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it_user866148 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Manager with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Provides a full backup giving safety and peace of mind
Pros and Cons
  • "Everyone wants a full backup. It gives them safety and peace of mind, like an insurance policy for that rainy day when they may need to restore a system."
  • "We recently had a situation where we quickly got code, and the number of tapes exceeded the library capacity so we were waiting a while to change. We got a fix for this right away."
  • "Probably educating the virtual group who are not as used to the product. Most of our expertise is with AIX servers and virtual server backups."

What is our primary use case?

We have a lot of happy customers when we sorted our files. We had someone in admissions, and they have a file which everyone shares. There are users who have deleted or trashed files and will need to restore them, sometimes even overwrite it with a new one. They will need the old file from a particular date and the Spectrum Protect system lets you retrieve a specific date file, which leads to a lot of happy campers.

We have an on-premise infrastructure. We use Iron Mountain, then we have a tape library. We have tapes that go off-site, so we can restore for our disaster recovery solution if the premise goes down. Though, we have not had to use it yet.

The VMware/virtual people take more of the snapshots, though not too much with the main AIX boxes.

How has it helped my organization?

Recovering files which have been lost. You can't place a value on it. If someone loses a day's work, or they had this file that they had been keeping for years on end and now all of a sudden the data is gone, they can recover it with Spectrum Protect.

What is most valuable?

The backup feature. Everyone wants a full backup. It gives them safety and peace of mind, like an insurance policy for that rainy day when they may need to restore a system. It is not necessarily as good for migrating to a new release, then putting back a D-drive. However, for daily operations and disaster recovery, it is a big use case.

What needs improvement?

Probably educating the virtual group who are not as used to the product. Most of our expertise is with AIX servers and virtual server backups. I am doing more work these days with Identity and Oracle, why would I use the pump and dump on Oracle or would it be better if I am able to send it off-site using something like Spectrum?

Buyer's Guide
IBM Spectrum Protect
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about IBM Spectrum Protect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It has been very reliable. 

The biggest issue is educating users. The compatibility if you put out a newer server can take backups from old Clients, but you want to keep Clients up-to-date. Some users are more proactive than others, so they won't all come and ask for the Client. It is a job that we should be educating users more about regarding when they should download it. With Spectrum Protect, you can push things from the hubs to the spokes and keep the Clients up-to-date.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not seen any big issues. I sometimes handle the tape library, unloading and loading tapes. and it is very predictable. 

We recently had a situation where we quickly got code, and the number of tapes exceeded the library capacity so we were waiting a while to change. We got a fix for this right away.

We only have a couple servers, but loads of nodes and Clients (hundreds of them). We have some domains, active directories, backups, and shared drives. The shared drives are big. Since driving the recovery scenario, where someone deletes something off of their shared drive, it is not just that person's data but it's a whole department's data.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support has very good turnover for problem solving. They have been spot on as we received a response within a few days.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. 

What other advice do I have?

Spectrum Protect would free up backup space that could be used from files in our databases to grow. It allows for growth of the database, so it is a good use case. However, I might use Oracle pump and dump because I am in test mode (and cheap), but if I were to put it into production, I would really have to use something like Spectrum to do that.

Main criteria for choosing Spectrum Protect: disaster recovery. It is something you seldom use, but it is big if it happens, so it is the security and insurance policy.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user865527 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
The product helps us do data protection and restoration for DR. it has to be evolved to fit all new types of software requirements.
Pros and Cons
  • "The product helps us do data protection and restoration for disaster recovery (DR)."
  • "We would like to see cloud integration."
  • "The solution is evolving, so it has to be evolved to fit all new types of software requirements too."

What is our primary use case?

We have been using it for quite some time and see the product is developing into something that we have been asking for. Some of the functions the product used to lack have been included and are now useful.

We use the on-premise version. Our infrastructure consists of an operating system and a mainframe. The Spectrum product is more for the operating system, data productions, and our data center.

