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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
21st
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 May 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 software implementation takes about 30 minutes."
"When you reach out to your maximum license availability, or you exceed your license limit, NetWorker never stops doing your backups."
"Technical support for this solution is very good; they are nice people and whenever we need support, they turn up and investigate, and within an hour they will start an investigation."
"Technical support for this solution is very good."
"Networker with Data Domain has a great value in integration with VMware regarding the enhanced backup window and high value of deduplication and capacity saving we can get with this setup especially in case of protecting high number of VMs."
"There are no problems in terms of stability."
"The most valuable features for us at the moment are NFS, file system backup, and IP backup."
"The solution is very stable, especially if you are using a RAC environment."
"It is really easy to backup and restore your data across all servers, something that IBM Spectrum Protect struggles to do."
"It is our enterprise backup solution centralizing all backup needs."
"This solution is quite stable because we have only three users."
"The tool's most valuable aspect is its ease of management. It was not complex. In terms of features, I can mention a couple of things. For example, if you need to restore a VM, you can do it with multiple streams in OpenText Data Protector, which is an advantage over Commvault, from what I've noticed, having worked with multiple tools. Another thing is the Oracle backups; configuring Oracle backups is much easier in OpenText Data Protector."
"It is the best solution for general operations like backup and restore."
"It has the ability to backup both DB2 (IBM's RDBMS) and HP-UX (HP's Unix OS)."
"Data Protector is very good at automation; from the time of the backup, verification, and copy to tape, it is very good, and I don't need to touch it because it will do it by itself."
"Originally, the benefit from Data Protector was that it fitted in because we buy HPE storage."
 

Cons

"The management of Dell Networker is quite cumbersome because we have to operate on a separate interface for reporting backup jobs."
"NetWorker’s code needs improvement. There are so many bugs in each version, so I have to wait until the last cumulative hotfix of each service pack is released, to be sure that I will not affect production and create more work for myself."
"This is a highly scalable solution, but on a larger scale, it is not very stable."
"The front end of the solution could improve. The user-friendliness is lacking."
"The interface is the same, so when we are trying to troubleshoot the logs, it doesn't display properly."
"The deduplication needs improvement and it could use better integration."
"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."
"NetWorker sometimes has issues with the backup not starting and with connecting to the Oracle servers."
"Technical support is very poor and I would rate it as 1/10. The response from L1 is very slow and there is no handover when the engineer finishes the shift."
"I don't use it today on a regular basis, but there are always feature improvements that our customers are looking for, such as more integration from an API perspective with different applications and cloud platforms."
"The GUI needs to be easier to administrate. Also, it should have better access to more materials to help understanding the product (like the difference between INCR and INCR1, etc. and how it works)."
"This product needs a lot of improvement both on the technical side and in its pricing and compatibility."
"The downside of the flexibility on offer is if you over-configure it, it may fail to function as some configurations may not match."
"A lot of internal database corruptions (sometimes it becomes serious); the user has to back up the IDB daily and do the daily maintenance."
"Virtualization."
"Many of our users complain about the GUI. You still need to rely on the command line interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Dell NetWorker is an expensive solution. None of the backup products are cheap. The licensing model offered is usually a five-year one."
"It is a relatively inexpensive product compared to one of its competitors."
"They are not cheap."
"The pricing for the telecom, government, and banking sectors is relatively affordable."
"Earlier, users had to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs of the product. The licenses were expensive but users used to get the best device to use."
"The price is a little on the high side, but it's reliable and provides a good service."
"Dell EMC NetWorker is very expensive."
"It is inexpensive compared to new products."
"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."
"It is fast, reliable, and its licensing policy is great."
"The licensing cost is too high."
"The license for the solution is very expensive compared to the other products in the market."
"It is more affordable compared to other vendors."
"Our licensing is on a capacity basis."
"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."
"The product is cheaper than Commvault."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
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.
896,034 professionals have used our research since 2012.