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Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs IBM Spectrum Protect 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 PowerProtect Data Manager
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (7th)
IBM Spectrum Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
16th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is 4.6%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

PAUL WAMBULWA - PeerSpot reviewer
Users benefit from interactive features and comprehensive reporting
The main issue that needs improvement is the support system. When I raise a ticket, it sometimes takes a while to get a response. Scheduling for support calls can be problematic when it does not align well with the customer's availability. Expediting the scheduling of calls and feedback would be beneficial to my interaction with clients.
Syed Habib - PeerSpot reviewer
Manageable and comprehensive and integrates robust backup features for core banking
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum. This is why I am searching for another solution. The product also lacks any centralized graphical user interface (GUI), such as Jarek Pod, and I am limited to using a console-based text user interface, which my local partner handles completely.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution adequately handles data storage."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"I love that it has an interactive GUI, and it is not complicated to use."
"The solution's initial setup is straightforward."
"It satisfies my customers' scalability needs and provides interactive features, allowing efficient integration."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its integrated approach."
"It's the perfect solution for virtual and container directives. The data reduction feature works well, and we haven't had any issues."
"One notable feature is its robust backup support for Kubernetes and container environments. Additionally, PPDM stands out for its ease of deployment and management compared to other backup solutions. It is highly user-friendly, allowing users to quickly learn and implement backup and restore processes within a week. PPDM represents the next generation of backup software and is comparable to offerings from other vendors. Furthermore, PPDM prioritizes security with various access controls, such as user and database access controls. Its deployment tool is also known for its simplicity."
"The ability to migrate between media over a long period of time. My customers are long-time users, and they have benefited from being able to move between tiers. They have been able to do this within the product."
"In the past, one of the most valuable features, and the biggest advantage, was the incremental forever feature. Not many other backup vendors provided that. In the pre-virtualization environment, it was very robust and simple technology, especially writing to tape."
"IBM Spectrum Protect offers stable software and products."
"With data deduplication and compression, we are reducing our overall storage footprint for our disk histories. Therefore, we are reducing the actual cost of the disk for our data protection and data backups."
"Incremental backup is highly valuable as it allows for significant time and cost savings."
"Disk-based implementation of a data protection solution for multiple sites is a better fit for my complex data protection needs."
"It has to ability to backup DV2, Oracle, and Informix."
"It has increased our security, scalability, and high availability."
 

Cons

"They should include a feature similar to S3 bucket."
"There is always room for improvement. The compression ratio should be improved as well as the efficiency."
"A lot of improvement is required in Dell's first level of support."
"The main issue that needs improvement is the support system. When I raise a ticket, it sometimes takes a while to get a response."
"The interface is too complex."
"PPDM requires further development. It is primarily integrated with DevOps systems."
"The tool's scalability has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Management is difficult and it is hard to determine when things aren't working properly."
"The licensing isn't very clear. They should work to simply or clarify the cost structure."
"The previous GUI that they had was slow, and it did not have enough information on it."
"The features should be a little bit closer together."
"It doesn't integrate with storage pools, with a normal pool. I'd like to see that."
"The usability of IBM Spectrum Protect could be improved, specifically additional features to the product in the operations center. Additional reporting facilities and stronger reporting tools such as build dashboards would be beneficial."
"It has a lot of areas for improvement. Its reporting for job completion or incompletion can be improved. It should also provide a granular recovery, ease of operation, data life cycle management, and media management. It should support a backup in such a format that in case of a disaster, one can start the virtual machine out of the backup itself. Its reliability can also be better. It is also expensive, and their support is also poor."
"Our new leadership has pushed us to go more toward the cloud, so we are definitely going to leverage anything we can in that direction."
"Integration with some applications in the healthcare field could be added, as that is a big part of our business."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing costs and pricing model are based on capacity and the license is easy to upgrade."
"Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is not an expensive solution."
"The price of Dell EMC PowerProtect Data Manager is reasonable."
"The product is offered at a very competitive price in the market."
"We offer monthly or yearly subscriptions. The price could be cheaper."
"The solution is more affordable than other vendors."
"The solution is not less expensive than competitors but pricing deals are available."
"The license model that they have at IBM, which is due to volume, from a certain volume onward is not the right license model."
"The pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."
"The solution is expensive."
"I don't have an idea about the pricing. They send that over to someone else, but I know that one of the issues they had was the licensing costs. I don't think they were happy with how they were charged."
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"IBM provides an open license policy, which is more like a gentlemen's agreement."
"The platform is neither highly priced nor inexpensive. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"The product is low cost. It is very cool when we design it to using licensing based on post capacity."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
One notable feature is its robust backup support for Kubernetes and container environments. Additionally, PPDM stands out for its ease of deployment and management compared to other backup solution...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
The solution's cost depends on the storage. Currently, the pricing for Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is more flexible for customers. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is not an expensive solution. On...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
The tool's scalability has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required. The market and technology-driven factors will let the market know of any requirements of the user...
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dash...
 

Also Known As

PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerProtect
IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Bank of Greece, USC Australia, PCS Publishing, Dell Digital IT, Rushmore Electric, Melanson Health, Arrow Electronics
CERN, Einstein Healthcare, Nyherji, Allianz Australia, TZM, ABT Online, NCT, Kindred Healthcare Inc., Cobalt Iron, TransGrid, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Cash America, Piedmont Healthcare, RWGV, Arkansas Tech University, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs. IBM Spectrum Protect and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.