How has it helped my organization?

The product helps us do data protection and restoration for disaster recovery (DR).

What is most valuable?

Product features were previously not great, but they eventually evolved. There have been a lot of good improvement, so now the features are quite impressive.

What needs improvement?

We would like to see cloud integration.

The solution is evolving, so it has to be evolved to fit all new types of software requirements too.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It use to scale to IBM systems only. Now, it scales to non-IBM systems or other industry servers, like Intel. So now, scalability is quite good.

We used silo our Spectrum Protect servers, but now we are consolidating them into fewer servers because they can handle more loads.

How is customer service and technical support?

Technical support is okay. We have IBM direct support, which has a team of resources for us to utilize.

How was the initial setup?

In the beginning, it was not an easy setup. Now, the product has developed to be quite flexible and easy in its setup with some lesser ticks.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated other data protection products like Veritas.

We chose IBM because we had IBM in-house. This was the main reason, and also because Spectrum Protect would integrate with the IBM products better.

What other advice do I have?

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: 

  • Cost
  • Scalability
  • Product features.
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
IBM Spectrum Protect
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about IBM Spectrum Protect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
Reseller
Top 5
Robust backup and recovery capabilities, efficient data deduplication, seamless scalability and advanced security features
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool proves invaluable in scenarios where systems need recovery, such as restoring damaged data."
  • "The administration tools for GI need improvement, as the current assessment suggests shortcomings in the back-end system."

What is our primary use case?

It serves as a backup solution, and although its user interface may not be perceived as unique, its administration process is reported to be smooth. The community project aspect ensures reliable backup communication, especially when dealing with lost backup features. It simplifies tasks such as fixing the entire system and storing data on platforms like Gmail or Hyper-V.

How has it helped my organization?

It has expanded its capabilities and is now part of the Storage Defender suite. This suite is designed to enhance cybersecurity, particularly in safeguarding against ransomware attacks. In addition to disaster recovery, the Storage Defender suite aims to protect against cyber threats by providing measures to recover data in the event of encryption by malicious actors.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable is its versatility, allowing users to efficiently manage IBM V and Hyper-V in diverse environments. The flexibility extends to cloud transitions, enabling easy movement from one vendor to another. The tool proves invaluable in scenarios where systems need recovery, such as restoring damaged data. Users can leverage it to migrate data between different environments, making tasks like moving from on-premise to the cloud straightforward.

What needs improvement?

The administration tools for GI need improvement, as the current assessment suggests shortcomings in the back-end system. Dealing with administrative tasks from my perspective has not been straightforward. The user interface for administration lacks the ease that is found in other tools, especially when dealing with storage.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a very mature tool and it has been reliable and stable throughout our experience. I would rate it ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I didn't have any issues with scalability, it has been good.

How are customer service and support?

My experience with customer service and support has been satisfactory. I would rate it ten out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment process takes one week.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Co-Founder -Technical Director at Dot Future
Real User
Top 20
Plenty of useful features, good support, but administrator functions needed
Pros and Cons
  • "I find the whole product useful. The backup archive client, snapshot, spectrum for virtual environments are beneficial features."
  • "In a future release, it would be a benefit to have the ability to add an application as a storage target, as a storage pool. Additionally, they should add more functionality to the administration for the Operation Center."

What is our primary use case?

I used IBM Spectrum Protect for backups and archiving.

What is most valuable?

I find the whole product useful. The backup archive client, snapshot, spectrum for virtual environments are beneficial features.

What needs improvement?

IBM could improve by decluttering its product lines. There are too many clients, too many names, and overall too many products. They have to decide for the virtual environments, are they going to stick with Spectrum Virtual Environment or Spectrum Protect Plus? They have to decide on this, a final decision. IMB is trying to catch up with Veeam but they have to declutter a lot of products or sub-products that they have.

