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Barracuda Backup vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

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
5.6
Barracuda Backup enhances data protection, reduces downtime, lowers costs, and boosts ROI with efficient, user-friendly, and reliable features.
Sentiment score
5.4
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is valued for integration, compatibility, and competitive pricing, with some users seeing quick ROI.
It not only saves time but also protects data.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
Barracuda Backup support's efficiency varies; it resolves issues quickly or slowly depending on staff experience and timezone availability.
Sentiment score
4.6
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus support is generally praised for responsiveness, despite concerns about initial delays and technical complexity issues.
Other times I may have to wait longer for solutions if the technical support is less familiar with the product.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
Sometimes the engineers allocated to our cases appear to be inexperienced as they ask about basic queries we have already tested.
Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited
From my experience, the technical support from Barracuda receives an eight out of ten.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
We do not have a good experience with this product.
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
Their documentation, runbooks, troubleshooting articles, and support people are good.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Barracuda Backup offers scalable solutions for businesses, with unlimited space and flexible options, though provider limitations may occur.
Sentiment score
5.7
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus scales efficiently from small to large enterprises, though optimal planning enhances its scalability potential.
Opting for a virtual appliance model provides easier scalability without requiring much licensing or configuration work.
Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited
The scalability is sufficient for my clients' use cases.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
IBM Data Protect is the scalable solution, not IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
The solution does not provide horizontal and vertical scaling.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.9
Barracuda Backup is rated highly for stability, though connectivity issues can affect virtual machines and cause isolated problems.
Sentiment score
6.4
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is praised for stability and reliability, though some report recovery issues and version-related instability.
Latency issues only occur due to physical connectivity problems, but with good connectivity, it works well.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
In using Barracuda Backup, sometimes the VM has issues and becomes non-functional, requiring support tickets to resolve.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
I cannot determine what benefit IBM Spectrum Protect Plus brings to the organization because we deployed this solution with one customer, and that customer changed the product after one or two years because the product is not stable and it changes with every version.
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
 

Room For Improvement

Barracuda Backup requires better integration, UI updates, improved support, more device compatibility, and AI-driven security features.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus needs a user-friendly interface, improved security, better integration, efficient backup, and enhanced technical support.
The main area for improvement is integration and support for databases.
Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited
Adding AI features for security would also be beneficial as artificial intelligence is always helpful from a security perspective.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Integration with vendors other than VMware and Hyper-V would make it more competitive.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
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.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
 

Setup Cost

Barracuda Backup offers budget-friendly pricing with per-terabyte licensing and free device replacement after three years.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is costly but offers flexible licensing and is valued for scalability and automation benefits.
Makes it cheaper compared to other solutions.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
Barracuda even provides replacements after three years if a device reaches end of life, without any extra charges.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
They are fairly expensive.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Barracuda Backup excels with cloud functionality, fast restoration, effective email security, and reliable support, surpassing competitors in data protection.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offers seamless integration, user-friendly features, and comprehensive data protection across multiple platforms and applications.
The most valuable feature of Barracuda Backup is that it's on the cloud, so there is no need for hardware.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Barracuda email security works effectively with O365, and we have been able to achieve many use cases that other competitive products such as Micro, Fortinet, Trellix, or Forcepoint could not accomplish.
Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited
One valuable feature of Barracuda Backup is that it can be used as thin VMware storage.
Director Of Technology at PT Exa Teknologi Indonesia
The biggest benefit of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is that it's an agentless backup product which is very easy to configure and use.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is the software we work with, and the new name is IBM Storage Protect.
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
 

Categories and Ranking

Barracuda Backup
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
50th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Backup (44th)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
47th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Barracuda Backup is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus1.0%
Barracuda Backup1.0%
Other98.0%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

GANESAN K - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited
Rating shows fast restoration and reliable support with scope for improved integration and database backup options
The product needs improvement to become better. For example, we attempted to integrate with Postgres SQL server to backup the database alone, which was not supported. For this reason, we required a separate solution for database backups. While other SQL servers are supported, Barracuda Backup has limitations with database backups. The main area for improvement is integration and support for databases.
reviewer1656648 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Offers reliable recovery and backup but needs better ransomware protection
With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible. IBM provides these through a third party, so enhancement is needed. There's significant room for improvement. They are not yet where I want them to be. It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling. These are areas IBM can improve.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Barracuda Backup?
The pricing is very competitive. Licensing is on a yearly basis, and Barracuda even provides replacements after three years if a device reaches end of life, without any extra charges.
What needs improvement with Barracuda Backup?
The product needs improvement to become better. For example, we attempted to integrate with Postgres SQL server to backup the database alone, which was not supported. For this reason, we required a...
What is your primary use case for Barracuda Backup?
We are partners with Trellix Move Antivirus and we have sold it previously. That particular bundle has changed as Trellix has moved to Complete Protection and the DLP comes under another bundle. We...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Technical support could be improved significantly. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
 

Also Known As

LiveVault, Barracuda Virtual Backup, Barracuda Backup Appliance
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ochsner Health System
PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
Find out what your peers are saying about Barracuda Backup vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.