IBM Spectrum Protect vs Oracle Data Guard comparison

IBM and Oracle are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.2, while Oracle is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.3. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to Oracle’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Oracle 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

Oracle Data Guard

Read 31 Oracle Data Guard reviews

1,929 Views
1,285 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Oracle Data Guard

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and Oracle Data Guard are leading products in data protection and disaster recovery. IBM Spectrum Protect has an edge in pricing, while Oracle Data Guard stands out for its advanced features, making it worth its higher cost for some users.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect offers comprehensive data backup, recovery capabilities, and strong pricing. Oracle Data Guard provides high availability, data replication, and advanced features for maintaining data continuity.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect could benefit from a simpler installation process, more cloud service integrations, and better documentation. Oracle Data Guard could improve with a less complex management interface, more user-friendly documentation, and simplified deployment procedures.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is noted for its straightforward deployment and strong customer service. Oracle Data Guard has a steeper learning curve during deployment but is backed by quality support, compensating for its deployment challenges.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is valued for its cost-effectiveness and provides a faster ROI. Oracle Data Guard, while more expensive, offers significant ROI through its robust feature set for enterprises needing high-availability solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Oracle Data Guard Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Oracle Data Guard

March 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

Oracle Data Guard

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

16th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

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 Oracle Data Guard is 0.8%, down from 1.0% 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

IfeoluwaOshinowo

Senior Oracle Database Administrator at Computer Information Systems (CIS)

Makes data protection and network management much easier

The initial setup is straightforward, provided you know the source, target, data version and format. You need to consider all those things. First and foremost, when deploying Oracle Data Guard, the number one priority is to ensure all parameters are correctly set. Two primary methods exist: using backups or recovering from services if the network is reliable. If the network is robust, backups from the source to the target may not be necessary. You must ensure that NIS names are correctly configured on both sides and that the failover and switchover processes are tested successfully from both production and standby environments. Once these steps are completed, the deployment process becomes straightforward. There's no need to copy the entire parameter file; only specific configurations, such as the SID or file structure, must be adjusted if necessary. Ensuring proper DNS name resolution, SID configurations, parameter settings, and understanding whether to convert the Data Guard are essential. Once these aspects are identified, the deployment process becomes more straightforward. I have implemented numerous Data Guard setups. Setting up Oracle Data Guard is performed within the Oracle CRS. Challenges may arise in establishing connectivity between the standby and production databases, necessitating troubleshooting. Apart from that, once configured within CRS, the setup is complete. The challenge with Oracle Data Guard is that it often takes some time for us to identify whether the issues stem from the disk or the network. If we report issues to the network or storage teams from the database end, we may not perceive any apparent problems, which can lead to confusion. We can convince the storage teams to investigate further until we delve into the disk I/O Guard and determine if specific disks operate at total capacity. When disks are operating at total capacity, it can significantly impact application processes. These difficulties in pinpointing the source of issues contribute to the challenges of maintaining and managing Oracle Data Guard.

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

"We work very closely together with IBM using their Support Center, but we have a strong contact in their development teams, and we have dedicated people from IBM working with us."

"Disk-based implementation of a data protection solution for multiple sites is a better fit for my complex data protection needs."

"Nothing beats this solution for file backup."

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

"Enterprise-wide type of architecture supports a lot of different platforms."

"The scalability of IBM Spectrum Protect is good."

"It is pretty scalable. It will scale to anything."

"We can freeze and start databases for consistent backups."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"The most important feature is that if I want to test the database at the disaster recovery site, I can take a snapshot, test it, and then revert it back to the original state without needing to restore the complete database from the primary data center to the disaster recovery."

"Another valuable feature is the possibility of backing up the database from the standby database instead of the primary database, to avoid backup process overhead in the primary system."

"We chose this solution for the availability of the databases. We can't afford Oracle Grid, this is the best solution if you want something similar that's less expensive."

"Snapshot and Data Guard Manager are awesome features."

"The solution has been stable so far."

"You can see how the logs are applied, check the apply time, and how far behind the standby is at any given time."

"Oracle Data Guard is scalable. I rate it a ten out of ten."