In a future release, it would be a benefit to have the ability to add an application as a storage target, as a storage pool. Additionally, they should add more functionality to the administration for the Operation Center.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using IBM Spectrum Protect for approximately three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found IBM Spectrum Protect to be highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

IBM Spectrum Protect is a scalable solution.

How are customer service and support?

IBM provides good support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used other backup solutions, such as Veeam.

How was the initial setup?

The installation of IBM Spectrum Protect has become easy for me but was not always. It's not as easy as others, such as Veeam. But nevertheless, I think it to be more robust than Veeam, and more realistic. The only option for a very small deployment is to use the Windows platform, but you cannot have a very small deployment as a blueprint on the Linux and on AIX. They have to create a very small deployment blueprint for the AIX and for the Linux.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive. However, there are a few packages and it is unclear because, for the entry suite they have both options, which are the back-end storage capacity and the front-end storage capacity.

It's really difficult for you as a client to decide the exact size of how many kilos you have to purchase because it really depends on the after operational capacity and after the compression.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others wanting to implement this solution is if they have a critical enterprise application, then I would recommend TSM. If they have a small network of many workstations rather than servers, then maybe Veeam will be more suitable.

I rate IBM Spectrum Protect a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1559268 - PeerSpot reviewer
AIX System Administration at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Flexible with good data versioning and great stability
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the main things that I like about IBM is the versioning of the data - meaning that we can have multiple versions of a file or directory of a server."
  • "It would be helpful if the solution included some sort of ransomware protection."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is primarily used for backup and restore and also for DR, for Data Recovery in case of a disaster. We are using replication from two servers, the Spectrum Servers, so they replicate on each other. We are using it for backing up remote sites also. Basically, all the machines are downloading their backup to the Spectrum Server and from then on we are moving that data to tape units so we can have outside data of the building.

How has it helped my organization?

IBM allows for the versioning of the data, allowing us to have multiple versions of a file or directory of a server. 

What is most valuable?

One of the main things that I like about IBM is the versioning of the data - meaning that we can have multiple versions of a file or directory of a server. I could have 10 versions of one file and that file I could keep for as long as I want.

There is the archive for a version of the solution which gave us the opportunity to have, let's say, one full backup every month for a long period of time. Its archiving offers us good flexibility.

The solution is very stable.

We've found the scalability to be very good.

The initial implementation is straightforward for the most part.

What needs improvement?

The pricing is a bit high. It would be ideal if it was more affordable.

Generally, everything is changing so fast within the product, it's hard to pinpoint what needs to be changed or what is missing. The solution is constantly evolving.

It would be helpful if the solution included some sort of ransomware protection.

The only thing that I haven't tried yet is using it with VMware. I haven't done any tests on it. Let's say that I want to restore a VM, virtual machine, and I would like to access it in a short period of time. This is something that Veeam, for example, is doing. Veeam will permit you to start a VM and start working with it and restore only what is needed to do a prompt work. If it's possible to have the same functionality on this product, that would be ideal.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution since it was called under a different name. I've used it for about 20 or so years at this point. It's been two decades. It's been a while. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. Its performance is excellent.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the solution is very good. A company can expand the solution if it needs to.

IBM Spectrum is used in the data center and we don't have too many users that would use the backup facilities. Everything is centralized to enter the data center.

We are not fully using the solution to its full potential at this time. I'm not sure if there are plans to increase usage. We're looking into other options to see if we can get better user-friendly functionality and better pricing.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've been in touch with technical support. They are very good. We haven't had any issues with them. They are helpful and responsive. Every time I've talked to them, they've solved our problems.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We also currently use Veeam.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is simple. You just click and follow the instruction. Where the complexity is coming up is when you decide how you want to do your backup and restore. Like any other software you have to decide how you want to do it and understand what's going on behind the scene. 

The deployment itself, with my experience, doesn't take long due to the fact that I know the product. That said, for someone that does not know the product, I would say, it will take, just to understand how it works about a week.

