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Dell NetWorker vs OpenText Data Protector comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

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
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
OpenText Data Protector
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
22nd
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 April 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 1.3%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Data Protector is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell NetWorker1.3%
OpenText Data Protector1.0%
Other97.7%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

RaedHassan - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Ahmad-Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager And Technical Consultant at EEMC
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,…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has minimized the recovery time objective, and the recovery point objective, the RTO and RPO, and has helped customers minimize downtime."
"Dell NetWorker allows for extensive customization, supporting various open-source databases like PostgreSQL."
"Dell NetWorker's valuable feature is its ability to configure the network for immutability, specifically for backups."
"Technical support from Dell is excellent."
"It is scalable software. All you need to increase is its RAM and CPU. It's pretty easy."
"NetWorker is fast and reliable."
"Storage-wise, EMC is user-friendly."
"The standout feature of Dell NetWorker is its expertise in handling our VMware environment."
"Since HP Data Protector has the capability to do seamless integration with each of the OS's and hypervisors, this makes it a complete solution for my environment."
"It is the best solution for general operations like backup and restore."
"Huge, simply eliminating the need for tape changers returned the cost of the hardware within less than half a year."
"The stability of the solution is quite good."
"The organizations I work with that use the product are actually managing to get a higher availability figure."
"A few of the most valuable features for us are backup and restore, the SQL databases, and the exchange and VM's on tape libraries and disks."
"The command-line interface is user-friendly and well documented in the reference guide."
"From a data protection standpoint, HPE Data Protector reduced our and our customer’s recovery time, and it also gave them an advantage in the industry in that they are able fall back quicker."
 

Cons

"They cannot perform an incremental backup using VSS technology for SharePoint or MS SQL Server."
"The licensing rules are difficult to navigate and understand."
"They have many different products but they don't integrate all of the features into one product."
"The solution could be graphically better."
"Native reports are not really user-friendly."
"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."
"Since they are going to stop developing this solution, I cannot recommend it to others."
"This is a highly scalable solution, but on a larger scale, it is not very stable."
"In general, you can say that Micro Focus Data Protector is behind in capabilities when compared with other backup solutions, such as Commvault, Symantec, NetBackup, but it is very strong for certain use cases such as array integration. We are using it in production even now. There should be some kind of cloud integration and archiving solutions. I think this is the area they need to focus on."
"What we wanted was disk-to-disk replication. After we got that nailed down, we then wanted to replicate from disk to tape. We were told that we can't do that, and then we were told it doesn't let you do it unless you buy it with a license."
"Support is poor, I would rate it a two out of five."
"The technical support was very slow."
"We would like to have a direct plugin to VMware. It could also be simplified, made more usable and manageable."
"Faster VEAgent Restores"
"This tool is also missing some configurations and functionalities that I want."
"I do not think that this solution is relevant in the current IT market. They have not upgraded their features and functionalities which makes it difficult for them to remain competitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of this solution is very good."
"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."
"We use a license without a time term. We just need to buy additional support when needed."
"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."
"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."
"It is a relatively inexpensive product compared to one of its competitors."
"Dell EMC NetWorker is very expensive."
"The pricing for the telecom, government, and banking sectors is relatively affordable."
"Pricing for Micro Focus Data Protector is reasonable."
"The pricing is neither too expensive nor very cheap."
"There is a perpetual license involved in addition to support which needs to be renewed annually."
"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."
"It is more affordable compared to other vendors."
"Avoid using many LTO drives; when using fewer drives, the price will be extremely good."
"The pricing is acceptable for enterprise level companies, but it's not acceptable for small- and medium-sized businesses. Micro Focus Data Protector is not an enterprise level solution, and it should cover small- and medium-sized businesses with acceptable prices."
"The license for the solution is very expensive compared to the other products in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise38
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise61
 

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...
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...
What needs improvement with Dell NetWorker?
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 w...
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.
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...
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.
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell NetWorker vs. OpenText Data Protector and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,576 professionals have used our research since 2012.