"The solution is really very stable. One good thing about it, compared to other products, is that you can just run it and forget about it. Unless you come across some interruptions in the network, it works like a charm."

More Oracle Data Guard pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement in IBM Spectrum Protect, especially regarding its support for virtual environment backups."

"The solution must protect against ransomware attacks better."

"It would be helpful if the solution included some sort of ransomware protection."

"I am looking forward to new features in the next release. One of the main features is the cloud storage integration, which was one of my main required features. I've had more difficult experiences with other platforms than with this one."

"It should have the ability to break down the data that's being backed up. It should have better reporting."

"The only thing that I would like to have a little more of is insight in reporting. I find that Spectrum Protect needs a lot of monitoring, and I have to actually log into the servers."

"Stability is very good now. It used to be rocky years ago."

"We are not so happy with the technical support because dealing with them is not easy. We have a very complicated environment, therefore I understand for a support person that it is not easy to troubleshoot it."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"The deployment cost is expensive."

"The predominant issue lies in the communication link between the secondary and primary databases."

"When the data replicates into the standby database there is a possibility of having a microsecond amount of data loss. The data loss occurs when there is a network disconnection between the primary and secondary standby database located in the data centers or if there is a crash in the primary database."

"The only difficult part is the cost factor, licensing. Another area of improvement is support."

"The pricing of the solution is quite high. They should do what they can to bring it down so that it is more reasonable for customers like us."

"The product could improve its pricing."

"Overall, there are some operational issues that need to be dealt with."

"For every standby server you have, you must pay a licensing fee, which is the main disadvantage."

More Oracle Data Guard cons

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."

"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."

"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."

"We have capacity licensing. We use the front end. The capacity licensing is pretty okay on the licensing price. I used to use the old PVU-based licensing in the early environment, but now we use capacity-based licensing."

"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive. However, there are a few packages and it is unclear because, for the entry suite they have both options, which are the back-end storage capacity and the front-end storage capacity."

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

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

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"If you want to have everything automated and done smoothly, you have to add additional licenses."

"This is the best solution if you want something similar that's less expensive than Oracle Grid."

"Oracle Data Guard is a feature available only in Oracle Database Enterprise Edition, and is available for extra cost."

"The cost of the Oracle license will depend on the negotiations with Oracle."

"The licensing cost is significantly high."

"The cost is expensive."

"It's a cost-effective solution."

"The pricing is on the higher side."

More Oracle Data Guard 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

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

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What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?

Ik fluister:VM Host Oracle en DataGuard hebben we per toeval vervangen door Zerto :-) tijdens de Zerto implementatie en VPG werden de Host Data in write-ack Block-Level gerepliceerd. Qua licentie 1...

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What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?

It is a very useful administrative IT tool. It saves on costs. I strongly recommend Data Guard. I've been using it for eight years and I would strongly recommend it. I'd rate Oracle Data Guard a se...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Data Guard?

We're Oracle partners. We've worked with databases 11G and 12C. If a company is planning to implement Oracle solutions, I would suggest they also implement Data Guard. I'd rate the solution nine ou...

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 Oracle Data Guard

Compared 28% of the time

AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery vs Oracle Data Guard

Compared 14% of the time

Cohesity DataProtect vs Oracle Data Guard

Compared 14% of the time

Veritas NetBackup vs Oracle Data Guard

Compared 10% of the time

Dell NetWorker vs Oracle Data Guard

Compared 8% of the time

More Oracle Data Guard Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

March 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Data Guard

March 2025

Download Oracle Data Guard product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Active Data Guard

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

Oracle Data Guard ensures high availability, data protection, and disaster recovery for enterprise data. Data Guard provides a comprehensive set of services that create, maintain, manage, and monitor one or more standby databases to enable production Oracle databases to survive disasters and data corruptions. Data Guard can be used with traditional backup, restoration, and cluster techniques to provide a high level of data protection and data availability.

Oracle

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

Athenahealth, Discover Financial Services

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Oracle Data Guard

March 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Oracle Data Guard

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Oracle Data Guard and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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