We have two or three people on staff that can handle any maintenance required. They are all systems administrators. 

What about the implementation team?

In the beginning, we had a consultant as it was a very long time ago and we did not have the knowledge we have now. However, today I would not deal with anybody from IBM. We have the capabilities we need. 

In general, at the time, we had a good experience working with them.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

While it's my understanding that the solution is expensive, I do not directly handle the licensing and therefore cannot speak to how much the company actually pays to use the solution.

What other advice do I have?

We are customers and end-users.

We have the Enterprise version of IBM Protect. It's not the Plus version.

My advice is not specifically for IBM Spectrum, but for any product. I would say, sit down and think about it. Think about what you want to do. There are so many options in any software. It's like getting house insurance. What do you want to do, how do you want to insure your data? It's important to understand what you want so you can see if the solutions you are looking at actually have the required capabilities.

I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten. It's a very good product. It's strong. It's stable. The company's good.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user866130 - PeerSpot reviewer
Global Backup Engineer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
With newly added features, it has made a difference as far as faster recovery and speed
Pros and Cons
  • "With the new features that we have added, it has made a difference as far as faster recovery and speed."
  • "I am not really impressed with the Level 1 support, but once I get past that and go to Level 2, then we will usually get some type of resolution."
  • "I would like a little more ease with the virtual platforms, because it is a huge thing that is coming up."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for our backup and recovery services.

Our environment is on-premise. We also do tape. However, we do not have any cloud infrastructure at this point. We have a cloud strategy in the works.

We have six Spectrum Protect instances: Three of them are disaster recovery (DR) and three of them are in production. We have grown out the three in production and are looking to add two more in the future. Spectrum Protect should have no issues accommodating this growth.

How has it helped my organization?

With the new features that we have added, it has made a difference as far as faster recovery and speed.

What is most valuable?

  • The server application - the features in it.
  • The replication part of it.
  • The dedupe piece of it, which is a huge help, especially in our environment.

What needs improvement?

I would like a little more ease with the virtual platforms, because it is a huge thing that is coming up. We have a huge virtual environment, but it seems like it is convoluted as far as the process of planning it, then integrating Spectrum Protect. There are a lot of moving pieces, so I am looking forward to Spectrum Protect Plus. There seems to be less moving parts to it, so hopefully it will be quicker.

For how long have I used the solution?

More than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a very solid product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is solid, provided we setup the infrastructure as needed.

How is customer service and technical support?

If I have an issue, I will call support. I am not really impressed with the Level 1 support, but once I get past that and go to Level 2, then we will usually get some type of resolution. 

We do have really good support through our IBM rep, who will jump on it as soon as something is out there.

How was the initial setup?

I was not part of the initial setup.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I have seen a lot of other backup products out there, and they are good. However, Spectrum Protect seems to encompass a broad range of things, and you can pretty much put it anywhere. You can tie it into your backup network or backup needs.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user865551 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Provides our customers with the comfort of having reliable enterprise data protection
Pros and Cons
  • "It provides our customers with the comfort of having reliable enterprise data protection."
  • "Scalability: Our customers are able to grow the product without having to buy additional hardware, so it is very scalable."
  • "It scales from very small to very large. It is easily the most scalable product out there."
  • "For Spectrum Protect Plus, I would like to see more enhanced reporting features and integration with Spectrum Protect."

What is our primary use case?

It is for enterprise backup and recovery. I support customers who use this product for their enterprise backup and recovery.

I have small customers with about 40 cartridge libraries, then I have others who have petabytes of data and using everything under the sun. This is another good feature of Spectrum Protect; it does it all.

I support a customer base of about 25 customers. So, I support probably 50 instances.

How has it helped my organization?

It provides our customers with the comfort of having reliable enterprise data protection. 

Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less.

What is most valuable?

Scalability: Our customers are able to grow the product without having to buy additional hardware, so it is very scalable.

What needs improvement?

