported, they can help you with that. They will start immediately working on it with the development. We have talked with Commvault many times, and this was one of the things that they are proud of. They can give you an integration, even if it's not integrated yet. In addition, Commvault has done a partnership with HPE, which helps with integrations.
I would rate the solution as a 10 (out of 10).
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Backup and Recovery Specialist at Parsons
Handles Linux, Mac, and Windows and requires no effort on my part to manage it
Pros and Cons
- "There's no impact on the endpoint. It runs in the background and it's something that you install and then forget about."
- "The compression and deduplication are great for optimizing bandwidth and speed. I don't have to worry about it or think about it, and, because it's a SaaS solution, I don't have to worry about the storage size."
- "I would like to see more customizable reports. I have reports going right now, but the daily report, for example, shows something like 40 jobs that ran when there are just a few endpoints on there. I'd like to just know if the endpoint was successfully backed up, not how many times. More customizable reports would be nice to have."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for endpoint backups. They are laptops and we needed a solution that could handle Linux, Macintoshes, and Windows, in different locations, and Metallic was the best option available.
How has it helped my organization?
We needed a solution that could handle Linux and Macintosh and Windows, all together. Metallic seemed to be the only one on the market that could provide an all-endpoints SaaS solution.
In terms of the manual work required to manage our backup operations, I don't have to manage it that much. There is not much that needs to be done or manual work involved. It works well. There's not much I have to do on our side and I don't have to dedicate any time to it.
Metallic has also saved our organization money on infrastructure costs because the price was amazingly affordable, and we didn't have to create an on-prem solution. Especially since we're moving the Parsons data centers to the cloud, we're reducing our on-prem footprint. This SaaS gives us a full cloud solution to take care of that . There's a huge cost savings for us with this.
What is most valuable?
We're only using the endpoint backup solution part of it. It works very well. There's no impact on the endpoint. It runs in the background and it's something that you install and then forget about.
It's very easy to use. You don't really need to change anything or do anything different. For non-technical people it can be a little challenging trying to understand the GUI options because it can go a little bit deeper, but for basic use it's very simple to use.
It's definitely appropriate for an enterprise-level environment. Its performance for both backup and recovery is amazing. It runs very well. I don't even know when it's running and that's true during the backups as well. It completes successfully and there's zero impact on the endpoints.
The compression and deduplication are great for optimizing bandwidth and speed. I don't have to worry about it or think about it, and, because it's a SaaS solution, I don't have to worry about the storage size.
It's also very flexible in terms of where data is stored. You can choose what you would like. We're going to Azure cloud and the issue for us was more whether the security protocols were in place, and they are. As long as they met the security requirements, we were okay.
It has the AES-256 encryption. It meets that requirement and there is no issue with the amount of time it takes. The backups are very quick. There's no delay.
What needs improvement?
Adding new users who are non-technical can be a little challenging. You can push the software out through SCCM and install it that way, and that works great, but it would be nice to have another option where somebody could download an executable and run it and it would work. It's a little challenging to get it on other systems. I work from home but I have to go and help them because sometimes they don't know. I might send them the authentication code and they'll try to install it... I'm still working out the details, trying to figure out where they went wrong, but I've had several users try to do it and it hasn't worked.
I would like to see more customizable reports. I have reports going right now, but the daily report, for example, shows something like 40 jobs that ran when there are just a few endpoints on there. I'd like to just know if the endpoint was successfully backed up, not how many times. More customizable reports would be nice to have.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Metallic since it was released. We jumped onto it as soon as possible.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is great. It just runs. I've had zero issues with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is great. It's very scalable.
Currently, I only have 10 endpoints that I'm protecting and I'm trying to roll it out to more. There are a lot of employees in our company. Right now, we're using Metallic for just critical systems, critical endpoints. I'm hoping to create more awareness throughout Parsons so that others learn about it and see it and, maybe, start using it. But for now, it's going slowly trying to get Metallic in through the door.
How are customer service and technical support?
Commvault's technical support for Metallic is great. I really enjoy working with Commvault tech support. They're very knowledgeable and I love how they handle tickets. They're on top of things. They're always kind and polite and understanding. I wouldn't want to go through third-party support. I'd want to go directly through Commvault.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Our company used to use PC Backup but that's gone away and now they want to use OneDrive. A lot of executives feel that OneDrive is sufficient and that we don't need an actual backup solution.
The reason for going to Metallic was that PC Backup couldn't do Linux or Macintosh. We needed something that could do everything. It is a complete SaaS solution, backing up to the cloud.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It was me that set it up. We got our plan configured on the website and I installed it for myself and for somebody else. It was pretty straightforward and pretty easy to configure. The instructions work well.
