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

Azure Backup vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 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

Azure Backup
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
7th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Azure Backup is 3.6%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 0.9%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Terry Tull - PeerSpot reviewer
Straightforward to set up and manage and allows us to monitor all backups in one place
I would rate the easiness of the initial setup as an eight out of ten. Setting up Azure Backup was pretty straightforward, especially if you follow the steps in the right order. It might seem a bit complex at first, but with experience, subsequent setups become easier. Planning is key to optimizing its effectiveness. Deploying Azure Backup typically takes around half an hour to an hour to set up one VM, involving creating a recovery services vault, defining a backup policy, and configuring storage options. For a more comprehensive setup including proper recovery planning, it might take a few hours. The key steps involve creating a resource group, and a recovery services vault, selecting a storage type, and defining backup policies. I deployed the solution myself.
Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
Has very good integration features and can quickly backup data and optimize storage
I would like to see continuous data protection (CDP). If there is machine failure, you don't have to go to the backup copy that you took 12 hours ago. You can actually go back to the backup copy made half an hour ago. That is, it would be good to have certain-point-in-time recovery. I would like them to add global deduplication. With deduplicate backups, deduplication will work only with the data of a certain machine or a certain backup set. Usually, the data is repeated across the data of the backup sets. However, if IBM Spectrum Protect Plus provides a global deduplication option it will ultimately result in better storage savings.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With Azure Backup, you can readily make your environment if your setup somehow fails on the cloud or on-premises."
"I like the product's restoration cases."
"The most valuable features of Azure Backup for us are its flexible retention options and the ability to recover to a second region with geo-replication and read access."
"When it comes to Azure Backup, the advantage is that it's native and it's very easy to configure. We don't require a separate tool or manage something on a separate server. At the backend, it's managed by Microsoft itself, and we don't need to manage it."
"I like that it's a simple system."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Backup is the file recovery and file vault."
"Our client’s infrastructure is protected by the tool."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"The solution offers a very straightforward deployment. You click, click, click and it's done. There's not much configuration to do."
"Using this tool, we can easily backup and restore or recover the data for PCs and mobiles in case of system crashes."
"Some of the features we find very valuable and use a lot, are retention sets."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something."
"The solution's stability is high because it is derived from Spectrum Protect."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"The feature I find most valuable is the offload to Spectrum Protect for long-term retention. I think the deduplication and replication are quite nice on Plus."
"The API is very good."
 

Cons

"The product could improve its performance."
"The reporting functionality of Azure Backup needs improvement."
"Azure Backup's licensing model is very challenging because it doesn't give a clear picture."
"I would like to see better pricing."
"In Avamar, the file-based restores are very quick and fast, whereas, in Azure Backup, VM restore is super easy, but if I have to do a file or a folder restore, I have to mount the entire VM image. I have to wait for some time for it to be mounted, and then I have to go inside and then check the file and copy it somewhere. It's a bit of a manual process, whereas in Avamar, you can directly select a file and folder, and it'll recover with whatever permissions you want."
"On-prem can be complex to set up but the cloud is simple."
"It still does not have a lot of customization, especially if your workloads are not in Azure."
"The solution’s user interface could be improved."
"The one issue we are facing is related to file restores."
"Not particularly user friendly."
"The solution only supports HyperV and VMware but doesn't support Nutanix."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve the IBM Spectrum Protect environment. It can be difficult to administer. The initial configuration can be difficult for entry-level teams or deployment teams, and it might be difficult to integrate. There's just too much content involved in the solution. The documentation is way too large."
"An area that needs improvement is data validation. We currently use another product that gives us immediate validation, information about when the last backup was, and no risk of corruption happening. TSM in IBM Spectrum is not mature so that you can validate on the spot."
"The replication feature is not available."
"I would like to see continuous data protection (CDP). If there is machine failure, you don't have to go to the backup copy that you took 12 hours ago. You can actually go back to the backup copy made half an hour ago. That is, it would be good to have certain-point-in-time recovery."
"I would like integration into where the VMware guys can do their own restores."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pay as you go is the pricing model."
"It is a very cheap cloud solution."
"The price is pretty good, maybe $30 for a machine, I can't complain."
"The product's pricing is a three or four out of ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is costly."
"The product is neither too expensive nor too cheap."
"We have enterprise-level pricing. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"It is a bit costly initially, but it is well worth it in the long run, especially for fighting against a number of threats, such as ransomware, which the IT industry is facing."
"Azure Backup can be expensive if you are not vigilant about your storage steering."
"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."
"The price offering from IBM is coming down because it is based on number of VM machines. So, IBM is coming to the market to show the added value of the product."
"We have a perpetual license for the tool since it is deployed on-premise."
"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."
"The solution is too expensive."
"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."
"Unlike some other solutions, such as Veritas NetBackup where you have to pay for different licenses to use different features, there is a single license that allows you to use all of the features."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Azure Backup differ from Veeam Backup & Replication?
Veeam has a version for Azure but there are organizations, like ours, that are considering moving to an Azure environment and wonder if Azure Backup is better than Veeam Backup and Replication (Vee...
What do you like most about Azure Backup?
Azure Backup is easy to configure and restore.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Backup?
Azure Backup is expensive relative to the value we get from it. I do not have specific details about the licensing cost as it falls under another department.
What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
We have a perpetual license for the tool since it is deployed on-premise. We pay a fixed fee per year for support.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool mus...
 

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Russell Reynolds Associates, Somerset County Council, Kardem, PCL Construction
PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Backup vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.