IBM Spectrum Protect vs OpenText Data Protector comparison

IBM and OpenText are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.2, while OpenText is ranked #23 with an average rating of 7.5. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to OpenText’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of OpenText 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

OpenText Data Protector

Read 102 OpenText Data Protector reviews

1,521 Views
931 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

OpenText Data Protector

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and OpenText Data Protector compete in the enterprise data protection category. IBM Spectrum Protect is favored for its pricing and customer support, while OpenText Data Protector excels in features and user satisfaction.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect is valued for scalability, reliability, and effective data backup and recovery. OpenText Data Protector offers comprehensive protection, broader support for varied environments, and superior compatibility.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect needs better reporting, enhanced performance management, and streamlined updates. OpenText Data Protector requires improved technical support, simplified updates, and more efficient customer service.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is praised for straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. OpenText Data Protector's deployment is more complex, and users face slower support responses.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is cost-effective with a favorable ROI. OpenText Data Protector is more expensive, justified by advanced features, but IBM Spectrum Protect offers better value for money.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect vs. OpenText Data Protector Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. OpenText Data Protector

February 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

OpenText Data Protector

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

23rd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

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 OpenText Data Protector is 0.6%, down from 0.7% 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

Jeroen Vranckaerts

System Engineer - Server & Storage, DBA at Audi Brussels

Though a highly stable tool, it needs to be made easier to use and configure

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten. OpenText Data Protector is complex to configure correctly, but the areas concerning the data and compression are good. Once you get the product to work, it works, but it's much too complex to configure and troubleshoot, as it takes a lot of time and energy, making it not so efficient. Once the tool is configured in your environment, it provides good backup and compression features. In my company, we use OpenText Data Protector as a backup for our servers, and we have a team of 20 people to take care of the data backup using the tool. My company doesn't use OpenText Data Protector as a backup for our client's computers. In my company, we have scheduled the process related to backup, which makes the tool run daily around 30 to 40 times.

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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

"The best functional system I utilize is integrated with the data domain and DIGS backup solution, which makes it easily manageable and comprehensive."

"Its flexibility is valuable. It is a very flexible solution. There are always more ways than one to do something. It is a software solution, which means you can buy your own hardware and expand it whenever you want. You are not boxed in or locked into something you've bought and outgrown. You can always expand it."

"I find the whole product useful. The backup archive client, snapshot, spectrum for virtual environments are beneficial features."

"Replication processes with container storage pools allow reduction of storage space and network bandwidth, using deduplication and compression."

"The solution can back up every kind of workload in the environment."

"Its incremental forever approach is valuable, so we don't have to load tapes to do a restore."

"Because of the flexible parameters, everything can be fine-tuned to the customers’ needs in their environment."

"The most valuable features are the stability and also how it's seamlessly integrated with other IBM offerings."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"In one of the projects involving a database and UCMDB integration, we needed to manage a large database. We used the scheduling feature in Data Protector to automate backups."

"The solution allows us to be able to backup and exchange directly, to backup Microsoft exchange."

"It is a traditional backup model. If you talk about file server and the official Windows database, it's a stable product."

"I like that it supports HPE UNIX servers since many backup solutions do not - this is the main reason why we chose this solution."

"I haven't experienced any crashes while using the solution...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Micro Focus Data Protector's most valuable feature is its interaction with the fiber share. It is easy to use, we use it to back up without any problem to VTLs, and can use the Fiber Channel that is still the TCP."

"The reliability of HP Data Protector is the most valuable feature for us."

"The initial setup is straightforward if you understand Data Protector."

More OpenText Data Protector pros

Cons

"Ease of use."

"My customers are not always happy with the Level 1 support. Sometimes, it just takes too long for the response to come, which is probably something that needs to be addressed."

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

"Getting technical support all the necessary diagnostic information is still very painful."

"The licensing isn't very clear. They should work to simply or clarify the cost structure."

"Sometimes we experience trouble with the backup transfer of the control files."

"I would like to see a way to have "always on" implemented."

"Anytime you are not very current and call in with an issue, it is hard to get it resolved. It will depend on how far back you go though."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"We face challenges with its stability."

"We have a lot of requests for the Micro Focus team, particularly in terms of the Japanese data pattern, as it's not as good now. The Japanese data pattern accuracy of the Micro Focus Data Protector needs to be improved because there are a lot of false negatives and false positives. We are currently testing this and our product team has been communicating with the Micro Focus team."

"Virtualization."

"Micro Focus Data Protector must improve its overall evolution record. They need to focus on hardware based instant recovery, client recovery, and cloud ability. Now there is no cloud ability."

"Integration with the market applications must be improved, such as MS Exchange, MS Active Directory, SAP and Oracle. Other backup tools are more efficient with the integrated backups."

"It's very expensive compared to Veeam and other similar solutions."

"Micro Focus are improving Data Protector with every new version and since we began undergoing training with the latest version we have not faced any real challenges yet. However, their support does need to be improved, in my opinion. In certain critical cases that we've had, they did not provide a satisfactory level of support."

"VM backups needs to be improved. They need to make it similar to the way Veeam and Commvault are doing the virtual backups."

More OpenText Data Protector cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."

"One can go with either a PVU licensing model or a capacity based licensing model. Either solution does not block the usage, if over used."

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

"The licensing is varied. If we have small environments (not many TB being managed) it is best to license by PVUs (depending on the number of cores of the machine). If we manage many TBs we look at licensing by capacity which allows us to use all the agents of the product."

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

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

"Its licensing is complicated. It goes by CPUs, and it is pretty expensive as well."

"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."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"The licensing cost was not annual. We didn't pay any license. We paid when we deployed and we didn't pay for anything after that. There were no additional fees after the initial payment."

"The license for the solution is very expensive compared to the other products in the market."

"We have many competitors who are pricing better, and we believe that our pricing is higher."

"They have two types of licensing, one is for storage capacity and the other is client licensing. The capacity licensing here is a bit expensive."

"The pricing is neither too expensive nor very cheap."

"It is fast, reliable, and its licensing policy is great."

"The solution requires paying for a license."

"In Data Protector, if you need extra features, you need to buy the agents for these features. Some of the features are Terabytes, some of them are agents. There's some complexity in the pricing and licensing."

More OpenText Data Protector pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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.

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What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

See all answers

What do you like most about Micro Focus Data Protector?

I haven't experienced any crashes while using the solution...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Data Protector?

Pricing is high compared to other solutions. If they offer suitable features and a compatible price, we can attract clients. If the tech support becomes good, the price becomes less of a concern. W...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Micro Focus Data Protector?

Recently, clients have raised concerns about the lack of comprehensive documentation for Data Protector. This has been an issue, especially when troubleshooting or integrating with other vendor-spe...

See all answers

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 19% of the time

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 18% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 75% of the time

Veritas NetBackup vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 17% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs OpenText Data Protector

Compared 9% of the time

More OpenText Data Protector Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

March 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Data Protector

March 2025

Download OpenText Data Protector product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Micro Focus Data Protector, Data Protector, OmniBack, HPE Data Protector

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

OpenText Data Protector standardizes and consolidates backups across multiple platforms. It provides secure, comprehensive backup protection for business-critical data and applications whether virtual, physical, or online in the cloud.

OpenText

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

GSK Vaccines, Repsol, Vodafone Group, Siemens AG, Medium Enterprise Transportation Services Company

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. OpenText Data Protector

February 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. OpenText Data Protector

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. OpenText Data Protector and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.

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