The interface was a simple webpage, which is something I like about it. It's something I'm used to and there wasn't much to add. You just add the endpoint into the policy and away it goes. You don't have to really configure it.
We enabled it with SAML, so it uses our Active Directory and automatic login, and that worked out pretty well. It's been a long time since I've dug into it and done it. I tried to add some other users and they just emailed me and said they couldn't get it to work. I'm not sure what they're doing. Somehow they went wrong and I'm not sure yet how.
Overall our initial deployment took about 10 to 15 minutes. It was quick. In terms of deployment and maintenance, I'm the sole person who is working with the solution.
We didn't have an implementation strategy. We were trying it out. I had a certain number of laptops that I knew that needed to be added to it. I went through and configured them to work with Metallic. It was a really quick, easy setup, and it just runs with no issues. It doesn't matter where the laptop is at, where it's connected.
What was our ROI?
For me, it works great and it does exactly what it says it does. I love having it. I would put it on my home computers if I could. I'm still working on trying to get it implemented throughout all of Parsons.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at PC Backup. We also looked at other cloud solutions. Metallic was the one that offered all the options.
What other advice do I have?
It's simple and it has very low-to-no impact on endpoints. It runs in the background and has some really cool features for the end-users to use on the computer, if they want to look at their backups, do restores, or to find their computer location. But it is very simple and basic for non-technical people to use.
I like the interface, how it works, and being able to get daily reports of any failures or anything that happens is very useful.
I would rate it a 10 out of 10. I haven't come across anything that's better.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
CIO / Senior Deputy General Manager at Lb
Enhancing data management with deduplication, and helps reduce the cost of hardware
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Commvault Cloud include deduplication and compression."
- "Competitive products have emerged with less cost, making the pricing a challenging factor."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Commvault Cloud to back up a VM. We mainly use VM backup. We have kept our storage backups so that in case of a disaster or test environment, we should be able to recover within fifteen to twenty minutes. This is our benchmark.
How has it helped my organization?
Commvault Cloud has helped in reducing the cost for hardware as we are just using standard storage to store the backup instead of requiring special hardware equipment. It allows for server-level hardware backup, which helps in managing storage backups efficiently.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Commvault Cloud include deduplication and compression. Deduplication and compression are critical for us because they provide good compression, which is essential in data management. The time to recover from the disk is a critical requirement. The ransomware protection feature was one of the key considerations for choosing Commvault Cloud.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvement, the cost factor is a significant area for enhancement, especially during the annual renewal. Competitive products have emerged with less cost, making the pricing a challenging factor. The implementation of field-level restore where you can restore a particular table or field without having to restore the entire backup is something I would like to have.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Commvault Cloud for almost three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
So far, we are all right with the stability of Commvault Cloud.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have some questions regarding scalability with the current storage setup, particularly with the Synology basic storage we are using, which causes continuous issues. We are evaluating backup storage solutions due to underlying hardware issues.
How are customer service and support?
I do not have any negative feedback regarding Commvault's technical support. They have been clear and helpful in addressing our concerns.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Aksel backup, but we faced challenges with VM level backups and required protection against ransomware, which Commvault Cloud provided. The ArcServe backup software did not have these features, and as a result, we switched to Commvault Cloud.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved technically in the initial setup. I was involved in the evaluation process, and subsequently, my team handled the implementation and deployment with our partners. The setup took approximately three to four months and involved minor implementation challenges.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment involved our team and partners. From our side, we had two people handling it, and from the partner's side, one or two guys were involved, making it a team of around four to five people.
What was our ROI?
The major ROI was using simple storage instead of expensive high-end storage for backup. It is more compliance-related, and we utilize cloud backups for redundancy and compliance purposes. We have not seen significant ROI from the backup solution as a whole.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing is a significant factor for our company as the annual renewal is challenging. There are competitive products in the market that have lower costs, which adds to the challenge of the pricing factor.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Veeam backup as an alternative. Commvault Cloud provided better pricing at the time, along with ransomware protection and deduplication. Additionally, at our time of evaluation, Veeam did not support mixed backups, which was a consideration for us.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Oct 16, 2024
Flag as inappropriateLead Solutions Architect at New York University
A leading backup provider with easy configuration, manageability, and faster recovery
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has the fastest backup and better licensing."
- "Compared to Rubrik, MongoDB Data Protector, and NetBackup, Commvault is better. The licensing team was quite tricky recently because they stopped the unlimited files for that license. Commvault made a bank of 500GB only, a node-based license can take it, which is disappointing. Reporting needs to be more granular. Also, there should be a showback of data being backed up, and the backup cost to share the cost internally with the department."
