Dell NetWorker vs IBM Spectrum Protect comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Dell Technologies is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.9, while IBM is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.1. Dell Technologies holds a 3.1% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Dell NetWorker

Read 84 Dell NetWorker reviews

4,803 Views
4,084 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

3,808 Views
2,925 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Dell NetWorker

IBM Spectrum Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and Dell NetWorker compete in the data protection solutions category. Users generally rate IBM Spectrum Protect higher for pricing and support, but Dell NetWorker's features often make it a preferred investment.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect is praised for its scalability, extensive platform support, and cost-effectiveness. Dell NetWorker is noted for its advanced integration capabilities, comprehensive reporting, and user-friendliness.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect users suggest enhancements in speed, modernizing backend processes, and better user interface customization. Dell NetWorker users seek improvements in backup and recovery speeds, better documentation, and improved security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is described as complex to deploy but has robust customer service. Dell NetWorker offers a simpler deployment process yet has mixed reviews regarding customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is considered cost-effective with a good ROI. Dell NetWorker's higher setup costs are balanced by its robust features and perceived long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

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

Dell NetWorker

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

11th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Spectrum Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, 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%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

ErmiasGirma

System and Cloud Deployment Engineer at Safaricom Ethiopia plc

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…

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Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

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.

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 extensive information provided on tool properties has been very useful, specifically the information on databases"

"Simple, stable and straightforward."

"It is scalable software. All you need to increase is its RAM and CPU. It's pretty easy."

"The solution is very stable, especially if you are using a RAC environment."

"This solution is very stable."

"Very user-friendly with a good interface."

"There are no problems in terms of stability."

"Dell NetWorker's user interface is quite simple and very interactive."

More Dell NetWorker pros

"The solution is not complex, it's very easy to configure agents or VM backup and restore. Upgrades from one version to another are very fast and the product is very stable."

"IBM support is friendly, knowledgeable, and they always respond quickly. They've always been able to find the cause of my problem."

"Every time we go and try to get a file, we can get it. Restores are quick and the data is always there."

"We have better, faster backup times, and it has improved efficiency in the backups."

"It saves you a lot of storage."

"Because of the flexible parameters, everything can be fine-tuned to the customers’ needs in their environment."

"The best part of this solution is that it just works."

"Data archiving is easier and less time-consuming."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

Cons

"There are too many reboots and the software requires constant updating."

"Support is definitely an area of concern because of the time it takes to resolve our issues."

"The user interface of this solution could be improved. It is not user friendly and is difficult to understand for new users. New users struggle to understand the logic."

"The data storage capabilities should be improved."

"I would like to see the user interface improved, more documentation, faster support, and it could be easier to configure."

"Reporting and support for this product need to be improved. There are multiple bugs that need to be fixed."

"They need more support for image backups."

"The process of upgrading versions should be improved because as it is now, you have to completely uninstall the old version first, and then install the new version."

More Dell NetWorker cons

"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."

"IBM Spectrum Protect is not a very user-friendly tool."

"The solution should have better integration with VMware and with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus."

"It does what we need it to do, but it could be better with VM backups. It could be better integrated with virtual machines or VM backups, but that's why they have their Plus out now. Plus version is more geared toward VM backups. The regular version is more for endpoint clients."

"The software is complex; setup is complex."

"We would like to see bare-metal restorers."

"There needs to be a bit more automation."

"I would not recommend the tool to others because it is a really complex product."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is pricey."

"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."

"They are not cheap."

"There is a licensing fee."

"The pricing for the telecom, government, and banking sectors is relatively affordable."

"It is inexpensive compared to new products."

"It is a relatively inexpensive product compared to one of its competitors."

"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."

More Dell NetWorker pricing and cost advice

"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."

"The product is low cost. It is very cool when we design it to using licensing based on post capacity."

"The pricing is a little expensive for our current employer, so they want to move to a cheaper solution."

"We have been at our size for a few years. We are not really looking to battle the licensing costs, as this is our primary system."

"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."

"That's a hard estimate. It depends on the licensing, the hardware, and other stuff, but it is fairly expensive. It is generally more expensive than other solutions."

"The licensing fees are between $8,000 and $10,000 per year."

"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive and there is only a standard licensing fee."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 both pricing and setup, this product offers an experience that is significantly...

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What do you like most about Dell NetWorker?

The feature that offers the greatest benefits in ensuring data integrity is its backup capability.

See all answers

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 available, but our customer is not comfortable switching to it. A five to seven perce...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect?

IBM Spectrum Protect is stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect?

It's expensive. I acknowledge the cost associated with it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 31% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 14% of the time

Dell Avamar vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 11% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 8% of the time

Azure Backup vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell NetWorker Competitors

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 18% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 18% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 10% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 10% of the time

Cohesity DataProtect vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker

May 2025

Download Dell NetWorker product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

April 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Also Known As

NetWorker

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Overview

Built on a reputation of efficiency and reliability, thousands of customers trust Dell NetWorker to protect their data and applications across multiple environments, from core to edge to cloud.

Inherently flexible, NetWorker helps you deploy and leverage the data protection that fits your needs. NetWorker protects both physical and virtual environments, including VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V, as well as cloud workloads on AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

NetWorker is available as part of Dell Data Protection Suite, which offers comprehensive data protection software applications and tools. NetWorker is delivered as software and as a virtual edition.

Dell Technologies

IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. It is the flagship product in the IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) family. It enables reliable, cost effective backups and fast recovery for virtual, physical and cloud environments of all sizes.

IBM

Sample Customers

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

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

April 2025

Free Report: Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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