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IBM Storage Protect vs Veritas Backup Exec comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 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
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Veritas Backup Exec
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Veritas Backup Exec is 1.6%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Storage Protect2.1%
Veritas Backup Exec1.6%
Other96.3%
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

"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."
"It is pretty scalable. It will scale to anything."
"Regarding technical support, if one has the entire enterprise support, I would rate it a nine out of ten...Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"The amount of data that it protects with very little storage by doing incremental forever is one of its most valuable features."
"Good user interface."
"The tool proves invaluable in scenarios where systems need recovery, such as restoring damaged data."
"The D2D2T archive of my PACS data improved after I put Spectrum Protect 8.1.4 into production."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is application-aware backups."
"The product provides automated and faster data backup and recovery compared to other vendors."
"The product allows for versatile storage options, enabling users to store data on disk storage, NAS storage, or tape libraries."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to back up IBM Power virtual servers."
"The solution is very fast. It does not take a long time to backup everything."
"The solution was stable and reliable."
"The backup potential of the solution is very good. It's protected us in the past very well and allowed us to get up and running after an attack with minimal loss."
"We have virtual infrastructure, so restoring virtual machine systems from backups is also very easy."
"This solution has a very good technical support department that is very responsive."
 

Cons

"Scalability is poor. As you get to bigger environments, this is where our gaps have been introduced. As we have grown over the past couple of years, the gaps have become more apparent."
"It should have the ability to break down the data that's being backed up. It should have better reporting."
"Our customers would like to see metadata replication, tearing to tape, and more cloud capabilities."
"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."
"The administration interface should implement more functionalities that exist only in the command line and needs improvement in how some reports are created."
"They should introduce more features for virtualization platforms and backing up IBMs. Backup speeds should also be improved."
"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."
"I would like to see more technical training online. Sometimes, it is a little bit difficult to find, or that I do not really know what I am looking for as somebody who is starting off finding their learning curve."
"A web console would be great because nowadays a lot of products are web-based and you can access the console from various environments. So I would recommend bringing this feature in the next solution."
"Something within the software itself isn't quite right. There may be a bug or glitch. It will work fine for weeks and then all of a sudden it just tanks."
"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."
"The solution could improve by having better documentation."
"We've experienced some performance issues with Backup Exec. The backup jobs take too long to complete."
"One area for improvement is Veritas's pricing."
"The licensing packet is confusing. If Veritas could do a better job of clarifying it, that would be helpful."
"More stable environment in a WAN infrastructure."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."
"The product is low cost. It is very cool when we design it to using licensing based on post capacity."
"It can be perceived as expensive since it is designed for enterprise use."
"It is expensive."
"That's no longer my department, but I have some past experience with licensing. It is not cheap. I would rate it a three out of five in terms of licensing. In terms of additional costs, there is management overhead. It is a complex solution and a lot of work goes into managing clients. It has gotten better over the years, but compared to its competitor, it is still heavy on management overhead."
"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."
"The pricing is a little expensive for our current employer, so they want to move to a cheaper solution."
"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 price of this solution is a bit high."
"There is an evaluation license available to test this solution."
"This product is priced for smaller customers."
"The pricing can be improved."
"The price of Veritas Backup Exec could be reduced and we pay annually for the license. However, compared to other solutions, such as Veeam, it is less expensive."
"I rate the price of Veritas Backup Exec a four out of five."
"I would like to see a better licensing model. They changed it and it's just horrendous."
"Depending on the scenario, it can cost less than half of the price of other methods."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise94
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business35
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise29
 

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?
IBM Storage Protect is generally an expensive tool. However, with good contracts with IBM or its partners, the cost might not be so high. New customers can expect very high prices.
What needs improvement with IBM Storage 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...
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.
 

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. Veritas Backup Exec and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
871,469 professionals have used our research since 2012.