IBM Spectrum Protect vs IDERA SQL Safe Backup comparison

IBM and IDERA are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.2, while IDERA is ranked #87. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to IDERA’s 0.1% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 33% of IDERA users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

4,073 Views
3,133 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Read 3 IDERA SQL Safe Backup reviews

212 Views
138 Comparison Views

33% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and IDERA SQL Safe Backup compete in the backup solutions category. IBM Spectrum Protect seems to have the upper hand in enterprise environments due to its broad feature set and excellent customer support, while IDERA SQL Safe Backup is favored for SQL Server databases because of its specialized features and competitive pricing.

Features: Features include IBM Spectrum Protect's robust scalability, extensive policy-based management, and broad feature set for enterprise environments. IDERA SQL Safe Backup offers compression technology, fast recovery capabilities, and specialized features for SQL Server databases.

Room for Improvement: Areas for improvement include IBM Spectrum Protect needing a more modern and streamlined management experience, better cloud integration, enhanced reporting functionalities, and usability improvements. IDERA SQL Safe Backup could benefit from enhanced cloud integration, improved reporting functionalities, and enhanced specific technical capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deployment of IBM Spectrum Protect is seen as more complex due to its wide range of features, but IBM's customer support is responsive and helpful. IDERA SQL Safe Backup has a simpler deployment process, but user reviews mention mixed experiences with customer service.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is perceived as more expensive upfront but offers a good return on investment due to its comprehensive features. IDERA SQL Safe Backup is favored for its competitive pricing, offering good value for its cost. Users note IBM's higher cost is justified by its extensive features, while IDERA provides a budget-friendly option that delivers strong performance.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup

April 2025

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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

17th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

87th

Average Rating

5.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Event Monitoring (18th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 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 IDERA SQL Safe Backup is 0.1%, up from 0.1% 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

it_user386274

Database Administrator at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees

You can't see any metrics about how long it took you to backup the entire server. We've had a huge reduction in the nightly backup footprint size.

Idera treats a backup of a SQL Server as if it is essentially a single backup job of each individual database. You can't see any metrics about how long it took you to backup the entire server. It doesn't handle restoration to different drives very easily, and it won't create folder structures if they don't exist already. It cannot be used to implement replication on another instance without first converting files back into SQL Server .bak files. There appears to be LOTs of shortcomings. [All of these short-comings are still very much present even after 6 months of feedback to Idera. No solution is in sight.] Still has a focus on individual databases and not for entire server recoveries. Have tried adjusting max threads values, but it seems to have little affect and Idera is still researching the issue.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Nothing beats this solution for file backup."

"The addition of the retention set feature provides a reduction in storage costs. It also reduces RTO and RPO so that you can respond quickly to your clients and services in case of data loss."

"Our customers have come to trust IBM."

"It protects our data. That is what it is there for."

"We've found the product to be quite stable and the performance is very good."

"We have better, faster backup times, and it has improved efficiency in the backups."

"The customization and the ability to backup across all platforms are the most valuable features."

"It allows us to have one interface."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"It has reduced our backup time and simplified our backup processes across all the servers."

"The compression, because it drastically reduces the disk space."

Cons

"They should introduce more features for virtualization platforms and backing up IBMs. Backup speeds should also be improved."

"We did not see any drawbacks to IBM Spectrum Protect before assisting a customer using Windows that wanted to migrate to using UNIX. IBM Spectrum Protect does not offer an option to migrate from other operating systems."

"Perhaps some better documentation, which I believe was better in the past."

"I should be able to backup Linux. I would like SUSE for Linux on POWER. Right now, we have to use Storex, which is a pain to use."

"The Hyper-V and SQL Server backup could be improved. In the 2016 version there was a significant improvement, but I think IBM has a big challenge with these technologies."

"In terms of features, they've got it all covered. The features they have are quite good. The only downside to it is that it is for an enterprise or big organization. In my opinion, it is not for a small business."

"The deduplication must be perfect, and thus should be improved."

"The product’s recovery process in terms of agent installation needs improvement"

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"I would like to see the pieces that they have put in the web only to be put into the thick client sitting on the desktop client."

"Make sure you check your backups on a regular basis. Backups do get missed with this tool, for whatever reason."

"The way the filtering goes, if you filter on your view, there is no indication that you have made a selection."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"At scale, the consumption license (per TB) is very expensive."

"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective."

"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."

"Licensing can be either complicated or simple depending on what type of licensing you wish to use and what works best for your environment."

"There may be an advantage to going with IBM in terms of pricing. They have a pay-as-you-grow policy, so there is no need to take one license for the entire datacenter. You can start with small licenses and then grow, and pay, as you use more."

"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."

"IBM Spectrum Protect has a fixed price and includes no additional costs."

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

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"The product's pricing is a good value. They have a straightforward licensing model."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

University

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.

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

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

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What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

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Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 18% of the time

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 17% 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 6% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Rubrik vs IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Compared 100% of the time

More IDERA SQL Safe Backup Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

April 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

April 2025

Download IDERA SQL Safe Backup product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

SQL Safe Backup

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

SQL Safe Backup helps database administrators to back up and recover instantly across SQL Servers. Unlike its competition, it provides virtual databases with access to back up files without consuming disk space, instant restore, centralized management across SQL Servers, and alert notifications for success and failure of operations.

IDERA

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

Woman's Hospital; Sisters of Mercy Hospital System; University Medical Center; MetTel; PPG Industries; 3M; Abbott Laboratories; Comcast; Daimler; GameStop; Hormel Foods; Marriott International; Merck; NCR; United Technologies; City of Lynnwood; Linfosys B.V.; TRI-KES; American Customer Care; Merck & Co., Inc.; Service Corporation International; Fresenius Vascular Care Inc.; Bates White; TechPro Inc.; TW Metals, Inc.; Tulane University; ISO Group; Ameriben Solutions; Instron Corporation; Sentric, Inc.; SPIE; GAS Distribution Company of Thessaloniki and Thessaly SA; American Printing House for the Blind; Paysafe; Freeman Decorating Services, Inc.; Sentric, Inc.; Auburn University; Corporate Communications Group; Sagicor Financial Corporation; Crystal Run Healthcare; Principality Building Society; Experiencias Xcaret; Missoula County; Shellpoint Partners LLC; Solix Inc.; Advicent Solutions, Inc.; Phoenix Newspaper Inc.; Park Place Technologies; Kelly & Associates Insurance Group; Boston Medical Center; Service Corporation International; eResearchTechnology, Inc.

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup

April 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup

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