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Cohesity DataProtect vs Dell NetWorker vs IBM Spectrum Protect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Cohesity DataProtect is 3.5%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 3.1%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Giovanni Golinelli. - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, offers good scalability and responsive support
The deployment depends on the environment. Deploying on VMs is relatively simple. But for most of our customers, we implement physical clusters with at least three configured hosts using the existing model. So, it depends on the setup. Implementing DataProtect itself wasn't particularly challenging. One key requirement for successful DataProtect deployment is proper network configuration. If the network setup isn't right, you won't achieve optimal performance. We have developed a service for some of our customers where they implement an appliance or physical cluster of Cohesity at the customer site. Then, we use cloud clustering to replicate, and even in production, a second copy of the protected data. And in some cases, we have developed some disaster recovery procedures using Cohesity.
ErmiasGirma - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers seamless integration and cost-saving benefits with enhanced recovery capabilities
Currently, in my organization, I am using Dell NetWorker for open-source solutions like PostgreSQL and MySQL databases, and some large VM environments. It also supports the Dell library and is used for the library archiving system Dell NetWorker allows for extensive customization, supporting…
Syed Habib - PeerSpot reviewer
Manageable and comprehensive and integrates robust backup features for core banking
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum. This is why I am searching for another solution. The product also lacks any centralized graphical user interface (GUI), such as Jarek Pod, and I am limited to using a console-based text user interface, which my local partner handles completely.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most valuable features is the restore functionality that they offer."
"Instead of four different solutions for protecting VMs, physical servers, SQL, and NAS, we now have one solution with Cohesity that is lightning fast and has amazing features."
"The solution is stable, with regular updates and patching."
"Its flexibility is the most valuable. Being a cloud version, it has more flexibility, and it allows me to incorporate different workloads and consolidate all the data in one place. It has good high availability, and it is also easy to maintain."
"The four independent node cluster architecture is redundant. It maintains data integrity and load balancing."
"Its most valuable feature is its ransomware protection, so it has immutable backups."
"The spin-up of a VM within a test environment for backup testing along with quick restores."
"We are happy with the support provided by Cohesity for the issues we've come across."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The response time of the tech support is swift. The support is fantastic."
"If it's set up the right way, it's a stable product."
"Deduplication is the most valuable feature of this solution."
"Simple, stable and straightforward."
"Dell NetWorker's valuable feature is its ability to configure the network for immutability, specifically for backups."
"Anybody could drive the GUI."
"The GUI is user-friendly."
"From a tech perspective, utilizing deduplication is one of the most valuable features."
"We optimize our costs of media and storage use, thanks to the Incremental Forever backup. The TDP software provides us many ways to protect our data, so we don't need to use monstrous scripts for doing backups now."
"The most valuable features of Spectrum Protect would be the compression and the deduplication."
"The technical support for Spectrum Protect is very mature. It is very committed to giving a top-notch support experience."
"Their GUI has improved quite a bit. It's made the solution a lot simpler and less complex."
"Scalability, performance, mass platform coverage. It's one of the few backup products on the market right now which an organization can bring in and it will serve all of their backup needs. It's a completely centralized solution."
"The interface is easy to use."
"The ability to use S3 Data Store as a repository."
 

