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IBM Storage Protect vs Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

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 Storage Protect
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Backup and Recovery (12th)
Veeam Agent for Microsoft W...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2787573 - PeerSpot reviewer
Interim Head of Infrastructure at a real estate/law firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Backup coverage has supported immutable protection and now needs a more modern, intuitive interface
IBM Storage Protect is from a previous generation of backup software. In those days, backup software was complex in setting up and complex to manage. The new software, such as Rubrik, is very easy to use and more relatable to younger engineers because its interface design is more similar to Office 365 and the newer controls and labels that we are accustomed to. The difficulty that we now have with IBM Storage Protect is that for this day and age, compared to other products that are out there, it seems complex. If we look back 15 years ago, all enterprise class backup software was complex, so IBM was not any different. However, many of these older systems, such as Commvault, still have the same complaint that they are very complex because they have tried to keep that same interface and the same way it works. This suits them, but it probably needed a complete overhaul to bring it into the ease of use that we have with modern software. However, that upgrade has not been done. IBM Storage Protect has not been upgraded into a modern platform. It still looks a legacy platform.
Salman Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at Habib Bank Ltd.
Functional application availability
There are not many options available for AIX backup. They provide the agent for AIX, but it could be more mature, and they should improve that option. They also provide the AIX agent, which is similar to the Windows and Linux agents. Since we use AIX machines, we need to take backups of those machines. However, the options available in that agent are limited. Therefore, the new version should have improvements in that area.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature for data recovery in IBM Spectrum Protect is its database protection capabilities."
"We can scale. Today, we have an average backup volume of 100TB a day."
"The most valuable feature is the backup speed."
"One way they have improved our organization is through the stability of the solution and the availability of the product."
"Once setup, you do not need to touch it again. You just need to do a formal check on possibly batch updates."
"Technical support is okay. We have not had many issues with them."
"The ability to migrate between media over a long period of time. My customers are long-time users, and they have benefited from being able to move between tiers. They have been able to do this within the product."
"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."
"The most valuable features are the flexibility and stability of the product."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It was very easy. Deployment only took about one hour with configuration and everything considered."
"We found the initial setup to be quite simple."
"It's straightforward to set up."
"Veeam is very useful for the Hyper-V environment."
"It is easy to deploy."
"Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows's most useful features is the ease of use and user-friendly."
"I like working on the Azure platform."
 

Cons

"It seems like they are a little behind on the integration to Azure Cloud as well as Amazon."
"There could be various client systems and process integration included in the product."
"The product should improve its GUI. It should also support Windows clustering."
"I would like to advance reporting and analytics for the platform to see how much data is coming into the platform. how much data is expiring everyday, and what tape savings we are getting through reclamation."
"We cannot take VMware backups for our banking data center environment."
"I think Spectrum Protect's interface is not so user-friendly, but the interface is not so friendly. Some of the functions are too complicated. I prefer a simpler solution."
"Replication services would be nice. If these could be enhanced to be always on so multiple storage backup services could be added as a cluster pool. This would provide a better availability service."
"The difficulty that we now have with IBM Storage Protect is that for this day and age, compared to other products that are out there, it seems complex."
"I would like to have a more automated installation process."
"If you are doing an AIX backup then you have to use the CLI because it doesn't appear on the console, the way that Windows and Linux jobs do."
"The solution could use some updates to minor details omitted from current reporting."
"An area that this solution could be improved would be with the licensing."
"A lower price would always be beneficial."
"I would like to have more flexibility in terms of reporting details about the backup."
"While the Veeam agent is perfect, sometimes the agent doesn't install in Windows."
"I can't think of anything that may be missing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."
"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."
"Regarding retro-compatibility of the product between versions, your data is always available and the ROI is unquestionable."
"I rate the pricing a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is not cost-effective, and ten is cost-effective."
"Its licensing is complicated. It goes by CPUs, and it is pretty expensive as well."
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"It is fairly reasonable as compared to other solutions in the market."
"The pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."
"It is less expensive than one of its variants."
"We are on an annual license to use Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows. There are not any additional fees to use the solution."
"The pricing model is based on CPU and must be declared as Microsoft or VMware licensing."
"Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"We have a cloud provider agreement with Veeam. We are also paying for the agent."
"There are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees, and pricing can be a disadvantage or a weakness for this solution."
"We have an annual license."
"We have a license package."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Photography Company
22%
Performing Arts
19%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise95
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Storage Protect?
The best point about IBM Storage Protect is that it can use IBM tape environments, which we still use and will continue to use in the future.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Storage Protect?
I do not know the current licensing cost for IBM Storage Protect and how we get our support because our licensing model is not quite standard. We do not buy IBM Storage Protect direct from IBM. We ...
What needs improvement with IBM Storage Protect?
IBM Storage Protect is from a previous generation of backup software. In those days, backup software was complex in setting up and complex to manage. The new software, such as Rubrik, is very easy ...
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Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
ContinuitySA, Landmark Information Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: January 2026.
882,479 professionals have used our research since 2012.