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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
11th
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
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Azure Backup is 3.4%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 0.9%, down from 1.0% 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

"Azure Backup is good because it is entirely cloud-based, which means that you can be 99.9% sure that your backup is safe."
"With a couple of buttons, we can configure a VM for a backup and use the wall service, the storage wall service, pretty seamlessly."
"I like that it's a simple system."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Backup is its simplicity."
"The storage backup is very efficient."
"Azure Backup is easy to configure and restore."
"The best aspect of the solution is its backup functionality."
"The tool has a lot of features."
"The most valuable features are the API features because it allows you to integrate with your Microsoft SQL, your Oracle, and your IBM Db2."
"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."
"We used to use the solution with tapes a few years ago. We've switched to discs, and it has gotten much faster."
"The most valuable feature of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is the deduplication functionality. The clients moved to this solution originally because of this feature."
"There is protection against disasters with good, fast, reliable recovery options."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration with Oracle."
"The support from IBM is very good."
"Reliability, recovery features, and stability are valuable to me."
 

Cons

"The extensibility onto hybrid environments needs a bit of tweaking for those on-prem."
"On-prem can be complex to set up but the cloud is simple."
"Azure Backup must include features similar to enterprise solutions."
"Azure Backup's licensing model is very challenging because it doesn't give a clear picture."
"The solution is quite technical. I wouldn't describe it as user friendly. It could be simplified a lot to make it more accessible to the average user."
"The product must improve on a database level."
"The user interface is a little bit confusing and it could be better."
"To make it a ten, it should have the ability to extend the retention and to perform a copy of the data outside of the subscription - with no additional costs."
"The security must be improved."
"Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface."
"With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible."
"It requires much more automation features."
"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 software's technical support could improve its response time for different time zones."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve security."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is neither too expensive nor too cheap."
"Considering the fact that our company's enterprise-sized customers use the solution, the product's price is fine and is not on the higher side of the spectrum."
"We do not have any additional costs for Azure Backup."
"The product's pricing is a three or four out of ten, where one is inexpensive, and ten is costly."
"It's around $10 to $15 per month per virtual machine, along with something extra based on the size of the data."
"Support payment works by the level of partnership and the number of shares."
"The pricing of this solution is good, and it is one of the easiest things that you can sell Azure with."
"The price is somewhat high and could be lower."
"If you need to extend it, it can be extended acting like a normal Spectrum Protect with a long archive."
"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."
"I rate the price of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus a one on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap."
"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."
"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."
"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

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?
It is probably based on the number of CPUs. They are fairly expensive.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible. IBM provides these through a third party, so enhancement is needed. There's significant room for improvement. They are...
 

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: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.