IBM Spectrum Protect vs Veeam Data Platform comparison

IBM and Veeam Software are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.2, while Veeam Software is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to Veeam Software’s 16.8% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Veeam Software users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

4,364 Views
3,377 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Veeam Data Platform

Read 423 Veeam Data Platform reviews

33,605 Views
27,934 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Veeam Data Platform

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 22, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and Veeam Data Platform are key players in the enterprise backup and disaster recovery market. Veeam seems to have the upper hand due to its user-friendly interface and strong integration with virtual environments.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect includes Disaster Recovery Manager, incremental-forever backups, and deduplication. It is highly scalable, supports multiple platforms, and offers excellent archiving. Veeam Data Platform excels in virtual environments with instant VM recovery, application-aware backups, and integration with VMware and Hyper-V.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect could improve its GUI, reporting, and cloud integration. Users also desire a less complex experience with better tape management. Veeam Data Platform needs enhanced support for physical workloads and non-VMware environments, along with more intuitive reporting and flexible licensing options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect's deployment can be complex, but technical support is expert, though first-level support varies. Veeam's straightforward setup and user-friendly interface are complemented by highly responsive customer service, making it appealing to organizations.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive, particularly for small customers, though it offers tiered pricing. It provides strong ROI in large-scale environments. Veeam Data Platform is competitively priced, making it accessible to a wider range of customers, with straightforward licensing and positive ROI.

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

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Veeam Data Platform

March 2025

Download the complete report

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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

16th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Veeam Data Platform

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

423

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Backup (1st), Virtualization Management Tools (4th), Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 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 Veeam Data Platform is 16.8%, down from 20.6% 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

Edward Hore

L3 Infrastructure Engineer at Specsavers

Reliable with good support but needs a better navigation menu

We use Veeam Data to back up our VMware infrastructure Veeam Data Platform is valuable for its stability and the ability to easily contact support for assistance. The support team provides answers whenever we need them. It is also one of the most scalable backup solutions I've worked with. The…

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

"The fact that we can take the backup straight onto tape is the most valuable feature."

"The solution is not complex, it's very easy to configure agents or VM backup and restore. Upgrades from one version to another are very fast and the product is very stable."

"The solution is mostly stable."

"Nothing beats this solution for file backup."

"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."

"The components of IBM Spectrum Protect explain how the data is protected. The administration is very easy, and the vertical migration is intuitive."

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

"The platform has valuable stability."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"I have found the backup call feature very good."

"Veeam Backup Replication's snapshotting and cloning are the most valuable features."

"The encryption password is used to protect the backup files. Even if someone gains access to the backup job or files, they won't be able to utilize them without the password."

"Instant Backup is an useful feature."

"It provides a much better user experience compared to other vendors. It works faster as well."

"The initial setup is very easy."

"It's fairly easy to manage and set up."

"The main feature for Veeam is that it's built primarily for virtualization, such as VMware or Hyper-V."

More Veeam Data Platform pros

Cons

"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."

"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."

"Ease of use. That has got to be the one thing that I routinely hear from clients and customers, that it's a little bit more difficult than it should be. What I'm finding is that IBM has heard that and they're responding with updated interfaces and things like that."

"RTO is a huge gap for us. If we had a disaster scenario and had to recover a bunch of stuff from tape, the RTO would be too long for us."

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

"They are behind on many things, especially security. They are catching up a little bit now, but the competitors are doing better security-wise. There should be malware detection and prevention and higher security."

"We need everything cloud. Strong support for cloud services. S3 connectivity, which is mandatory for us in the future along with this integration of Spectrum Copy Data Management or Spectrum Protect services together with these Spectrum Protect Plus functionalities, e.g., hardware, snapshots, and Copy Data Management. They should come together in one solution."

"Restoring massive files is a very time-consuming process."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"Sometimes, it's a little difficult for me to use its user interface. Its scope is very big with a lot of tuning, settings, and so on. If it's difficult for me, it must also be difficult for our customers."

"The solution could improve the performance. We are not able to check the status of any system. Additionally, if there was an option to monitor server clusters it would be helpful."

"Veeam is not in SaaS right now."

"There is always some room for improvement, especially with some of the different technologies such as DB2. Commvault has a DB2 agent, but Veeam still doesn't have it. We have to use the universal one for it."

"The one downside to Veeam is that they don't have a cloud product of their own."

