No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Actifio vs Dell PowerProtect Backup Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
1.0
Actifio boosts productivity by reducing storage costs, improving data management, and enhancing disaster recovery, offering substantial ROI.
Sentiment score
5.8
Dell PowerProtect enhances efficiency and reduces costs via cloud management, storage optimization, and reliable, rapid data recovery.
Storage savings have been approximately fifty to seventy percent reduction in backup storage through compression and deduplication.
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
The fact that I am not managing an infrastructure is actually reducing the cost of the environment because there is no one sitting just to manage that infrastructure.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Instead of having to send a DBA in to investigate the database and the errors within it, we can just quickly restore from an hour or two ago to get back to where we are needing.
VP Of Security at NatureFresh™ Farms
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
Actifio's customer support is mostly praised, though some users report expertise gaps, especially when involving IBM or Google.
Sentiment score
4.8
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services receives mixed reviews, praised for server-side support but criticized for desktop response delays.
Their knowledge isn't great.
Tech Lead / Informix DBA at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The skill of the support is good, but the response time is something that needs to be better.
Oficial Senior at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
That one number to call, that one tech to call, to rely on support for not just the single product but the whole suite that we are there to do it.
VP Of Security at NatureFresh™ Farms
I've always rated Dell with excellent support.
System Administrator
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.3
Actifio excels in scalable data management across sectors with optimal performance reliant on network and hardware resources.
Sentiment score
5.7
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services offers scalable, efficient performance across multi-clouds, excelling in hybrid settings with centralized management advantages.
The one thing that we found is that they were not scalable.
VP Of Security at NatureFresh™ Farms
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services handles multi-cloud workloads efficiently across edge, core, and cloud environments with centralized management and consistent data protection policies.
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services is really easy to scale and is pretty scalable.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Actifio is stable and reliable, with robust support and positive user feedback on performance and quick bug resolution.
Sentiment score
8.1
Dell PowerProtect offers reliable cloud backup, regional replication, encryption, ransomware protection, and prompt support for minor issues.
Once we sorted out all our problems with Actifio and our configuration of our database and other components, I would probably rate stability about a seven.
Tech Lead / Informix DBA at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
If customers need to ensure that data is vaulted and immutable to protect against ransomware, they can pay extra to create a vault in AWS to ensure the data is protected.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The platform has provided consistent backup solution performance and reliable recovery capabilities.
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
There's never an issue with the data, so the encryption works excellently.
System Administrator
 

Room For Improvement

Actifio needs workflow flexibility, platform support enhancements, better integration, improved support, pricing features, AI, and seamless upgrades.
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services aims to improve integration, performance, security, and flexibility for enhanced operational efficiency and user experience.
The most concerning issue is IBM support.
Tech Lead / Informix DBA at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
allowing us to get that final single pane of glass to function with everything in the product suite
VP Of Security at NatureFresh™ Farms
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services could improve by providing more proactive alerts and predictive monitoring to identify potential issues before they impact operations.
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services does not allow us to customize the schedule in backup tasks, which only has options for daily or twice a day.
Oficial Senior at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Actifio is praised for its supportive pricing and professional services, offering affordability and rapid implementation despite learning curves.
Dell PowerProtect offers cost-effective backup services with strong features, though cloud pricing could be more competitive.
The main areas for improvement are providing more flexible licensing options, simpler pricing, and more cost-efficient scaling for growing cloud workloads.
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services costs us around 10 grand.
System Administrator
Competitors offer lower prices for Office 365 backups compared to Dell PowerProtect Backup Services.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Actifio is praised for its Golden Copy, cloud integration, user-friendly interface, cost efficiency, and excellent support team.
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services provides secure, scalable, and cost-effective multi-cloud backup with centralized management, reducing operational complexities.
What really stands out in Actifio is that it can provide us full copies of the database without having full copies of the database.
Tech Lead / Informix DBA at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
We can go right into one spot, see where our backups are, understand the situation, restore, make a new backup, move it, migrate it from one location to the other really quickly and easily without having to go into a lot of technical detail.
VP Of Security at NatureFresh™ Farms
The platform uses advanced data scrambling that decouples the actual data from its metadata, storing the data as an isolated or immutable cloud that cannot be overwritten or deleted by ransomware.
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
The handiest feature of Dell PowerProtect Backup Services is that it syncs up our backups to other locations.
System Administrator
 