For Spectrum Protect Plus, I would like to see more enhanced reporting features and integration with Spectrum Protect. 

In terms of Spectrum Protect, usually the IBM features are ahead of where the customers' demand is, so I generally do not even install the latest version for at least a year. Therefore, I think they are doing good with this product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It really depends on the hardware that you are running it on. If you run it with the right resources, it can be up for years on end.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It scales from very small to very large. It is easily the most scalable product out there.

How is customer service and technical support?

I use technical support quite often, calling in PMRs for customers. Support is really good, as I have never had to close a PMR with them having fixed the problem. Also, they are very responsive.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is pretty straightforward and easy to implement.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Customers will look at other vendors in the enterprise backup space: Commvault, NetBackup, Veeam, and other similar solutions.

Most of my customers have already been Spectrum Protect customers. Therefore they are happy with the product. The new implementations that I have done, they have generally chosen Spectrum Protect for its scalability and reliability.

What other advice do I have?

I would absolutely recommend Spectrum Protect.

It has a tried and true tested ability. It has been around for approximately 30 years. The roadmap is definitely aligned with where businesses are going, e.g., cloud support, virtual backup support, etc. In the eight years that I have been a business partner, I have lost one customer that switched off of the platform. This was not because they were unhappy with the product, but from an acquisition,

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
it_user865521 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems And Storage Administrator at Zain Mobile
Real User
It has increased our security, scalability, and high availability
Pros and Cons
  • "High availability (HA): It is one of the best features."
  • "It has increased our security, scalability, and high availability."
  • "It needs some software upgrades to fix some of its current bugs."

What is our primary use case?

It is an on-premise infrastructure, not cloud, which is comprised of IBM and Oracle. In the next couple of years, we will probably look to the cloud.

Right now, we are working on send volume, IBM Controller SVC, and we also have products, like IBM Storwize V7000 and FS900 Storage.

How has it helped my organization?

The capacity of the storage is huge. It can be affected with all of our requirements. We also have two copies for each volumes. This makes life easier and safer for us, in cases of disasters happening and for any volume or data corruption as well.

It has increased our security, scalability, and high availability.

What is most valuable?

High availability (HA): It is one of the best features that we have.

What needs improvement?

  • It needs some software upgrades to fix some of its current bugs. 
  • In SVC, we need a masking view that combines with a storage group. This is collected all in terms of hosts, storage, and volume, both on the storage side and the host side. We need to combine them in one storage group in the SVC.

For how long have I used the solution?

Less than one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

From a storage perspective, it is very nice. From SVC, we do have some issues with rebooting, nodes, etc. However, we are working on them. As a software-defined storage, we should face some issues like this. From storage level, it is very nice and powerful.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not scaled it yet, because we already have enough storage capacity. Since the scalability will be online, I know it will be fine. There should not be any downtime. 

For time being, we have enough with the storage of IBM and SVC. At least for next three years, we have enough storage with what we have already.

How are customer service and technical support?

IBM does not have a Kuwait entity open for calls and support, but we usually work with Dubai support. They are very nice and on the spot. If there are critical issues, they will come on spot. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was working with a IBM different product, DS4700. However, right now, we are in different stage of technology, which is SVC and Storwize V7000.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very impressive. I am a system admin, but I do love learning a lot. It is a straightforward setup, and the IBM engineers are very helpful and provide me with new information each time that they do an implementation.

What about the implementation team?

During the implementation phases, technical people come over from Turkey and Dubai to Kuwait and help on the implementation. This is nice. 

It has not reached any SLA. Things are good.

What other advice do I have?

We manage IBM, SVC, IBM Spectrum Control, and IBM Spectrum Storage.

I would recommend the product, because the storage is very nice, especially the FS900. It has very nice features.

Most important criteria when selecting a vendor: They are clever. They have committed in their words, implementation, their price, and the capacity (which they already offered).

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM Spectrum Protect Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free IBM Spectrum Protect Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.