BackupAssist vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

BackupAssist and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. BackupAssist is ranked #70, while IBM is ranked #23 with an average rating of 7.8. BackupAssist holds a 0.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BackupAssist users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IBM users who would recommend it.

BackupAssist

Read 5 BackupAssist reviews

404 Views
169 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Read 31 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus reviews

1,646 Views
1,095 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

BackupAssist

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

BackupAssist and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are both data backup solutions. BackupAssist leads in pricing and support, while IBM Spectrum Protect Plus shines in features, justifying its higher cost.

Features: BackupAssist users value versatile backup options, ease of use, and reliable disaster recovery. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus users highlight data recovery flexibility, robust scalability, and advanced automation.

Room for Improvement: BackupAssist needs better cloud integration, more automation features, and enhanced user interface design. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve its reporting tools, simplify configuration, and streamline user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: BackupAssist is praised for straightforward installation and reliable customer service. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, though comprehensive, requires a longer setup period but offers thorough support.

Pricing and ROI: BackupAssist offers reasonable setup costs and good ROI for small to medium-sized businesses. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, with higher setup costs, provides substantial ROI through enterprise-level features, justifying its higher price for larger organizations with complex needs.

To learn more, read our detailed BackupAssist vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 859,129 peers since 2012

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

BackupAssist

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

70th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

MSP Backup (12th)

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

23rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of BackupAssist is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 0.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

RichardMukarakate

Director at Gemini Systems

Provides ransomware protection, does good reporting, and is close to perfect for our use case

The main challenge that I have had with it was no line of support, but I've anyway taken away the Linux machine that I was using. So, I don't need that anymore. I'm migrating my Exchange to the cloud. So, I probably will stop using the exchange backup side of it sometime next year, but the rest of the virtual machines that I have on-premises are very well covered by it. To be able to back up my online Exchange, I know there is a backup in the cloud, but I prefer to have something physical with something on my premises as well. It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it.

Read full review

Atif Najam

Chief Information Officer and Program Lead at Gatron Industries Ltd

Enables organizations to make large-scale recoveries easily, but the security must be improved

The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found that the backups are usually very successful."

"We can configure the notifications themselves so that the right people get the notifications. This is very helpful. It allows key stakeholders to know if backups have happened and to remind each other to check the backups if something is not right."

"The most valuable features of BackupAssist are ease of use, configure is simple, and more importantly, ease of recovery. If you needed to do a complete system recovery or another recovery it is straightforward."

"I get my reports. It is generally very reliable. Unless there is a major change, it doesn't stop backing up. I've got my server room set up with everything connected to the same power, and I never have power issues or failures of backups because a sub-site has gone off."

"What I like about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is its integration, plus it has very good technical support."

"Some of the features we find very valuable and use a lot, are retention sets."

"The initial setup of IBM Protect Plus is simple and not complex."

"The biggest benefit of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is that it's an agentless backup product which is very easy to configure and use."

"We used to use the solution with tapes a few years ago. We've switched to discs, and it has gotten much faster."

"With this product, we now have a reliable backup solution."

"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."

"The solution is scalable and can be fitted for any customer."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pros

Cons

"Many solutions become stagnant over time. However, BackupAssist has been consistent in updates but they must continue to innovate and improve to avoid stagnation."

"In the future I would like to see more support for Linux."

"Many solutions become stagnant over time. However, BackupAssist has been consistent in updates but they must continue to innovate and improve to avoid stagnation."

"It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it."

"The solution needs a dashboard or some form of central control from which you can manage all backups."

"Rooms for improvement in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are installation and configuration because those were difficult. They should try their best to improve those areas. In the next release of the product, better implementation and administration are what we're expecting."

"The solution only supports HyperV and VMware but doesn't support Nutanix."

"It requires much more automation features."

"Not particularly user friendly."

"Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface."

"The one issue we are facing is related to file restores."

"The user experience is very bad and the interface needs to be improved."

"I would like more integration with security. We need to show the value of the product in regards to handling security. For example, how it handles current malware or viruses. IBM should be more proactive in this direction."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of the solution is reasonable and there are add-on options that can be purchased. I have used other solutions that are a lot more expensive that are not as good. The ability to get support is very simple and very reasonable from a cost standpoint."

"The product pricing here in Zimbabwe is good, I cannot complain."

"There's a yearly licensing cost. The costs might be around $2000 USD annually."

"It's on a yearly basis, but I'm not the one who does the licensing on that. I don't have any figures, but it's on a yearly basis, and I believe it's reasonable."

"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."

"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."

"In addition to the standard licensing fees, we paid for implementation and training."

"If you need to extend it, it can be extended acting like a normal Spectrum Protect with a long archive."

"The price offering from IBM is coming down because it is based on number of VM machines. So, IBM is coming to the market to show the added value of the product."

"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."

"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."

"Unlike some other solutions, such as Veritas NetBackup where you have to pay for different licenses to use different features, there is a single license that allows you to use all of the features."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

It is probably based on the number of CPUs. They are fairly expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

I used IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but IBM is now replacing it with IBM Data Protect, which is a giant product now in common development with a well-known company in backup solutions.

See all answers

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs BackupAssist

Compared 63% of the time

Acronis Cyber Protect vs BackupAssist

Compared 37% of the time

More BackupAssist Competitors

IBM Spectrum Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 56% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 11% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 11% of the time

IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Zerto Software vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 6% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist

June 2025

Download BackupAssist product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

June 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect Plus product report

Overview

BackupAssist is a comprehensive backup and recovery software designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a wide range of features to ensure data protection and minimize downtime in case of system failures or disasters. With BackupAssist, users can easily create and manage backups for their critical data, applications, and systems.

One of the key features of BackupAssist is its support for multiple backup types, including full, incremental, and differential backups. This flexibility allows users to choose the backup strategy that best suits their needs and optimize storage space and backup time. Additionally, BackupAssist supports both local and remote backups, enabling users to store their backups on external drives, network shares, or cloud storage services.

BackupAssist also provides advanced features for application-specific backups, such as Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, and Hyper-V. These features ensure that critical business applications are backed up correctly and can be quickly restored in case of data loss or system failures. Moreover, BackupAssist offers granular recovery options, allowing users to restore individual files, folders, or even specific application items.

To further enhance data protection, BackupAssist includes features like encryption, compression, and verification. Encryption ensures that backups are securely stored and can only be accessed by authorized users. Compression reduces the backup size, optimizing storage space and reducing backup time. Verification checks the integrity of backups, ensuring that they can be successfully restored when needed.

BackupAssist also offers a range of disaster recovery options, including bare-metal recovery and virtual machine backups. Bare-metal recovery allows users to restore their entire system to new or existing hardware, minimizing downtime in case of hardware failures or system crashes. Virtual machine backups enable users to protect their virtualized environments, ensuring business continuity in virtualized infrastructures.

BackupAssist

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a data protection and availability solution for virtual environments that can be deployed in minutes and protect your environment within an hour. It simplifies data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It can be implemented as a stand-alone solution or integrate with your IBM Spectrum Protect environment to off-load copies for long term storage and data governance with scale and efficiency.

IBM

Sample Customers

Monash University, NASA, NYU, Pfizer, RAF Association, Rockwell Colins, University of Arizona, US Department of State, Volvo

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

June 2025

Free Report: BackupAssist vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Find out what your peers are saying about BackupAssist vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our BackupAssist vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report.

See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.