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IBM ProtectTIER vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 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

IBM ProtectTIER
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
67th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (13th)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
49th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus1.1%
IBM ProtectTIER0.6%
Other98.3%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

AG
Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a short-term backup, archive, and cataloging for 20,000 people in our organization
The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time. I have a 24 hour cycle, so it doesn't get completed in 24 hours with the large amount of data. With Veritas NetBackup, I can take 20 terabytes of backup in a day.
AS
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
Has provided straightforward backup and rapid deployment for diverse environments
There is reporting in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but I'm not very familiar with this area. I always concentrated on getting the customer to do the backup, restore, and related tasks, but there is reporting. IBM has made a decision to withdraw the product and replace it with IBM Data Protect. The correct direction is Data Protect, which includes ransomware detection. With IBM Data Protect, you can add more servers for backup. It's scalable, which is a key feature over Storage Protect and Storage Protect Plus, even more capable than Veritas, because Veritas has an option to make different media servers. You can scale the backup process regardless of the load of the customer. This speeds up the backup and restore process for a complete data center, which cannot be done with any other product. I rate IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 9 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable. I've walked into the server room when it was at 60 degrees Celcius, and it was still running fine."
"The cataloging is the best feature, as it takes millions of frames for the backup and, because it's incremental, it takes less time to complete."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"The most valuable feature is the incremental backup."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."
"The most valuable features are the Self-Service, and the ability to search the data."
"Using this tool, we can easily backup and restore or recover the data for PCs and mobiles in case of system crashes."
"This is a modern technology that supports not only data protection, but include HIPAA resources and virtualization."
"What I like about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is its integration, plus it has very good technical support."
"The most valuable feature of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is its ease of use, and it does backups of all of the things we need, such as OS, files, and databases."
"The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something."
"The solution is scalable and can be fitted for any customer."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a good investment."
"Spectrum Protect provides you access to directly bind the backup volume to the server and make the system available instead of restoring it and copying the system."
 

Cons

"The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"I would like the possibility to back up the infrastructure and then replicate it upon on restart, without having to orchestrate the starting of the VM."
"My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to conduct a proof of concept first because everybody's needs are different, and this product is not suitable for every kind of backup."
"The backup for a large amount of data is slow."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"It still needs to grow and add new features. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, I believe, requires time to become competitive due to a weakness in the other software products."
"In the future, I would like to see support for global deduplication."
"The backup support for IBM Power Virtualization needs to be added."
"The administration needs to be improved and made simpler to use."
"The replication feature is not available."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve security."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve the IBM Spectrum Protect environment. It can be difficult to administer. The initial configuration can be difficult for entry-level teams or deployment teams, and it might be difficult to integrate. There's just too much content involved in the solution. The documentation is way too large."
"The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is very expensive."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"Unlike some other solutions, such as Veritas NetBackup where you have to pay for different licenses to use different features, there is a single license that allows you to use all of the features."
"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."
"We have a perpetual license for the tool since it is deployed on-premise."
"The solution is too expensive."
"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."
"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."
"The licensing model of Spectrum Protect Plus is more efficient and cheaper compared to the original."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Marketing Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is very simple to deploy for us, but for more clients or competitors, the solution is hard to deploy and to integrate. For our team, deployment of IBM Spectrum Protect Plu...
What is your primary use case for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
We are an IT integrator and we need to have a good vision of all recovery and backup recovery solutions. Most frequently, we use Veeam Backup. We use Cohesity. For some old workloads, we use IBM TS...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.