Carbonite Server vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

OpenText and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. OpenText is ranked #31 with an average rating of 9.0, while IBM is ranked #22 with an average rating of 7.8. OpenText holds a 0.6% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Carbonite Server

Read 7 Carbonite Server reviews

1,029 Views
857 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Read 30 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus reviews

1,837 Views
1,332 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Carbonite Server

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and Carbonite Server are prominent data protection solutions. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus has the upper hand with advanced features and robust support, while Carbonite Server stands out for cost-effectiveness and ease of deployment.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus users value comprehensive backup and recovery capabilities, integration with virtual environments, and a robust feature set. Carbonite Server users find simplicity, quick recovery times, and straightforward deployment beneficial.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus users highlight complexity, occasional performance issues, and a steep learning curve. Carbonite Server users seek enhanced scalability, versatile data recovery options, and broader functionality.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus has a more involved deployment process but offers strong customer service. Carbonite Server provides easier deployment and adequate customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus has higher initial setup costs but delivers substantial ROI through extensive capabilities. Carbonite Server is cost-effective, offering reasonable ROI given its feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

April 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:

Categories and Ranking

Carbonite Server

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

31st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Backup (21st)

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

22nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Carbonite Server is 0.6%, up from 0.6% 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

Dale Dirkes

President at DIAD Consulting, Inc.

A simple, efficient, reliable product

The efficiency and convenience are excellent. The pricing is very good. It shows you what has been updated via little green dots. The solution is very automatic. I don't have to worry about it. It was easy to set up. Technical support has been helpful in the past. The solution has been problem-free.

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Atif Najam

Chief Information Officer and Program Lead at Gatron Industries Ltd

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very stable."

"The solution is a free engine to help work with the container."

"Technical support handled all our issues quickly and effectively."

"I find the BMR/image and the recovery pieces are valuable."

"The Granular Restore of SQL feature has been a lifesaver more times than I can count. One of the main reasons for looking at Carbonite was their support for platforms like AIX and AS/400 Series."

"It does not slow down your computer or use a lot of resources as it works."

"It seems reliable and easy to use."

"Easy verification of things is the most valuable feature."

More Carbonite Server pros

"The most valuable feature is how we can easily power speed up the VM even though the VM resides in remote storage."

"The initial setup of IBM Protect Plus is simple and not complex."

"The most valuable features of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are you have many possibilities on how to use it. We use it for backups and to create secondary and third copies. It is possible to pick up Kubernetes containers and use a different cloud provider if you need to start backups on the cloud."

"There is protection against disasters with good, fast, reliable recovery options."

"The API is very good."

"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 solution is scalable and can be fitted for any customer."

"The solution offers a very straightforward deployment. You click, click, click and it's done. There's not much configuration to do."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pros

Cons

"They do not yet have USB recovery but they are adding it in coming releases."

"The Hyper-V backup has room for improvement."

"The only thing that I would like to see improved is related to marketing. Currently, it is very difficult to find the right paper and stuff for me. Their marketing department should provide better information because currently, it is very difficult to find information on the internet. It was bought over by OpenText, and you won't be able to find a lot of information about this solution on their site. They should also provide training facilities for commercial purposes. Some of my colleagues recently went for pilot training, and they were technical. If I want to get trained, the training has to be more commercial. Currently, there is no such training for users like me."

"It could be a little bit easier or faster to be able to access data files without having to download anything."

"The stability has room for improvement."

"The support for object storage isn't quite there yet. Its public cloud support can be improved. I would love to see the public cloud support for object storage, and it would be great, but what I always hear from the folks at Carbonite is that in a lot of cases, it directly competes with their cloud offering. So, I don't know when or where that will go or if that will go anywhere, but we are hopeful to see something. The dashboard is a little outdated. If they gave it a facelift and put some better design around their dashboard, that would be tremendous. I generally care less about the visual aesthetics of an application as long as it does what it needed to do, which is true in the case of this solution. We also have the Microsoft 365 platform. Because they're two separate platforms, I have to log in to my Microsoft platform to manage it, and I have to log into my Carbonite server backup platform to manage it. Having these two coexist together in one management console is really what we're looking for, but we went for it knowing this. We also knew that there would be some integration coming down the road. So, we're again hoping to see some of that coming in 2021."

"In the next release I would like to see an improvement in the auto failover option."

"There could be better integration with Spectrum Protect and Spectrum Protect Plus, it should be one solution."

"Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface."

"The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots."

"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."

"There's significant room for improvement. They are not yet where I want them to be."

"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."

"Not particularly user friendly."

"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."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay 9,000 dollars per year for our license."

"The pricing is between $120 and $150 per year."

"Its price is reasonable."

"The solution is open source."

"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."

"The price is lower than that of some competing products."

"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."

"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."

"In addition to the standard licensing fees, we paid for implementation and training."

"The solution is too expensive."

"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

24%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Carbonite Server?

I find the BMR/image and the recovery pieces are valuable.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Carbonite Server?

The pricing is quite reasonable. I'd rate the affordability nine out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Carbonite Server?

The ability to perform instant recovery would be a game changer. For a large user base, the creation of user accounts at this time is a little cumbersome, there isn't any Single-Sign-On (SSO) integ...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Backup

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

April 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect Plus product report

Also Known As

Carbonite Recover Backup

No data available

Overview

Carbonite Server securely replicates data to the local backup server while securing a second copy in the cloud. Granular restore and local failover options ensure rapid recovery and minimal data loss. With integrated hardware and cloud failover for critical systems, Carbonite Server provides reliable data protection.

OpenText

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a data protection and availability solution for virtual environments that can be deployed in minutes and protect your environment within an hour. It simplifies data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It can be implemented as a stand-alone solution or integrate with your IBM Spectrum Protect environment to off-load copies for long term storage and data governance with scale and efficiency.

IBM

Sample Customers

INLINE Commercial Construction, Hamilton County

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio

Buyer's Guide

Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

April 2025

Free Report: Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

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