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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 software’s best feature is data backup for any system."
"I went for NetWorker because it's a good physical as well as virtual environment, and the best possible solution compared to the other products on the market."
"The response time of the tech support is swift. The support is fantastic."
"Use EMC Data Domain (DD) system and EMC NetWorker."
"Although Dell EMC NetWorker is a little bit more complex to combine with other products, it is really a very strong product."
"I started off as a storage engineer and ended up owning Dell EMC Data Domain and Dell EMC NetWorker. I've not used any other backup solutions at this scale. Dell EMC NetWorker does what I need it to do, it's efficient."
"This solution might be a bit complex for an end-user but it's a great solution for a technical person."
"This product has provided our backup and recovery capabilities for Service Restoration and Disaster Recovery for more than a decade, and we have evolved with the product over the years as it continues to meet our requirements."
"Data Protector was cheaper and would do what we needed to do."
"The initial setup is straightforward if you understand Data Protector."
"For us, disaster recovery is the most valuable feature."
"We use this solution for data deduplication, and it also has the media library, so our disk-to-disk backup is also backed up to the tape, ensuring that if there is data corruption in the disk-to-disk backup, we will have a copy on the tape, which other solutions do not offer."
"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 granularity of brick-level restore functionality is very valuable."
"The initial setup is straightforward if you understand Data Protector."
"The most valuable features of this solution were the features we worked most with which were telemetry, and the scheduler."
 

Cons

"The management of Dell Networker is quite cumbersome because we have to operate on a separate interface for reporting backup jobs."
"Regarding improvements for NetWorker, I believe implementing cross-platform restore functionality is essential. This feature would allow for compatibility with various backup software solutions, similar to Veeam."
"The licensing rules are difficult to navigate and understand."
"The deduplication needs improvement and it could use better integration."
"The web console could be a lot better."
"The user interface has to be improved"
"The software also isn't user-friendly like Convault or Rubrik. The solution errors and management aren't so good in comparison."
"I believe that the area of support could be improved. They don't appear to have an adequate number of staff members to assist us if we have any problems."
"I'm uncertain if it supports virtual machine backup and restoration. If they could enhance this aspect, they could gain more support from end users."
"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."
"The major issue we are facing in this product is Sybase database integration."
"Many of our users complain about the GUI. You still need to rely on the command line interface."
"Hyper-V backups need improvement so they can do GRE."
"The downside of the flexibility on offer is if you over-configure it, it may fail to function as some configurations may not match."
"The challenge is that we can't restore a single file from the VM in the data process when we do VM backups. But with Commvault, you can restore a single file even if you have a VM snapshot package. That's one drawback of this tool. When we do VM backups, it should help us browse the VMs to restore a single file instead of doing the complete VM restore."
"They should design the solution so that it is much easier for deployment and make the UI easy to use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The pricing of this solution is very good."
"It is inexpensive compared to new products."
"The tool is pricey."
"The price is a little on the high side, but it's reliable and provides a good service."
"The price of the solution could be lower, it is expensive."
"Dell NetWorker is an expensive solution. None of the backup products are cheap. The licensing model offered is usually a five-year one."
"There is a licensing fee."
"The license for the solution is very expensive compared to the other products in the market."
"It is fast, reliable, and its licensing policy is great."
"The pricing is neither too expensive nor very cheap."
"The solution requires paying for a license."
"There is a perpetual license involved in addition to support which needs to be renewed annually."
"The product is cheaper than Commvault."
"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 for Micro Focus Data Protector is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
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.
889,855 professionals have used our research since 2012.