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IBM Spectrum Protect vs OpenText Data Protector vs Veritas Backup Exec comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Data Protector is 0.6%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Veritas Backup Exec is 1.8%, down from 2.6% 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.
Jeroen Vranckaerts - PeerSpot reviewer
Though a highly stable tool, it needs to be made easier to use and configure
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten. OpenText Data Protector is complex to configure correctly, but the areas concerning the data and compression are good. Once you get the product to work, it works, but it's much too complex to configure and troubleshoot, as it takes a lot of time and energy, making it not so efficient. Once the tool is configured in your environment, it provides good backup and compression features. In my company, we use OpenText Data Protector as a backup for our servers, and we have a team of 20 people to take care of the data backup using the tool. My company doesn't use OpenText Data Protector as a backup for our client's computers. In my company, we have scheduled the process related to backup, which makes the tool run daily around 30 to 40 times.
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

"We've found the product to be quite stable and the performance is very good."
"Its incremental forever approach is valuable, so we don't have to load tapes to do a restore."
"The customization and the ability to backup across all platforms are the most valuable features."
"Forever incremental - allows TSM to optimize storage needs."
"The solution is really scalable."
"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 scales well. We have grown here in the last year or two, and it has been relatively easy."
"The most valuable features of Spectrum Protect would be the compression and the deduplication."
"Micro Focus Data Protector's most valuable feature is its interaction with the fiber share. It is easy to use, we use it to back up without any problem to VTLs, and can use the Fiber Channel that is still the TCP."
"What I like the most about this solution is that I can change and access the Oracle backup file."
"Data Protector's granular recovery features make it easy for us to create and restore backups in an understandable and user-friendly manner. With granular recovery, any database or even just a database table can be restored at will."
"The most valuable feature is the capability to back up our SQL server."
"It works excellently only with Oracle."
"Integration with HP storage is a very strong point for Micro Focus Data Protector. It is the best solution for general operations like backup and restore. Zero downtime backup (ZDB) is one very important feature, which is basically the integration with the storage array. It is a very strong feature. We're using storage with snapshots with this integration."
"The feature that was most valuable was that we could restore one mailbox and we could do different backups for different databases."
"Ability to automatically detect and secure new data sources without requiring manual configuration intervention."
"Backup Exec 2012 R2 is a very good product for the Windows file system and SQL backups. It is very user-friendly, but the next version Backup Exec 2014 that is released and the other next versions of Backup Exec product is not so friendly."
"Veritas Backup Exec is fully compatible with different tape libraries."
"The one thing for the last 12 months which has been very good for Veritas was the instance-based license. This means that you're able to license per instance, not only per physical server."
"The solution is good for small and medium-sized businesses."
"This solution is not complex and you do not have to be too technical to use it."
"Synthetic backup is valuable. It gives you the possibility to do a synthesized backup, which means that it combines a full backup and incremental backup data and gives it to you in one stream. So, you don't have to restore the full backup and then later go and restore the incremental backup. You can do that in one go."
"The platform has significantly improved our backup and recovery processes by efficiently managing data protection and supporting tape drives. It has also provided reliable data recovery solutions."
"It offers good performance and stability, and it works properly."
 

Cons

"The user interface needs to be improved."
"Replication of data could be more user friendly."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"The solution could be more user-friendly and provide better monitoring. The monitoring should be improved first since it is a higher priority."
"Restoring massive files is a very time-consuming process."
"Getting technical support all the necessary diagnostic information is still very painful."
"We would like to see capabilities of long-term archiving and more support for hardware platforms."
"Enhancements are required for backing up our virtual environment."
"We faced some certification issues after we upgraded to version 10.2."
"Virtualization."
"Integration with the market applications must be improved, such as MS Exchange, MS Active Directory, SAP and Oracle. Other backup tools are more efficient with the integrated backups."
"We face challenges with its stability."
"In general, you can say that Micro Focus Data Protector is behind in capabilities when compared with other backup solutions, such as Commvault, Symantec, NetBackup, but it is very strong for certain use cases such as array integration. We are using it in production even now. There should be some kind of cloud integration and archiving solutions. I think this is the area they need to focus on."
"Micro Focus Data Protector must improve its overall evolution record. They need to focus on hardware based instant recovery, client recovery, and cloud ability. Now there is no cloud ability."
"The Micro Focus Data Protector support is not as good as Veeam Backup & Replication's support."
"The scheduler setup could be better. We are facing some issues scheduling the job based on our requirements."
"The solution lacked local support, which became an issue for us and our customers. They needed to have more presence on the ground."
"There's one common issue with tape backups: the tape might have some space left, but Backup Exec says it's not writable and needs replacement. We've encountered this with multiple clients, so it doesn't seem environment-specific. It's likely related to the software. We usually just format the tape and use it again without much investigation."
"Maybe they could improve reporting capabilities and predictions."
"I would like to be able to create a restore task that can be scheduled so that the same restore action will be performed automatically."
"It doesn't support the AIX platform."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"Veritas Backup Exec should be more user-friendly. The costs should also be much lower and it should be easier to go through the disaster recovery process."
"The solution is too heavy and complex with 1,000 menus and options that make it messy rather than lightweight."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's very complicated. Licensing is a pain."
"IBM Spectrum Protect has a fixed price and includes no additional costs."
"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."
"The solution's pricing is fair. Price-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"The product is not cheap."
"Use capacity licensing. It's easier and cheaper."
"I don't have an idea about the pricing. They send that over to someone else, but I know that one of the issues they had was the licensing costs. I don't think they were happy with how they were charged."
"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."
"It is fast, reliable, and its licensing policy is great."
"Our licensing is on a capacity basis."
"The licensing cost is too high."
"The pricing is acceptable for enterprise level companies, but it's not acceptable for small- and medium-sized businesses. Micro Focus Data Protector is not an enterprise level solution, and it should cover small- and medium-sized businesses with acceptable prices."
"Avoid using many LTO drives; when using fewer drives, the price will be extremely good."
"Pricing/licensing is Data Protector's single best offering. In its most basic environment, the only license required is for whatever target device is required."
"They have two types of licensing, one is for storage capacity and the other is client licensing. The capacity licensing here is a bit expensive."
"The license for the solution is very expensive compared to the other products in the market."
"Its price is a bit high. There is only the standard fee. There is no additional fee."
"I think, at least for the price I've seen, it could be lower compared to other products."
"The pricing of Veritas Backup's license is comparable to Veeam."
"We are satisfied with the price of this solution."
"The price is reasonable for the features it offers."
"Its price is reasonable."
"The product is affordable."
"Regarding expense, Backup Exec is generally suitable for small and medium businesses. However, we can customize them based on the workload."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
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 w...
What do you like most about Micro Focus Data Protector?
I haven't experienced any crashes while using the solution...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Data Protector?
The solution is expensive as it requires purchasing all features without the option to negotiate based on client numb...
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Data Protector?
OpenText Data Protector is not user-friendly, especially for cloud backup. It lacks functions and facilities compared...
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 syste...
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 pr...
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 functio...
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Micro Focus Data Protector, Data Protector, OmniBack, HPE Data Protector
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
GSK Vaccines, Repsol, Vodafone Group, Siemens AG, Medium Enterprise Transportation Services Company
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: May 2025.
853,271 professionals have used our research since 2012.