IBM Spectrum Protect vs IBM Tivoli CDP for Files comparison

IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Tivoli CDP for Files are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM Spectrum Protect is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.2, while IBM Tivoli CDP for Files is ranked #75. IBM Spectrum Protect holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM Tivoli CDP for Files’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM Spectrum Protect users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM Tivoli CDP for Files users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

4,584 Views
3,530 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Read 1 IBM Tivoli CDP for Files review

265 Views
226 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Tivoli CDP for Files based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery.

To learn more, read our detailed Backup and Recovery Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

February 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 838,713 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 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

IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

75th

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Tivoli CDP for Files is 0.2%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

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.

Read full review

reviewer1035033

Sr. Aix Admin at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Restoration and infrastructure are extremely reliable

We are currently using Tivoli to backup 15 terabytes within our Oracle Database using a RMAN backup script. The RMAN's utility and restoration has been perfect, we have yet to experience any issues. It's very reliable The restoration and infrastructure are extremely reliable. We would like to…

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 backup on real-time, especially for the virtual machine, archiving, and retrieving the reader from the backup repository and getting it online, getting it validated, then performing the data consistency check over the backup."

"It is a really scalable solution. We can scale it up. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."

"The platform has valuable stability."

"It is also a product that has been maturing for a long time. This is good because customers need reliability in their enterprise initiatives."

"You can do restores very quickly. You can mount a drive and restore it right from the drive."

"This solution has improved our organization through better file and database recovery."

"It is a very stable product. The cost is similar to that of other enterprise solutions."

"The D2D2T archive of my PACS data improved after I put Spectrum Protect 8.1.4 into production."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"The restoration and infrastructure is extremely reliable."

Cons

"This solution is not mature in terms of disaster recovery and could be improved."

"I would like to see integration with Copy Data Management, which is an IBM product. Right now, these two products are siloed, so if these two become integrated, the product would become a bit of a powerhouse."

"In the next version of the solution, I would like to see cloud support."

"RTO is a huge gap for us. If we had a disaster scenario and had to recover a bunch of stuff from tape, the RTO would be too long for us."

"IBM's support hasn't been so good in the last few years."

"It does not do too well in our virtual environment."

"Their support is lacking. I've talked to their developers and stuff in the last couple of weeks and they reassure me that some people have retired, and they're working on getting that bumped back up. But the support lacks a lot to be desired at this point."

"They should have a proper technical support team serving the customers and get issues resolved earlier."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"We would like to have the opportunity to omit data from being backed up. For example, we have three virtual machines, each with three disks. When running the backup, it will automatically take each disk rather than allowing us to select what data we want backed."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have been at our size for a few years. We are not really looking to battle the licensing costs, as this is our primary system."

"The solution is expensive."

"The product is low cost. It is very cool when we design it to using licensing based on post capacity."

"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 has a capacity based licensing, front and back-end license."

"License-wise regarding IBM, it's licensed per terabyte. And that is after compression and deduplication."

"IBM Spectrum Protect, cost-wise, has way higher pricing than Veeam. By switching over to Veeam, my company saved over $600,000 in USD. The IBM Spectrum Protect pricing is a two on a scale of one to ten. My company paid additional fees for maintenance, apart from the standard licensing fees."

"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"It's expensive, but it's worth for it due to the volume of critical information within our database. We are currently paying about $22,000 per year."

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

838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect?

IBM Spectrum Protect is stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect?

It's expensive. I acknowledge the cost associated with it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 20% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 18% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Compared 36% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Compared 31% of the time

More IBM Tivoli CDP for Files Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

February 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

February 2025

Download IBM Tivoli CDP for Files product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Tivoli CDP for Files

Overview

IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. It is the flagship product in the IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) family. It enables reliable, cost effective backups and fast recovery for virtual, physical and cloud environments of all sizes.

IBM

IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files is a continuous backup software that protects your most important files. This real-time, continuous data protection solution for file servers and user endpoints automatically backs up your most critical files the moment they are saved.

IBM

Sample Customers

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

Cyberian Data Protection

Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: February 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.

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.