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Cohesity DataProtect vs Microsoft DPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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

Cohesity DataProtect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
8th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
72
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (6th)
Microsoft DPM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
27th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Microsoft DPM is 1.2%, down from 1.3% 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.
RifkanHasan - PeerSpot reviewer
Backup and recovery that is stable but support is no longer in existence
The DPM is pretty good, but when it comes to external devices, you can't back up to the external device. It's a huge drawback because once everything goes down, it goes down fully. We can't take a snapshot and take it outside, which is a problem. Also, when it comes to recovery, the recovery process doesn't work properly. It doesn't recover. One of our drives failed and when we wanted to recover it from the other drive, it never worked. So, we couldn't recover the data. Recovery of data if the server goes down, is not very good. The DPM is good apart from the support services. We were told that the support was no longer in existence, which is why we are looking for another provider. In the next release, I would like to see backup to external devices, so it can always restore the backup and we can take it externally and store it somewhere that it is off-site and archived. Currently, it does not allow us to do that because it is required to be in one location.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's completely reliable and easy to restore."
"The customer service and support are fast and professional."
"By using their Helios Cloud service, you have all your clusters, no matter where they are located, in one web portal."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The spin-up of a VM within a test environment for backup testing along with quick restores."
"The dashboard is very rich and provides details needed for a moderator."
"The four independent node cluster architecture is redundant. It maintains data integrity and load balancing."
"Cohesity DataProtect is a converged solution that simplifies backup and allows use of the backed-up data."
"The most valuable feature is the total integration of the System Center solution."
"I could back up all the stuff we had, even the VMs we have for Hyper V."
"I like the core backup feature. I also like the file server backup feature. I find Microsoft DPM interesting because it has fantastic integration with Microsoft products. For example, in Exchange and SharePoint, DPM is excellent when it comes to backing up data. It also does a decent job with open-source products."
"It has an application backup, a file backup, a system backup and a hypervisor."
"Its capability to give a BMR for all the workstations that I want to connect to."
"The user interface is very good. The reporting and monitoring features are also good."
"The solution backs up Microsoft workloads as well as anything on the market."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
 

Cons

"The product is still young and is continually improving. There have been a couple of buggy releases in the software that have caused us minor issues, so possibly some better QA before releasing would prove to be useful. We have also been inquiring about new app and functionality via the Marketplace that was teased months back but has yet to come to fruition."
"You need to put the full name instead of a few letters while searching for backup. It should also improve customization."
"Cohesity DataProtect needs to improve its reporting capabilities."
"For Oracle DBs, we have observed a few bugs. This can be done better."
"The support team could do a better job. Sometimes finding the correct person is cumbersome and time consuming."
"We aren't missing any features. In terms of the solution overall, it's so far so good."
"This solution is only compatible with a limited number of storage arrays, including Pure and Cisco Hyperflex."
"The rack mounting instructions did not appear to be correct, but we were able to overcome it."
"To evaluate the solution's abilities and its performance under demanding conditions, it is recommended to carry out a stress test."
"It needs portability for other vendors. It is good for backing up Microsoft servers, but it doesn't support third-party solutions such as Oracle Database. It depends on Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy, especially for Hyper-V, which has a lot of problems. They should enhance the Volume Shadow Copy functionality. Its reporting should also be better. Reporting is too weak in DPM."
"The data tagging feature needs improvement. The solution could be a bit more intuitive in certain aspects."
"Compatibility and integration with other products needs improvement."
"There is a very poor online user community in terms of people blogging about their experiences with DPM."
"Setting up the solution can be complex."
"It would be better if it integrated seamlessly with open source and competitor products. In the next release, I would like to see some data governance frameworks. It should have support features for data integration and data replication like Veeam. Right now, we are also using Veeam for certain scenarios."
"Microsoft DPM could improve if it was available in a public or private cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Sizing is important and it is easy to overestimate."
"The tool's licensing costs are yearly. It is cheaper than other backup solutions."
"The tool's pricing is average."
"Licensing is per node and per protected terabyte. You will also pay 10-15% annually for support."
"The pricing model is impressive and very effective."
"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."
"If SQL is in heavy use at your location, I would highly recommend narrowing your PoC testing to Cohesity and Rubrik. They will be competitive on pricing with each other, so really put them through the paces."
"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."
"Microsoft DPM can be considered as an expensive solution for smaller or medium enterprises, but we have been satisfied with the price structure as it is fixed and it offers a variety of useful features"
"I think Microsoft DPM pricing is reasonable. The additional costs are related to storage and technical support."
"Microsoft DPM is a free solution. However, we pay approximately $3,000 annually for support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
41%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
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 protected with the product can be quickly restored to another healthy environment with m...
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 be dependent on chosen OEM and capacity required. MSPs like us utilise PPU licens...
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 systems from HP, the solution overall shifts from older methods to modern practices....
What do you like most about Microsoft DPM?
This solution helps us to manage all of the operations across servers and different workstations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft DPM?
Microsoft licensing is complex, especially for enterprise or data center solutions. However, it's not more complicated compared to other competitors and the market is well balanced.
What needs improvement with Microsoft DPM?
I am not sure if I am competent enough to address areas for improvement in Microsoft DPM.
 

Also Known As

Cohesity
DPM, Data Protection Manager, MS DPM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tribune Media
Medical Park, Centropol Energy, a.s., NCFE, D & H Distributing, Metalor, Colosseum, a.s., Sanitas S.A., Icebreaker
Find out what your peers are saying about Cohesity DataProtect vs. Microsoft DPM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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