Dell NetWorker vs OpenText Data Protector comparison

Dell Technologies and OpenText are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Dell Technologies is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.9, while OpenText is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.0. Dell Technologies holds a 1.7% mindshare in BRS, compared to OpenText’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

Dell NetWorker

Read 86 Dell NetWorker reviews

4,461 Views
4,060 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

OpenText Data Protector

Read 102 OpenText Data Protector reviews

2,452 Views
2,207 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Dell NetWorker

OpenText Data Protector

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

OpenText Data Protector and Dell NetWorker compete in the data protection solutions category. Dell NetWorker seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced features and faster ROI.

Features: OpenText Data Protector features seamless integration, automation capabilities, and strong reporting options. Dell NetWorker offers advanced backup options, strong scalability, and a comprehensive feature set.

Room for Improvement: OpenText Data Protector needs enhancements in reporting, support for newer platforms, and better customer support. Dell NetWorker requires improvements in the configuration process, a more intuitive management system, and better documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenText Data Protector is straightforward to deploy, though customer service can be slow. Dell NetWorker has a steeper learning curve for deployment, but customer service is responsive and helpful.

Pricing and ROI: OpenText Data Protector offers a competitive initial setup cost but has slower ROI. Dell NetWorker is pricier but delivers faster ROI due to comprehensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell NetWorker vs. OpenText Data Protector Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker vs. OpenText Data Protector

December 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

10th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

OpenText Data Protector

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

26th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 1.7%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Data Protector is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell NetWorker	1.7%
OpenText Data Protector	0.9%
Other	97.4%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

RaedHassan

Senior Specialist Backup/Storage at National Bank of Kuwait

Has supported flexible multi-platform backups and improved over time

Regarding the effectiveness of Dell NetWorker in terms of role-based access controls, I have experience with it, but I find it somewhat lacking in flexibility as it offers limited features, and I would rate it around seven out of ten. It is not that there is something wrong with the role-based access controls in Dell NetWorker, but it lacks many permissions or roles to assign, providing options only for administrator or user. To improve Dell NetWorker for the next release, I recommend enhancing flexibility in the policy, allowing selection of multiple options within the same policy, and addressing issues like the DNS lookup dependency to make it more controllable from Dell NetWorker itself rather than relying on other applications. Looking forward, I would like to see improved policy features and a more enhanced GUI, as it is still slow.

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reviewer1751496

Project Manager and Technical Consultant at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Provides effective backup for physical servers and needs improvements for cloud compatibility

We use OpenText Data Protector for Oracle database backup and some applications that run for database security OpenText Data Protector is good for physical backup, specifically for physical servers. It is effective for direct backups to EMC library or storage without using a repository. However,…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The backup capabilities and the automatization of the backup - along with the potential to make the back up on a virtual machine - are the solution's most valuable aspects."

"This solution is really the best in the market! After evaluating other solutions, we automatically decided to use this one."

"Dell NetWorker's valuable feature is its ability to configure the network for immutability, specifically for backups."

"The solution is stable."

"The initial setup is very easy. It's incredibly fast."

"The most valuable feature of Dell NetWorker is its quick configuration and handling of large databases."

"The compression ratio is very flexible for designing all the required policies for backup."

"The software’s best feature is data backup for any system."

More Dell NetWorker pros

"I like that Micro Focus keeps a separate catalog of our data."

"The initial setup is straightforward if you understand Data Protector."

"Data Protector's GUI is the most useful feature."

"The file system backup (by far, the most used) is the most valuable feature."

"Backup of SAP/Oracle -- they are more robust than the competition."

"Data Protector's granular recovery features make it easy for us to create and restore backups in an understandable and user-friendly manner. With granular recovery, any database or even just a database table can be restored at will."

"Regarding scalability, it's unlimited with Data Protector. You can link multiple installations and let them work together. They can share backup devices. You have many possibilities with Data Protector. It's very proficient."

"Deduplication implementation with CAPA is very good."

More OpenText Data Protector pros

Cons

"Reporting templates could be easier to understand and more comprehensive."

"In some cases, solutions are not found in one method of call and it escalates to many levels until an experienced person can join to resolve the issue."

"We encountered challenges during the solution's deployment, particularly integrating our database system and Microsoft Exchange. This area needs improvement."

"Its console UI should be better. It should also have more out-of-the-box reporting functionalities. It should also have easier cloud integration. They have got cloud boost and things like that, but if you want to directly back up to the cloud, I'm not too sure whether you can do it. For example, you can easily send data from Commvault to AWS, Azure, or a container, but it seems to be not so easy in NetWorker."

"It is not easy to understand and deploy. It is complex in nature. Simplicity is not there. When we deploy it, the customer always needs some training from us. To make it user friendly, there should be one agent that can be used to back up every product. Dell EMC NetWorker uses so many user agents. In PowerProtect Data Manager, you can just install its VM, import that VM into vCenter, and you can start to do backups directly from vCenter. However, in Dell EMC NetWorker, you always need one server, and from that server, you need to initiate all backups. You must know the interface and the CLI. It is not user friendly. It would be a great feature if we can deploy Dell EMC NetWorker on a virtual machine, like Avamar. The additional features that are required in Dell EMC NetWorker are already available in PowerProtect Data Manager and Avamar. Therefore, there is no need to enhance Dell EMC NetWorker. It would be better if they can just rename it to PowerProtect Data Manager or Avamar."