What is most valuable?
The solution has the fastest backup and better licensing.
What needs improvement?
Compared to Rubrik, MongoDB Data Protector, and NetBackup, Commvault is better. The licensing team was quite tricky recently because they stopped the unlimited files for that license. Commvault made a bank of 500GB only, a node-based license can take it, which is disappointing. Reporting needs to be more granular. Also, there should be a showback of data being backed up, and the backup cost to share the cost internally with the department.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Commvault HyperScale X as a customer. I have almost nine HyperScale nodes and expect four more nodes this year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. To scale, we need to buy more agents. We’re using HP hardware for HyperScale. We’ve three backup administrators working with the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is interesting, but they need to work on their competency. My team is happy.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I work with a couple of other solutions, such as HP Store, Veeam, NetBackup, MongoDB Data Protector, and Rubrik. Commvault is the most competitive in the market because local support is easy and faster.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is easy to implement if you have a proper infrastructure and require two people to set up.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is bundled with hardware licensing. If I want to increase the hardware, I have to buy exactly the same because it's based on the core hardware license. We cannot tell discount because we have an NDA signed with Commvault because of my academic license. The solution is more expensive than NetBackup and Veeam but cheaper than Rubrik.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is easy to use after four months of training. Before implementing, make sure you negotiate well and agree to the terms and conditions in advance. Once you implement it, you will use it for at least the next five to six years. So, you must negotiate and file a contract, the best way to know the cost of ownership in the beginning itself. Overall, I rate the solution an eight-point five out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Manager (Utilities & Offsites) at a pharma/biotech company with 11-50 employees
A very reliable solution with a single window console to manage all backups
Pros and Cons
- "We switched to Commvault because we were looking to centralize management. This reduced IT administrator time as well as providing stability and reliability for data backups in a single console."
- "When we started using Commvault, we felt that there were some technical issues with managing it, but we are comfortable enough with managing it now. There were many issues, like index corrupting, when we first started, but all those issues were resolved by the Commvault tech team."
What is our primary use case?
We use it for server, laptop, and desktop backup.
We are using the latest version.
How has it helped my organization?
Commvault helps our admins minimize the time that they spend on backup tasks and other projects since we are now managing a single console to administer all the backups, instead of a full console.
What is most valuable?
It is a very good tool for server backup. We can restore any server, e.g., physical or VM, in a very short amount of time.
Commvault Command Center is very good and user-friendly. We can select any user's data or a server in its Console.
Commvault provides us with a single platform to move, manage and recover our data across locations. Especially for our IT, this is a very important part of our data storage.
The recovery option is very good. It is a user-friendly option to recover any data.
What needs improvement?
When we started using Commvault, we felt that there were some technical issues with managing it, but we are comfortable enough with managing it now. There were many issues, like index corrupting, when we first started, but all those issues were resolved by the Commvault tech team.
Its major disadvantage is it's expensive. Otherwise, the solution is good.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for the last six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is very good.
How are customer service and support?
We use a third-party to resolve issues first. They first try for L1 or L2 support. If they are unable to fix it, then they escalate it to Commvault technical support.
The support is very good. I would rate them as eight out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using Symantec Backup, which did not have features like centralized management. Commvault has a centralized, single console where you can manage multiple locations of user's desktop data, which is one of the important features of Commvault.
We switched to Commvault because we were looking to centralize management. This reduced IT administrator time as well as providing stability and reliability for data backups in a single console, and we didn't get these features from Symantec.
What was our ROI?
It reduces IT man-hours by an hour per day.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost for Commvault is very expensive, even support is very expensive. The full cost of the solution is 50,000 INR per year, which includes 20 VM backups, server data backup, and 200 desktop and laptop agent licenses.
They have recurring support changes.
They should reduce the support and license costs so anyone could start using Commvault. Due to its cost, customers are reluctant to use Commvault.
The first time, when building infrastructure, the cost is quite high.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Veeam and Veritas NetBackup.
We chose Commvault based on some customer feedback and technical reviews of Commvault. The main difference of Commvault is the single console to manage everything.
What other advice do I have?
Go for Commvault. It is a very strong, stable solution. Technically, it is a very reliable solution with a single window console to manage all backups. Definitely, we recommend customers should go for Commvault. Though, it would be nice if Commvault could compromise on the pricing part.
I spend two hours every day on Commvault monitoring and managing performance as well as fine-tuning.
We implemented on-premises, so it is not connected to any public networks. Therefore, hacking is very difficult.
I would rate Commvault as eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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Updated: April 2025
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