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IBM Spectrum Protect vs Veritas Backup Exec 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
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Veritas Backup Exec
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
75
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 Veritas Backup Exec is 1.8%, down from 2.7% 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.
Pawel Augustyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplified interface with good performance but needs monitoring
I need to use PowerStore and Veritas Backup Exec. It is a direct backup to types, and it is supported by my backup. It offers good performance and stability, and it works properly. I am happy with this program. It is still working on aligning with security requirements and data encryption for Amazon or ATAC. It has a lot of functions and security measures, which ensure our backups are secure.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In the past, one of the most valuable features, and the biggest advantage, was the incremental forever feature. Not many other backup vendors provided that. In the pre-virtualization environment, it was very robust and simple technology, especially writing to tape."
"It is also a product that has been maturing for a long time. This is good because customers need reliability in their enterprise initiatives."
"From a tech perspective, utilizing deduplication is one of the most valuable features."
"Spectrum Protect's best feature is that I can use it practically anywhere, on any platform, and for any servers or clients."
"With Spectrum Protect, you can use any type of disk to back-end the repositories. It gave us flexibility to use whatever storage we wanted at our secondary site."
"It is a really scalable solution. We can scale it up. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"The most valuable feature is the backup speed."
"The customization and the ability to backup across all platforms are the most valuable features."
"The most important feature is the variety of backup applications it supports, including ERP systems and most other programs, such as Microsoft."
"The solution is stable."
"It's quite stable, and so far, we have had no technical issues with Veritas Backup Exec."
"One of the valuable features is the instant recovery for VMs. It reduces the RTO (Recovery Time Objective) drastically."
"Its reliability and the fact that we have all the skills that we need for Veritas Backup Exec are the most valuable."
"We are happy with Veritas Backup Exec's stability."
"Veritas Backup Exec is fully compatible with different tape libraries."
"When something goes down, and we need to restore data, the most used case is being able to restore it. Veritas Backup Exec allows you to restore down to the file level."
 

Cons

"The version that we had when I first started made it look really bad. We are talking about commands that should have run in two seconds, but instead took four to eight hours. Other components were sluggish."
"The software is very complicated. You have to do a lot of configurations to build a server, and you would need to backup and restore."
"The features should be a little bit closer together."
"I would like to see a way to have "always on" implemented."
"We are having a balance issue between the reclamation and the backup function. It has to take the space back from the tapes before it can record to those tapes, but sometimes those two processes are overlapping."
"I would like to see monitoring within the platform: monitoring for storage pools and monitoring for the server's health (e.g., CPU and memory)."
"The product should be improved to save more space."
"There have been some sizing issues now, and we are dealing with those."
"Initial setup is a bit complex and needs some expertise for troubleshooting when something goes wrong."
"Whenever a job fails, it would be a great improvement to be able to resume the job from that feature. Suppose a job was started this morning and that it is going on while there are interruptions like network issues, server restart issues, server connectivity issues, services stopping, etc. For some reason, let's assume that the job failed or that it was mistakenly canceled by another person. It will be a great improvement if that failed job can be continued."
"The initial installation needs some effort."
"Veritas Backup Exec's dashboard feature could be enhanced."
"Currently, the solution does not have the capability to restore a single mailbox, so you lose a lot of time having to restore for example ten mailboxes just to recover one."
"The EDR should be looked at, as the operating system is too weak."
"The solution could improve and adapt to new applications in the market so we can integrate Veritas Backup Exec with them to facilitate backup processes within these applications."
"Better integration with non-Microsoft products would be an improvement."
 

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."
"The solution's pricing is fair. Price-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."
"The licensing fees are on a yearly basis, which for us it is about R400,000 (approximately $27,000 USD)."
"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"IBM provides an open license policy, which is more like a gentlemen's agreement."
"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."
"Pricing is similar, but they don´t offer the same options/technology."
"It is a mid-range solution on the pricing scale."
"The product is inexpensive compared to enterprise software."
"The pricing of Veritas Backup's license is comparable to Veeam."
"This product is priced for smaller customers."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The price is reasonable for the features it offers."
"I think, at least for the price I've seen, it could be lower compared to other products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
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 dash...
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...
What do you like most about Veritas Backup Exec?
The most important feature is the variety of backup applications it supports, including ERP systems and most other programs, such as Microsoft.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Veritas Backup Exec?
The price is one of the best. When I compare it with others, it is twice or three times cheaper, however, the functionality is the same.
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec
 

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
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Veritas Backup Exec and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.