Categories and Ranking

Actifio
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
49th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Test Data Management (9th)
Dell PowerProtect Backup Se...
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
24th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Jeff Poulton - PeerSpot reviewer
Tech Lead / Informix DBA at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Has reduced storage requirements for development environments but presents challenges during upgrades and support interactions
The most concerning issue is IBM support. The issue I have with IBM support is that sometimes they don't seem to know their product very well at times. I don't know where the support is coming from, whether it's from IBM or from Google through IBM. I'm not sure who physically does the support. Their knowledge isn't great. Plus, the way we use it is not the focus of Google nowadays. Google, as I understand it, bought the product as an add-on to Google Cloud or whatever as a backup and that's not how we use it. I do see some problems with Actifio, specifically keeping current with operating systems. It can be tricky to upgrade Actifio. It can be a challenge. When we've had to do it, we've had to work with their support people, and some of them are just people reading a sheet of instructions. When those instructions are obviously wrong at times because you can tell if you have half a knowledge of what you're doing, it takes ages for them to go off and find someone to explain what's going wrong. So it can be very laborious.
Sanjay Singh Bisht - PeerSpot reviewer
Server Administrator at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Automated cloud backups have strengthened ransomware recovery and reduced laptop data loss
The best features Dell PowerProtect Backup Services offers include source-side deduplication. The lightweight agent resides on the client, deduplicates data locally before transmitting, and only uploads the unique or modified blocks, which drastically minimizes bandwidth utilization and saves the cloud storage footprint, rather than transferring massive data blocks over the internet and duplicating them at the storage target. Another valuable feature is the air-gapped encrypted storage. The platform uses advanced data scrambling that decouples the actual data from its metadata, storing the data as an isolated or immutable cloud that cannot be overwritten or deleted by ransomware. The zero egress restore model is also significant. A massive pain point with cloud-native storage is the fee structure, but Dell PowerProtect Backup Services stands out by allowing unlimited full restore points without charging data egress fees, which represents a huge cost to enterprises. Unified multi-workload management provides the ability to control data from Microsoft 365, SaaS applications, distributed employee laptops, or virtual machine servers in a single centralized pane of glass, which eliminates the need to jump between different backup solutions. The impact of Dell PowerProtect Backup Services on my organization has been positive. The backup process has become more reliable and automated, reducing the need for manual intervention and lowering the risk of missed backups. Recovery time has improved, allowing us to restore critical systems and data much faster during incidents. The platform's deduplication and compression capabilities have helped us reduce storage costs while optimizing backup efficiency. Additionally, its centralized management and reporting gives us visibility into our data protection environment, making it easier to monitor compliance and identify potential issues before they become problems.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Construction Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
9%
Outsourcing Company
30%
Construction Company
25%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Actifio?
The most concerning issue is IBM support. The issue I have with IBM support is that sometimes they don't seem to know their product very well at times. I don't know where the support is coming from...
What is your primary use case for Actifio?
The main use case for me with Actifio is to provide databases to our development teams. We utilize snapshots or images to manage multiple copies of our production database efficiently without using...
What advice do you have for others considering Actifio?
I do not work with the point-in-time recovery feature in Actifio. Our database has that capability. We don't use Actifio as a backup per se. In terms of Actifio's impact on reducing downtime for pr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect Backup Services?
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Dell PowerProtect Backup Services, it is quite positive. While the initial investment and licensing cost are higher than some alt...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect Backup Services?
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services could be improved in several areas. The user interface could be simplified to make day-to-day administration and troubleshooting more intuitive. Reporting and anal...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerProtect Backup Services?
Dell PowerProtect Backup Services is generally used for cloud native data protection and securing SaaS applications like Microsoft 365. It operates as a fully managed backup-as-a-service, allowing ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

IBM, Waste Industries, Nasdaq, Verizon, Sharp, Rosetta Stone, Dakine, JBS Australia, Texas Wesleyan University, Cintra, People's Choice Credit Union, Lotto NZ, Electric Insurance, Tyler Technologies, Intility, Corporate One Federal Credit Union, Bryant University, pc/nametag, Isagenix, Sungard Availability Services, Databank, Electrocraft, Lifescript, Westfleisch, Interstate National Corporation, RestorePoint, Net3, Access Community Health Network, Newmarket International, Rezolve Group Inc., Piri Reis University, MC Assembly, Grass-Merkur, dbMotion, Christian Broadcasting Network, Bezeq, Abilene Christian University, CNW Group, Softcat, Migliori, City of South Portland, NaviSite, News-Press & Gazette, Comtec, Equity Insurance, Admirals Bank, Assistra, Dassault, Henry Davis York Lawyers, SAI Global, Audax Group, DSM, Triad Retail Media, Euronet Worldwide, Palm Beach County School District, iGate, Emerald Queen Casino
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Actifio vs. Dell PowerProtect Backup Services and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.