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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
10th
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
23rd
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 February 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 1.6%, 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 Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell NetWorker1.6%
OpenText Data Protector1.0%
Other97.4%
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.
reviewer1751496 - PeerSpot reviewer
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,…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The standout feature of Dell NetWorker is its expertise in handling our VMware environment."
"The main advantages of the product are price and support."
"NetWorker is easy to install on clients and servers, and making backups from server to storage and backup devices is straightforward."
"Dell EMC NetWorker is scalable."
"The initial setup is simple."
"NetWorker is fast and reliable."
"The solution is very user-friendly. After setting up five machines for our customers we teach them how to set up the agent and start doing their backups. It is very easy for them once they see how to do it, they like to do it on their own."
"The best feature of Dell EMC NetWorker is its wide spectrum of available plugins for each and every software that you can back up, such as SAP HANA, Oracle, AXI-based machines, or Dell-based machines. Whatever you want to back up, you can do it with Dell EMC NetWorker. It is a very solid backup software. It is the oldest backup software from EMC, and it comes from Dell EMC's legacy."
"Data Protector is quite simple and easy to deploy. The deployment is always the same. It's on a server, and the agents are deployed to the machines in a straightforward way. We have two engineers who deploy and manage all our backup solutions."
"The installation was simple and provided an easy way to install even on Unix servers. It has excellent features like deduplication."
"I haven't experienced any crashes while using the solution...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The dashboards in Micro Focus Data Protector are very good. They are similar to the dashboards in Veeam Backup & Replication."
"It is very easy to use and the interaction with various systems is very handy."
"What we find most valuable in Micro Focus Data Protector is that it provides Japanese data protection, for example, it protects information such as the full Japanese name, address, etc."
"It is a traditional backup model. If you talk about file server and the official Windows database, it's a stable product."
"The initial setup is straightforward if you understand Data Protector."
 

Cons

"They need to be compatible with the cloud because EMC NetWorker cannot compete with other products at the moment. EMC focuses only on their own cloud and do not take into consideration other cloud vendors."
"The licensing rules are difficult to navigate and understand."
"The graphical user interface (GUI) of NetWorker needs improvement."
"The price could be cheaper."
"NetWorker sometimes has issues with the backup not starting and with connecting to the Oracle servers."
"Reporting templates could be easier to understand and more comprehensive."
"Management of the software is a little bit hazy and not easy."
"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."
"The technical support was very slow."
"We face challenges with its stability."
"They should design the solution so that it is much easier for deployment and make the UI easy to use."
"I would like to see a better user interface in the next release."
"Recently, clients have raised concerns about the lack of comprehensive documentation for Data Protector."
"The interface has been the same for many years and needs to be updated"
"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."
"The solution is not intuitive enough. I think they should work on the user experience and the graphical interface. These can be a lot better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have a capacity-based license, but I don't know the exact cost of that license."
"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."
"You have to buy the deduplication software separately from the license."
"The pricing is okay."
"They are not cheap."
"The price is a little on the high side, but it's reliable and provides a good service."
"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."
"The pricing of this solution is very good."
"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."
"The license for the solution is very expensive compared to the other products in the market."
"The licensing cost was not annual. We didn't pay any license. We paid when we deployed and we didn't pay for anything after that. There were no additional fees after the initial payment."
"The pricing is neither too expensive nor very cheap."
"The pricing is around $3,000 to $5,000. The charge additionally for support and to scale."
"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 licensing cost is too high."
"Avoid using many LTO drives; when using fewer drives, the price will be extremely good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Marketing Services Firm
13%
Performing Arts
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

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 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?
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 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: February 2026.
881,821 professionals have used our research since 2012.