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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’s best feature is data backup for any system."
"The GUI is user-friendly."
"Data domain is a good feature."
"NetWorker has very good scalability."
"Very user-friendly with a good interface."
"The solution is very stable, especially if you are using a RAC environment."
"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 software implementation takes about 30 minutes."
"The dashboards in Micro Focus Data Protector are very good. They are similar to the dashboards in Veeam Backup & Replication."
"It is really easy to backup and restore your data across all servers, something that IBM Spectrum Protect struggles to do."
"I like that it supports HPE UNIX servers since many backup solutions do not - this is the main reason why we chose this solution."
"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."
"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."
"Since we implemented the new PostgreSQL database, Data Protector's stability has greatly improved."
"OpenText Data Protector is good for physical backup, specifically for physical servers."
"It has the ability to backup both DB2 (IBM's RDBMS) and HP-UX (HP's Unix OS)."
 

Cons

"Dell EMC NetWorker has so many versions in a short span of time, which contain a lot of bugs that need to be fixed because each upgrade has its own issues."
"The user interface of this solution could be improved. It is not user friendly and is difficult to understand for new users. New users struggle to understand the logic."
"The UI needs some enhancement to be more user-friendly."
"Since they are going to stop developing this solution, I cannot recommend it to others."
"There are too many reboots and the software requires constant updating."
"Reporting templates could be easier to understand and more comprehensive."
"We would like support for tape space reclaim, using either the same or another pool."
"The front end of the solution could improve. The user-friendliness is lacking."
"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."
"For me, the main weakness of Data Protector now is the Granular Recovery integrations, as they just don’t work as smoothly as they could."
"The operation is not so friendly for new users. The GUI could also use improvement."
"Faster VEAgent Restores"
"I have SUSE XEN virtualization set up in my environment. HP Data Protector does not provide integration with it, and I would like to see it integrate with XEN in a future release."
"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."
"I'd say that our ROI is bad."
"When you unplug a laptop with the GUI version from the network, the restoration status will be terminated and will not update even if you try to connect it back."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is okay."
"They are not cheap."
"The pricing for the telecom, government, and banking sectors is relatively affordable."
"Dell EMC NetWorker is very expensive."
"If you purchase Avamar, NetWorker is free with Avamar, for one terabyte license capacity."
"The licensing model can be traditional licensing or capacity-based licensing."
"You have to buy the deduplication software separately from the license."
"It is not very expensive and not very cheap."
"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."
"There is a perpetual license involved in addition to support which needs to be renewed annually."
"The licensing structure provides cost savings to business."
"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 fast, reliable, and its licensing policy is great."
"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."
"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 solution requires paying for a license."
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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
20%
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.
896,387 professionals have used our research since 2012.