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IBM Spectrum Protect vs Rubrik 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
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rubrik
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
95
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (4th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rubrik is 7.5%, up from 7.4% 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.
AmarpreetSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Optimal data security and management achieved with smooth deployment and strong support
I plan to expand the number of users for Rubrik in the future. Currently, I have approximately 10 to 12 customers on Rubrik, as we are partners to Rubrik and a service provider, SIS. I am working with large to medium organizations, not small ones. Regarding Artificial Intelligence, Rubrik is in the initial phase, and I am expecting more from them. I can give them seven out of ten for their improvements in that area. I would recommend Rubrik to other organizations because it is easy to install, easy to manage, and very compact in terms of a solution, with good support from Rubrik. These features allow it to match from small scale to large scale customers very easily. The number of people who usually take part in maintenance from my side depends on the customer size. For large customers, we involve four to five people, but for small customers, one person is enough. I rate Rubrik eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With data deduplication and compression, we are reducing our overall storage footprint for our disk histories. Therefore, we are reducing the actual cost of the disk for our data protection and data backups."
"We apply the new dedupe and compression technology, using maintenance and time to give more time for the backup window and less time for the overhead related to the daily housekeeping."
"Every time we go and try to get a file, we can get it. Restores are quick and the data is always there."
"IBM support is friendly, knowledgeable, and they always respond quickly. They've always been able to find the cause of my problem."
"One way they have improved our organization is through the stability of the solution and the availability of the product."
"All other products contain the same features, but when I'm backing up an IBM Power server I feel more comfortable with IBM Spectrum Protect because it's the same vendor."
"The components of IBM Spectrum Protect explain how the data is protected. The administration is very easy, and the vertical migration is intuitive."
"Incremental backup is highly valuable as it allows for significant time and cost savings."
"The Auto-Snapshot SLA feature and recovery time are amazing. It took seven seconds to have a server back up and running in production from a total failure."
"Instant recovery because it takes about 10 seconds to restore the VM from backup to production"
"Instant recovery is a good feature."
"The security and the ransomware protection are most valuable."
"There is a live-restore feature, their Live Mount, and the way it works we can instantly recover a VM, a past backup, to be directly attached to our VMware environment. Rubrik will act as a disk for it. It's like an instant restore. Within a few minutes our VM is up and running. And then, if we want to restore it, we can just migrate it to our actual storage."
"The tech support is extremely helpful."
"The most valuable feature of Rubrik for me is its user-friendliness and efficiency."
"Rubrik is cheap, and you get good performance."
 

Cons

"The administration interface should implement more functionalities that exist only in the command line and needs improvement in how some reports are created."
"We would like to see bare-metal restorers."
"Perhaps some better documentation, which I believe was better in the past."
"Integration with some applications in the healthcare field could be added, as that is a big part of our business."
"Its price can be better. It is very expensive. Its interface is very old and not user friendly. They can improve its interface. Their support can also be better. My clients are not very satisfied with the support because they are not really quick."
"It needs BMR (bare machine recovery) solutions for both Windows and Linux systems."
"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."
"This product should be more user-friendly for newcomers."
"Its cost is high."
"I would like to see more information on encryption with the next release."
"I would like a way to set monthly backups on a certain date and time."
"There could be better reporting and better filtering."
"The reporting feature should be improved. I need a better output from the existing reports as they currently do not provide comprehensive metrics."
"The solution's reporting feature could be better."
"We have some challenges with the solution's reporting because historical reports have some limitations."
"We would like to be able to do granular restores directly from Exchange. Also, more granular management of VM backups would help."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"That's a hard estimate. It depends on the licensing, the hardware, and other stuff, but it is fairly expensive. It is generally more expensive than other solutions."
"It is expensive."
"I rate the pricing a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is not cost-effective, and ten is cost-effective."
"The solution has a capacity based licensing, front and back-end license."
"Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less."
"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 are paying for support and maintenance on a monthly basis."
"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."
"Due to this effective, faster backup and recovery solution, we are now able to focus on other creative tasks to meet our entire pipeline. So, we have seen ROI in terms of the improvement of productivity in our team. We save around one million dollars a year."
"Its price tends to go up with time. Its pricing definitely has room for improvement. If you negotiate right with them, you might get a good price. Support is a part of the package, and every three years, when we renew our contract, we get new hardware."
"We do perpetual licensing... It was all based on the amount of storage we needed to use. We did a cost analysis compared to Tivoli and it was in line with other solutions."
"High priced when considering a total change in backup solution."
"You need to understand what you're getting for the price. You are getting a backup solution, which is state of the art and works absolutely flawlessly. You are getting the storage needed to store your backups. You have all the sexy features that a modern backup solution can provide you, like deduplication, erasure coding, compression, fast execution time, secured data, and top-notch customer support. So, it might be expensive on paper. It's not free, but when you analyze what you are getting and the time you can spend on other stuff, then Rubrik is very cost-efficient."
"The cost was less than our previous provider, and this is a much better product."
"Rubrik was probably the most expensive solution but in the long run, it's justified by the value of the data that it protects."
"I rate the pricing an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is low, and ten is high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past. There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is wh...
Which would you choose - Rubrik or Veeam Backup & Replication?
Veeam Backup & Replication provides an easy-to-set-up solution to the issue of data storage and recovery. Setting it up is a relatively simple affair. For the most part it prompts you from scre...
What do you like most about Rubrik?
It's easy to manage and has an innovated solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rubrik?
Regarding pricing, Rubrik is a costly solution, and I would rate it an eight.
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
No data available
 

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
Driscoll's, Red Hawk Casino, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Wabash National, Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Galliker Transport & Logistics
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Rubrik and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.