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Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) 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 DP (IDPA)
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
21st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Spectrum Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
17th
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 April 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is 0.6%, down from 1.1% 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

SamuelThomas - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures data safety and effective cloud integration with AI-powered protection
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) offers a backup, recovery, and management tool that is very easy to use. It provides a flexible protection suite that accommodates scalability and performance needs. Integration with VMware and multi-cloud protection is effective. AI integration enhances backup operations by analyzing data and ensuring malware protection. Customers also benefit from hybrid cloud options and tiers of backup.
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 product is integrated with Huawei software and its backup and recovery time is very fast."
"Instead of four or five tools, consisting of backup software, storage where the backup resides, and a separate system for reporting and central monitoring, they all now come in the virtual edition for IDP."
"IDPA's best feature is Turbo Boost Technology. The compression and duplication features are excellent, too."
"We use it for complete backup and recovery. We have multiple clients and have created multiple large virtual capabilities and zoning backlogs."
"The most valuable feature is the deduplication rate."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) offers a backup, recovery, and management tool that is very easy to use."
"It backs up our Windows systems and our Linux systems and everything."
"It is very simple to perform an upgrade of the system and the environment."
"It is more efficient than most traditional backup solutions."
"Our performance is better."
"We can freeze and start databases for consistent backups."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is that IBM Spectrum Protect is highly integrated with IBM ESS. In addition, it allows us to back up our virtual servers directly to take VM snapshots. It runs on Linux as well."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is application-aware backups."
"The solution can back up every kind of workload in the environment."
"The components of IBM Spectrum Protect explain how the data is protected. The administration is very easy, and the vertical migration is intuitive."
"It is pretty scalable. It will scale to anything."
 

Cons

"Dell PowerProtect DP needs to include more features and improve backup for a continual base."
"The product's index master feature needs improvement."
"We would like to see the pricing drop a bit."
"We cannot add IDPA to DPC, and each IP has a DP Central, which cannot monitor other IDPAs."
"The two-factor authentication is missing from Dell products."
"The price could be lowered slightly, to make it more competitive."
"The solution's implementation was very complicated and could be improved."
"Managing the product is a little bit complicated."
"Restoring massive files is a very time-consuming process."
"I find the Level 1 and Level 2 support spend 80% of the time communicating the same information that I have already provided."
"They can include more cloud-enriching features. I would like IBM Spectrum Protect to have the functionality for backing up a VM directly in Azure. I would like to be able to back up a VM directly in Azure without spinning up a Hyper-V cluster and backing up the virtual server."
"In a future release, it would be a benefit to have the ability to add an application as a storage target, as a storage pool. Additionally, they should add more functionality to the administration for the Operation Center."
"It doesn't integrate with storage pools, with a normal pool. I'd like to see that."
"It does not do too well in our virtual environment."
"It needs BMR (bare machine recovery) solutions for both Windows and Linux systems."
"We would like to see bare-metal restorers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a cost-effective solution."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) has a yearly subscription fee."
"The licensing is billed on a monthly basis. Dell is bundled so that when you order IDPA, you get everything together with the license."
"We have a perpetual license. It is a capacity-based license."
"I would rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"We have spec'd out our build, and the cost of it can work quite easily today for our future needs."
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"At scale, the consumption license (per TB) is very expensive."
"It is expensive."
"Regarding retro-compatibility of the product between versions, your data is always available and the ROI is unquestionable."
"We pay for a terabyte license to support our backend usage."
"Technical support is pretty good. It is doing fine, but you pay for it."
"Customers need to pay for licensing in order to use IBM Spectrum Protect. The customers that have been using it for a long time are okay and happy with it. From a cost point of view, it's better for them to renew their licenses than to go through the difficult process of changing a backup product in their environment, and migrate from one product to another."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
32%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
What I find valuable about Dell PowerProtect IDPA is its stability and strong performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
Pricing is competitive with other software vendors. The product's features, network, and VMware integration contribute to its value. There are different licensing options available, such as applian...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) requires more updates and innovations in AI-powered cyber resilience. While technical support is generally not poor, there are challenges with expertise in Linux-based c...
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

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Under Armour, Christian Brothers University, Presidio
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 DP (IDPA) vs. IBM Spectrum Protect and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,476 professionals have used our research since 2012.