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

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

"The initial setup is complex."

More Dell NetWorker cons

"Other tools seem to be easier to use."

"It has a lot of undeveloped functions like window searching and patent searching, and within the main backup processes like VMware and Microsoft Exchange. It's completely not user-friendly, and it has no built-in antivirus software. In my opinion, Micro Focus Data Protector is not an enterprise level solution."

"It can occasionally be inaccurate in its backup/recovery time estimates."

"Recently, clients have raised concerns about the lack of comprehensive documentation for Data Protector."

"We have a lot of requests for the Micro Focus team, particularly in terms of the Japanese data pattern, as it's not as good now. The Japanese data pattern accuracy of the Micro Focus Data Protector needs to be improved because there are a lot of false negatives and false positives. We are currently testing this and our product team has been communicating with the Micro Focus team."

"We're not satisfied with the robustness and stability of the software since Micro Focus took it in-house. The GUI is one thing they could improve. It's still a bit archaic. Data Protector needs a more functional, user-friendly GUI."

"Many of our users complain about the GUI. You still need to rely on the command line interface. Because it originated as a Unix system, Data Protector is still a command line-driven solution, which makes it seem rather dated compared to systems that are built around a GUI from day one. It doesn't affect the functionality, but some people don't find it user-friendly."

"Microfocus needs to build a partnership with other vendors in addition to HPE as far as cloud consolidation of backups."

More OpenText Data Protector cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a licensing fee."

"It is excellent from the pricing point of view. It is free with Data Protection Suite. Similarly, when you purchase Avamar, Dell EMC NetWorker is free with one terabyte license capacity. Its price is very competitive."

"It is not very expensive and not very cheap."

"The price of the license could be cheaper and it would be a benefit if they came up with a new pricing model. The competitors here in Oman sell universal licensing where a number of virtual machines are hosted at the customer place which can be licensed, or you can license the CPU sockets in those servers. However, NetWorker offers only CPU sockets or overall storage capacity to backup, but there is no universal licensing where you can provide a number of VMs. They should offer more options to stay competitive with other solutions, such as Veeam."

"Low cost is key."

"The solution follows a subscription model for licensing. We pay annually to use the solution and the price is high."

"Dell NetWorker has two types of licensing models."

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

More Dell NetWorker pricing and cost advice

"The solution requires paying for a license."

"The licensing structure provides cost savings to business."

"It is fast, reliable, and its licensing policy is great."

"It is more affordable compared to other vendors."

"In Data Protector, if you need extra features, you need to buy the agents for these features. Some of the features are Terabytes, some of them are agents. There's some complexity in the pricing and licensing."

"Pricing/licensing is Data Protector's single best offering. In its most basic environment, the only license required is for whatever target device is required."

"The pricing is around $3,000 to $5,000. The charge additionally for support and to scale."

"They have two types of licensing, one is for storage capacity and the other is client licensing. The capacity licensing here is a bit expensive."

More OpenText Data Protector pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	38

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	28
Midsize Enterprise	22
Large Enterprise	61

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?

Regarding the pricing of Dell NetWorker, it depends on the deal or negotiation we have with the vendor, making it reasonable, although I cannot make a definitive decision without knowing the specif...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Data Protector?

The solution is expensive as it requires purchasing all features without the option to negotiate based on client numbers, unlike Veeam which offers flexibility in pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Micro Focus Data Protector?

OpenText Data Protector is not user-friendly, especially for cloud backup. It lacks functions and facilities compared to Veeam, which offers more user-friendliness for virtual machine backups. Ther...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Data Protector?

We use OpenText Data Protector ( /products/opentext-data-protector-reviews ) for Oracle database backup and some applications that run for database security.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 24% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 13% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 7% of the time

Rubrik vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 5% of the time

More Dell NetWorker Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 20% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 8% of the time

Dell Avamar vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 5% of the time

Veritas NetBackup vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 5% of the time

Cohesity DataProtect vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 3% of the time

More OpenText Data Protector Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker

January 2026

Download Dell NetWorker product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Data Protector

January 2026

Download OpenText Data Protector product report

Also Known As

NetWorker

Micro Focus Data Protector, Data Protector, OmniBack, HPE Data Protector

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

OpenText Data Protector standardizes and consolidates backups across multiple platforms. It provides secure, comprehensive backup protection for business-critical data and applications whether virtual, physical, or online in the cloud.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Republic Bank, Westgate Resorts, Macquire Cloud Services, Shriners, Panatonni, Qatar Islamic Bank, Eurosport

GSK Vaccines, Repsol, Vodafone Group, Siemens AG, Medium Enterprise Transportation Services Company

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker vs. OpenText Data Protector

December 2025

Free Report: Dell NetWorker vs. OpenText Data Protector

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell NetWorker vs. OpenText Data Protector and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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