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IBM Spectrum Protect vs MSP360 Backup 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 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
MSP360 Backup
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
56th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (42nd), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (27th), MSP Backup (3rd)
 

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 MSP360 Backup is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

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.
CONRAD FORREST - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution provides the ability to backup all types of cloud drives, is inexpensive, and has decent support
MSP360 Backup provides the backup functionality, but we need to provide the storage component. We can use Azure, AWS, or another provider, but we need to choose the storage provider and create a bucket to store our data. The vendor is making changes to improve the functionality of the service and the separation of storage, but I would like to see more integration and a knowledge base of the tool. Currently trying to understand why the storage is separated and how to implement the storage properly is a challenge. Using the solution incurs additional charges for the device storage and backup which are not included in the service. Unlike other solutions such as Kohl which includes everything at one price. MSP360 Backup can be improved by adding inclusive pricing.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Regarding technical support, if one has the entire enterprise support, I would rate it a nine out of ten...Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"Data archiving is easier and less time-consuming."
"The solution is really scalable."
"We can use it with any storage for the back-end to save data."
"The best functional system I utilize is integrated with the data domain and DIGS backup solution, which makes it easily manageable and comprehensive."
"It has a lot more capabilities and functions than a lot of other products. Even though it is more complex, the reason is because it gives you a lot more features. This is what I prefer, especially for a long retention."
"It is a very good and mature enterprise product. Once it is set up and everything is put in, you don't have to manage it. It actually runs automatically by itself."
"The most valuable feature for data recovery in IBM Spectrum Protect is its database protection capabilities."
"Provides connectivity to a lot of different cloud storage solutions."
"The initial setup is very easy. It's not overly complex."
"The solution is easy to access and handles things efficiently."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is its online backup capacity because you don't have to do an entire backup again and again, it just does whatever you type in, you type a, it goes a, you type b, it goes b. It doesn't take an entire site up again and again. So that incremental and bit by bit backup is important, it is a nice feature here."
"Technical support is very good."
"The UI is pretty good. It's very simple. That is one thing that we like about this. It's very user-friendly."
"The best feature is that it's very user-friendly to do scheduled backups and version maintenance."
"I was mainly concerned with cloud backups, OneDrive backups, consumer OneDrive, business OneDrive, Google backups, and SharePoint backups. The solution did a good job of the backup."
 

Cons

"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."
"It needs agents that take into account more databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)."
"The user interface (UI) for the admin is still not good. It is way too complicated to manage the product, as we still need to use command line. IBM launched the Operations Center (OC), but there are still functions lacking, especially since we cannot manage all our scheduled tasks by using the GUI."
"I would love to see something which allows us to do an auto restart of backup jobs."
"The product should be improved to save more space."
"Better integration with other tools and databases is needed."
"I find the solution somewhat difficult to use with virtual environments or VMware."
"If you take Spectrum Protect into account, and you have it along with restrictions to Spectrum Archive by means of LTFS, this is also something which should be made better within the overall product's program."
"The initial setup is a little complex as it has to be done in the office and requires someone to come in and install the solution on your server, then configure the scheduling, backup pushing, and so on."
"They can add some production backup capabilities and the ability to do single instance back up. At the moment, it doesn't do deduplication on the standard backup. So, the issue is backing up PSG files for customers who have limited bandwidth. The other issue is that I don't like the implementation of the SQL backup. We do use SQL ourselves using a PowerShell script with the VDA tools as a module. That's how we back up. The rotation feature would be nice to have, but I know that they've got it on their dashboard or on their list to look at. They can also do a few tweaks to the dashboard. I would like the reporting capabilities on the portal to be much more granular. Normally, I export it to a text file, and then I run it through a pivot table in order to look at it from a cost-recovery point of view and to see when the backup last ran and if it was successful when it ran two or three days ago. Such a feature would work really well for my market. They can also add a cost-effective backup for Android and Apple cellphones. I've had one or two customers who were looking for this feature. I haven't found this functionality at the moment. I've been looking for a product that does that."
"The restore time could improve. When we had an issue the restore time was lengthy."
"Using the solution incurs additional charges for the device storage and backup which are not included in the service."
"The solution's pricing is very high."
"The solution needs a better graphical user interface. It's a graphical user interface that is very old-school right now. They could give it a little more modern feel."
"As for what can be improved, some reports could be simplified so that you know how much backup you have done and what your backup details are. That report is available but it is very tough to get. I would like to know "today I have just uploaded 35 MB, tomorrow I have loaded 10 MB so my trend of backup is increasing.""
"Maybe implement an easier interface for basic users. For example, a set-up wizard with all the commonly used features as default."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing model of this solution is another difficult area, it's very sophisticated in the way they charge. It's based on PBU, which is a type of processor, how, many processors, and you need to put everything into an equation. However, they have different ways of charging or licensing. One way is a back-end volume or front-end volume, which is quite complicated."
"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."
"Licensing can be either complicated or simple depending on what type of licensing you wish to use and what works best for your environment."
"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive and there is only a standard licensing fee."
"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective."
"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."
"The product is not cheap."
"Regarding retro-compatibility of the product between versions, your data is always available and the ROI is unquestionable."
"The cost is pretty inexpensive. Around four to five dollars per device, per workstation on each server."
"We have a very good return on investment."
"The solution is expensive."
"MSP360 is vastly cheaper than its competitors and has almost all the same features."
"It provides a good cost savings compared to our previous cloud backup."
"It includes a standard licensing fee. Once a year, there is a rebranding fee. The licensing costs are available on the internet for MSP360 Backup. There is a discount structure where if you have over 50 devices, you get a 50% discount. So, my cost is $2 a license per month."
"I rate the price of MSP360 Backup a seven out of ten."
"Its pricing needs improvement."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about MSP360 Backup?
MSP360 Backup's most valuable feature is its backup interface.
What needs improvement with MSP360 Backup?
The product could be more user-friendly. Its pricing needs improvement as well.
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Cloudberry Backup
 

Overview

 

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
StratX
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. MSP360 Backup and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.