"Recovery speed is slow. Full recovery on large machines (1TB+) takes too long"

"One common customer complaint is that Veeam, not just Veeam ONE, has become increasingly complex over time. This means that it is now very feature-rich, which can be challenging for some users to navigate and understand. There is a need for more education on how to use the GUI and all of the available features. Even regular users of Veeam may struggle to utilize the new features, which makes it more challenging for backup administrators to manage their backups. The platform is not becoming simpler, but rather, it is becoming more complicated over time."

"Expanding its compatibility to include Linux would represent a significant advancement."

More Veeam Data Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Use capacity licensing. It's easier and cheaper."

"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."

"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."

"It is very scalable, but the downside is that it costs money."

"There may be an advantage to going with IBM in terms of pricing. They have a pay-as-you-grow policy, so there is no need to take one license for the entire datacenter. You can start with small licenses and then grow, and pay, as you use more."

"You need to put it in a PoC and test it out if you can."

"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"This is not an expensive solution. It's on the cheaper side."

"If you tell Veeam that you're competing with, for example, NetBackup or Backup Exec, or Dell or Micro Focus then they may lower the price. They are very competitive."

"It is relatively cheap."

"Its licensing is very simple. We can make changes very easily."

"We are happy with the pricing and we pay for licensing on a subscription basis."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the price a five."

"For now, I think the pricing of Veeam ONE is quite okay for any of the infrastructures, especially for those who want a backup system and a tool that provides monitoring services."

"The price of the solution could improve when comparing it to competitors. The market is very competitive and they should have some discounts or special offers."

More Veeam Data Platform pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user159711

Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Nov 9, 2014

VMware SRM vs. Veeam vs. Zerto

Disaster recovery planning is something that seems challenging for all businesses. Virtualization in addition to its operational flexibility, and cost reduction benefits, has helped companies improve their DR posture. Virtualization has made it easier to move machines from production to…

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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

Financial Services Firm

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?

See all answers

Major Differences Between These 4 Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions?

Comparing the features of the four is not the right approach. You need to develop a list of requirements for backup and DR that are specific to your organization and then compare each of the four ...

See all answers

How do the backup solutions of Veeam and Veritas compare?

Technically, Veeam is best for hyper-v & VMWare replications, snapshots, HA failover, also support for file system backups inside VMs., support for tape library & FC too. But Veritas Netbac...

See all answers

How does Nakivo compare with Veeam Backup & Replication?

Nakivo is my favorite backup software. Below are the main benefits of Nakivo compared to Veeam 1. Low cost. 2. Backup storage with global deduplication (this is the main requirement of a backup sol...

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Comparisons

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 20% 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

IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Rubrik vs Veeam Data Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Veeam Data Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect vs Veeam Data Platform

Compared 5% of the time

Azure Backup vs Veeam Data Platform

Compared 4% of the time

VMware Live Recovery vs Veeam Data Platform

Compared 4% of the time

More Veeam Data Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

February 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

Veeam Data Platform

February 2025

Download Veeam Data Platform product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam ONE

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

Veeam Data Platform ensures comprehensive data resilience by offering secure backups and intelligent data insights, catering to the complexities of modern data management.

Veeam Data Platform empowers businesses with reliable data protection, orchestrated recovery, and streamlined management. Providing peace of mind, it guarantees data is secure, available, and effortlessly recoverable. Organizations benefit from features such as instant recovery, simplified management, and compatibility with virtual environments. While it shines in backup and restore capabilities, it calls for improvements in integration with physical servers and enhanced cyber security features.

What are the key features of Veeam Data Platform?

Instant Recovery: Allows immediate data restoration with minimal downtime.
Simplified Management: Intuitive interfaces for managing data with ease.
Efficient Replication: Supports reliable duplication for high availability.
Seamless VM Backups: Integrates well with virtual environments like VMware and Hyper-V.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Offers robust alerting for proactive data management.

What are the notable benefits of using Veeam Data Platform?

Reliability: Trustworthy backup and restore functionalities.
Scalability: Supports cloud integration for expanding data needs.
Time Efficiency: Fast recovery processes minimizing business impact.
Flexibility: Adapts to diverse data management requirements.
Peace of Mind: Assures persistent data availability and protection.

Organizations in industries like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing utilize Veeam Data Platform for critical data management, ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery. Employed in securing both virtual and physical workloads, Veeam integrates cloud storage for enhanced scalability and efficiency.

Veeam Software

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

Business & Legal Resources Inc., Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, Alliance Healthcare, Poulin Grain Inc., Linear Technology, Northwestern University, ARKEMA, Sogegross, City of Lynchburg

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Veeam Data Platform

March 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Veeam Data Platform

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

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