Cons

"You need to put the full name instead of a few letters while searching for backup. It should also improve customization."
"Since it is an evolving product, there are lot of frequent releases which require upgrades to be done every other weekend."
"We are highly dissatisfied with the level of support and functionality provided for HANA within the Cohesity product."
"I would like to see Microsoft Exchange DAG supported as soon as possible."
"The support from Cohesity is good, but it is not as exceptional as Nutanix."
"There is room for improvement in terms of price."
"The GUI is in need of improvement."
"The support is pretty bad."
"The deduplication needs improvement and it could use better integration."
"Could have a better recovery system."
"The data storage capabilities should be improved."
"We have faced problems with the initial configuration of the solution."
"Dell NetWorker could improve the GUI to include rack recovery."
"There are some limitations regarding scalability of the product."
"The price could be cheaper."
"It's not easy to integrate. We have to read a lot of documentation in order to configure the solution."
"The solution needs to work on disaster recovery integration. Basically, VMware applications to the cloud, for example. There needs to be integration with the storage, and integration with VMware."
"Getting technical support all the necessary diagnostic information is still very painful."
"The GUI has long been a problem for TSM/Spectrum Protect."
"We would like to see bare-metal restorers."
"I want a better user interface, support, and integrations."
"The installation process could be simplified."
"Better integration with other tools and databases is needed."
"Although I am not a technical user, I would say the cloud integration features could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Ensure that you understand the per TB licensing model. Also, Exchange backups are not native to Cohesity and require Kroll."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Sizing is important and it is easy to overestimate."
"There is monthly licensing."
"The solution's pricing is in the mid-range, where it's neither costly nor cheap."
"The solution's pricing is quite high, more so than that of its competitors, Veeam, Veritas and Rubrik."
"With respect to pricing, make sure that you look at both Rubrik and Cohesity as they are very similar and are quite competitive."
"From my last assessment, the pricing for Cohesity DataProtect was reasonable. Compared to its closest competitor, Rubrik, I found Rubrik's pricing to be somewhat high-end. While Rubrik may have more advanced security features than Cohesity DataProtect currently, Cohesity DataProtect is releasing a new solution in the near future that will compete directly with Rubrik."
"The pricing of the solution is not the cheapest compared to other similar solutions. The Networker is available as a component of the Dell EMC Data Protection Suite package and it should have the ability to be purchased separately."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"Low cost is key."
"You have to buy the deduplication software separately from the license."
"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."
"The solution follows a subscription model for licensing. We pay annually to use the solution and the price is high."
"We do need to purchase a license, but sometimes, it comes as a part of the Dell Data Protection Suite (DPS). It has a capacity-based licensing."
"It is a relatively inexpensive product compared to one of its competitors."
"The pricing model of this solution is another difficult area, it's very sophisticated in the way they charge. It's based on PBU, which is a type of processor, how, many processors, and you need to put everything into an equation. However, they have different ways of charging or licensing. One way is a back-end volume or front-end volume, which is quite complicated."
"The product is not cheap."
"The license model that they have at IBM, which is due to volume, from a certain volume onward is not the right license model."
"Its licensing is complicated. It goes by CPUs, and it is pretty expensive as well."
"License-wise regarding IBM, it's licensed per terabyte. And that is after compression and deduplication."
"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."
"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective."
"It is fairly reasonable as compared to other solutions in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
41%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cohesity DataProtect?
Several features enable us to perform fast recovery, such as instant fast recovery. All our virtual machines protecte...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cohesity DataProtect?
Typically on-premises nodes/clusters are deployed for primary backup (to enable instant mass restore) so price will b...
What needs improvement with Cohesity DataProtect?
While there are improvements to be made, such as providing support for older systems like IBM iSeries and tandem syst...
What's the difference between Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC NetWorker?
From the very beginning, Dell EMC NetWorker considers users and those who might potentially become users. In terms of...
What do you like most about Dell NetWorker?
The feature that offers the greatest benefits in ensuring data integrity is its backup capability.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell NetWorker?
The licensing cost is somewhat expensive. While we use a traditional license, there is a capacity-based license avail...
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible w...
 

Also Known As

Cohesity
NetWorker
IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tribune Media
Republic Bank, Westgate Resorts, Macquire Cloud Services, Shriners, Panatonni, Qatar Islamic Bank, Eurosport
CERN, Einstein Healthcare, Nyherji, Allianz Australia, TZM, ABT Online, NCT, Kindred Healthcare Inc., Cobalt Iron, TransGrid, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Cash America, Piedmont Healthcare, RWGV, Arkansas Tech University, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.