IBM ProtectTIER vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

IBM ProtectTIER and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM ProtectTIER is ranked #83, while IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is ranked #49 with an average rating of 7.0. IBM ProtectTIER holds a 0.3% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM Spectrum Protect Plus’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 60% of IBM ProtectTIER users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus users who would recommend it.

IBM ProtectTIER

Read 7 IBM ProtectTIER reviews

581 Views
360 Comparison Views

60% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Read 32 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus reviews

1,507 Views
1,462 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

IBM ProtectTIER

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM ProtectTIER and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are data protection solutions that cater to enterprises. Spectrum Protect Plus seems to have the upper hand in flexibility and adaptability, though it is more complex.

Features: ProtectTIER offers efficient data reduction, fast recovery times, and reliable performance. Spectrum Protect Plus provides integration capabilities, broad platform support, and versatile functionalities.

Room for Improvement: ProtectTIER could enhance scalability, user-friendliness, and streamline processes. Spectrum Protect Plus needs simplified management, quicker issue resolution, and reduced complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ProtectTIER is noted for straightforward setup with fewer deployment issues. Spectrum Protect Plus has complicated deployment but superior customer support.

Pricing and ROI: ProtectTIER is known for competitive pricing and faster ROI. Spectrum Protect Plus requires a higher initial investment but offers greater long-term benefits.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 871,408 peers since 2012

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

83rd

Average Rating

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (13th)

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

49th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus	1.0%
IBM ProtectTIER	0.3%
Other	98.7%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

ValereFEUGWANG

Information System Consultant at CFAO Technologies

Protects data in hybrid infrastructures, but it is an expensive product with poor support

The main challenge for our customers is to replicate the virtual environment upon restart, without using any additional solutions such as VMware SLM. 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. It would be much better for us. This solution can be made easier to use. Technical support is very frustrating and we are considering other solutions because of it. Stability is something that should be improved. The product is expensive and the licensing should be changed.

Read full review

Atif Najam

Chief Information Officer and Program Lead at Gatron Industries Ltd

Enables organizations to make large-scale recoveries easily, but the security must be improved

The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is highly stable."

"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."

"The command-line interface is good."

"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 most valuable features are the Self-Service, and the ability to search the data."

"The cataloging is the best feature. It takes millions of frames for the backup. It's incremental, so it takes less time to complete."

"This solution is very stable and has good support available online."

"The feature I find most valuable is the offload to Spectrum Protect for long-term retention. I think the deduplication and replication are quite nice on Plus."

"Reliability, recovery features, and stability are valuable to me."

"The support from IBM is very good."

"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."

"We used to use the solution with tapes a few years ago. We've switched to discs, and it has gotten much faster."

"The initial setup of IBM Protect Plus is simple and not complex."

"Some of the features we find very valuable and use a lot, are retention sets."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pros

Cons

"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."

"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."

"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."

"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."

"The backup for a large amount of data is slow."

"The user experience is very bad and the interface needs to be improved."

"I would like to see continuous data protection (CDP). If there is machine failure, you don't have to go to the backup copy that you took 12 hours ago. You can actually go back to the backup copy made half an hour ago. That is, it would be good to have certain-point-in-time recovery."

"With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible."

"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."

"Their first level of support can be improved. Often they are too junior to understand the issues we are having, and it takes too much time to get from them to the next level of support, which is what we actually need."

"The security must be improved."

"Not particularly user friendly."

"I think the graphical reports are a shortcoming of the tool since it fails to provide my company with what we want in terms of reporting. Due to the product's inability to take care of its reporting part, we have to use third-party software."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."

"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."

"This solution is very expensive."

"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."

"We have a perpetual license for the tool since it is deployed on-premise."

"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."

"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."

"The licensing model of Spectrum Protect Plus is more efficient and cheaper compared to the original."

"I rate the price of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus a one on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap."

"If you need to extend it, it can be extended acting like a normal Spectrum Protect with a long archive."

"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."

"The price is lower than that of some competing products."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

871,408 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	17

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

Technical support could be improved significantly. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 66% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 34% of the time

More IBM ProtectTIER Competitors

IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 43% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 12% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 10% of the time

Atempo Live Navigator vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Zerto Software vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Deduplication Software

September 2025

Download IBM ProtectTIER product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

October 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect Plus product report

Overview

IBM TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway is designed to meet the disk-based data protection needs of the enterprise data center while enabling significant infrastructure cost reductions. The solution offers industry-leading inline deduplication performance and scalability up to 1 petabyte (PB) of physical storage capacity per system, and can provide up to 25 PB or more backup storage capacity. Combined with IBM or third-party storage, TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway provides a powerful disk-based repository to improve the performance, retention and availability of backup and archive data in a small footprint for energy and cost efficiency.

IBM

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a data protection and availability solution for virtual environments that can be deployed in minutes and protect your environment within an hour. It simplifies data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It can be implemented as a stand-alone solution or integrate with your IBM Spectrum Protect environment to off-load copies for long term storage and data governance with scale and efficiency.

IBM

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

September 2025

Free Report: IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

871,408 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report.

See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.