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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

"It is good in terms of functionality. My clients are very satisfied with this solution."
"The archiving feature is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"The solution is very stable. It is one of the most important features that we look for in a product before putting it into the market and when establishing a strategy with our customers."
"The solution is mostly stable."
"The best part of this solution is that it just works."
"We have a very good team of administrators who know the product perfectly and are able to manage it on a day-to-day basis."
"It is also a product that has been maturing for a long time. This is good because customers need reliability in their enterprise initiatives."
"I find the whole product useful. The backup archive client, snapshot, spectrum for virtual environments are beneficial features."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It was very easy. Deployment only took about one hour with configuration and everything considered."
"Application awareness is very good and the speed of this solution is good."
"Veeam helps to create a stable environment with virtual servers."
"If you have windows machine at home and you'd like a backup, you can always download their free edition and plug in an external hard disk, and do a full backup of your laptop."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to navigate inside a backup point to look for a specific folder or data you want to recover."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"To do the actual backup configuration is also not too bad."
"It's powerful and user-friendly."
 

Cons

"It needs better connectivity with other non-IBM application hardware and non-IBM platforms."
"I would like to see integration with Copy Data Management, which is an IBM product. Right now, these two products are siloed, so if these two become integrated, the product would become a bit of a powerhouse."
"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."
"It can be improved for large file systems with many files. Spectrum Protect can restore large files very well, but if you're restoring millions of little files, it is not as great. At one point, we tried to implement the VMware module with it, and it was awful and terrible. I don't know if that has improved. If it hasn't, this would be one big improvement."
"Most customers still struggle with the reporting piece, especially generating reports. I think it needs some improvements in this area."
"The initial setup is complex."
"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 software is complex; setup is complex."
"We need some sort of security for backups and archives."
"The predictability of the solution needs improvement. Sometimes, if it's doing something at the back end, it may go slow. Today, the backup completion took four hours, but sometimes it can do the backup in 30 minutes or an hour. With solutions like NetBackup, I can predict to a much higher degree of certainty how long something will take to complete."
"Some customers have Oracle databases and Veeam does support back up of Oracle databases."
"I would like to see the ability for incremental backups and reverse backups."
"I am not very impressed by the technical support I received when I had an issue."
"The solution lacks instant recovery."
"I would like there to be more integration with other platforms."
"The stability of this solution needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Customers need to pay for licensing in order to use IBM Spectrum Protect. The customers that have been using it for a long time are okay and happy with it. From a cost point of view, it's better for them to renew their licenses than to go through the difficult process of changing a backup product in their environment, and migrate from one product to another."
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"We are paying for support and maintenance on a monthly basis."
"You need to put it in a PoC and test it out if you can."
"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."
"IBM Spectrum Protect, cost-wise, has way higher pricing than Veeam. By switching over to Veeam, my company saved over $600,000 in USD. The IBM Spectrum Protect pricing is a two on a scale of one to ten. My company paid additional fees for maintenance, apart from the standard licensing fees."
"The licensing fees are on a yearly basis, which for us it is about R400,000 (approximately $27,000 USD)."
"The cost for its licenses is reasonable and as per industry standards."
"We are on an annual license to use Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows. There are not any additional fees to use the solution."
"The solution is free of cost for end users but for enterprise use, a license per user is required."
"Pricing is based on license packaging and duration. Longer term licenses are less per year and license packages also offer a discount."
"We have a license package."
"We pay for a three-year subscription to use Veeam Agent."
"The licensing fees are billed on a yearly basis, and the fees are much lower than what I pay for NetBackup."
"Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
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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.
882,160 professionals have used our research since 2012.