Dell Data Protection Advisor Reviews

We do not use it very often because the other data domain products that we use make it obsolete. 

DPA only has value as a reporting tool for auditors. It has provided no value as a tool to improve the efficiency of our backup environment. 

DPA can provide daily report cards for our auditors, which fulfills our reporting requirements. 

The functionality of the Data Protection Advisor is limited and is something that is lacking in this solution. Other solutions like CloudIQ and DDMC provide a much better outlook on how data protection should be done. DDMC provides a single pane of glass overview of our PowerProtect systems and CloudIQ can predict future issues based on current trends. DPA, contrary to it's name, provides no ability to advise. It only runs simple reports based on imported data.

I have been using this solution for three years. 

This is a stable solution. 

I would rate this solution a three out of ten. 

We primarily use the solution for backups.

The most valuable aspects of the solution are the compression and the deduplication.

It has all the technology we require in a backup solution.

The solution requires more integration with our other solutions. I know that they have full integration with VMware because it is also from EMC. However, we have to have better integration with Microsoft and Nutanix as well.

We previously used Asper from Computer Associates. The solution was too old and for the amount of our data, we needed a solution that was faster but also very strong and easy to use. That's is why we switched to EMC.

The initial setup was easy. Deployment took about one month. We only need one person to handle maintenance.

We did the deployment with the EMC partner in our country.

Before choosing EMC we did compare the price with other solutions. We found the pricing to be pretty good.

We use the private cloud deployment model.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. I'd recommend it; it's a very strong solution.

The protocols are very good. Clients use them a lot as backup extensions due to the reports on the backup, the capacity managing, and the success rates, etc.

Personally, I find it's more than an extension of the backup solution. It's more of a data center than a reporting tool. You can get information about everything and you can anticipate some errors that may occur on the system.

Customization of reports or creating new reports can be difficult. Users need to have a deep knowledge of SQL. 70-80% of customers can't seem to understand how to do it. They don't know how to address reporting. If Dell EMC could simplify it, it would benefit the end-user.

Currently, you have the option to put the solution in a Windows server, but by putting your general reporting on the Windows server you have the potential to lose everything one day. It's better to be able to deploy it on a VM.

I've been using the solution for eight years.

My impression of the stability of the solution is that it is quite good. We've had a few issues here and there, but it's always been minor things. Stability hasn't been a big deal.

Scalability questions are a bit difficult to address. It's straightforward, but the questions should be more around what you think about the sizing of the DPA.

There should be some sort of proper sizing for DPA. Proper sizing is very important. Otherwise, scaling is tricky.

I've never contacted technical support. I know a lot about the product myself, and I know people that I can talk to if I have issues.

We didn't previously use a different solution. There was only a bit of SQL script and that was it.

The initial setup is very straightforward. Deployment typically takes about one hour. You just need one person to handle the deployment process.

I handled the deployment myself.

We did evaluate other options before ultimately choosing DPA.

We're a gold partner with Dell EMC.

The clients that we have on the solution are medium to enterprise-level organizations.

I'd advise others to see if there's a data center solution and not just an extension of the backup. You also need to edit the data to show what you want and you'll want to set up and get the reports that apply to your specific needs.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. I really like it, but they do need to address the difficulties surrounding reporting to make it perfect.

We have one customer that uses this solution. We have one technical team member that handles all maintenance-related issues. 

This solution is great for IT auditing. The reporting has many capabilities, including the implementation of charts. It also includes a standard reporting mode. 

It can support many backup solutions; you can even backup hosts. It generates very detailed reports, which makes things easier when it comes to IT auditing.

It's a bit difficult for first-time users. It could be easier to use, overall. For example, when searching for one specific feature, you need to go through many tabs, which can be confusing if you don't know what you're doing. If this process was simplified, it would be very time-efficient. 

One of our customers has been using this solution for two years. 

Dell EMC Data Protection Advisor is not very scalable. 

The initial installation is quite straightforward. Deployment took roughly 45 minutes. 

We need to add additional licenses for support so that the IT monitoring process will be very smooth. 

Our customer pays for the license. It's not very expensive — I think the price is fair. Considering the number of features, the price is moderate. 

I would absolutely recommend this solution to others. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine.