Carbonite Server vs IBM Spectrum Protect comparison

OpenText and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. OpenText is ranked #43 with an average rating of 8.0, while IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.3. OpenText holds a 0.7% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Carbonite Server

Read 7 Carbonite Server reviews

998 Views
543 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

3,421 Views
2,509 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Carbonite Server

IBM Spectrum Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and Carbonite Server are leading data protection solutions. IBM Spectrum Protect seems to have the upper hand due to its scalability and robust performance, while Carbonite Server is favored for ease of use and simplicity.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect offers comprehensive backup and recovery options, integration capabilities, and support for various platforms. Carbonite Server provides straightforward configuration, automated processes, and easy integration for small to mid-sized environments.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect could benefit from enhanced cloud integration, more intuitive management tools, and user-friendly interfaces. Carbonite Server requires more advanced features, better support for complex environments, and improved scalability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is demanding to deploy and requires in-depth technical knowledge but is supported by comprehensive customer service. Carbonite Server offers a smoother installation process with minimal technical expertise but has mixed customer service experiences.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect has a higher initial setup cost but provides substantial ROI for large enterprises through extensive administration capabilities. Carbonite Server is more cost-effective for small to mid-sized businesses, offering a quicker ROI due to lower setup costs.

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

Buyer's Guide

Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

June 2025

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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

Carbonite Server

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

43rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Backup (31st)

IBM Spectrum Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Carbonite Server is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Dale Dirkes

President at DIAD Consulting, Inc.

A simple, efficient, reliable product

The efficiency and convenience are excellent. The pricing is very good. It shows you what has been updated via little green dots. The solution is very automatic. I don't have to worry about it. It was easy to set up. Technical support has been helpful in the past. The solution has been problem-free.

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Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

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.

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

"The efficiency and convenience are excellent."

"Easy verification of things is the most valuable feature."

"The Granular Restore of SQL feature has been a lifesaver more times than I can count. One of the main reasons for looking at Carbonite was their support for platforms like AIX and AS/400 Series."

"Technical support handled all our issues quickly and effectively."

"The solution is very stable."

"I find the BMR/image and the recovery pieces are valuable."

"It seems reliable and easy to use."

"It does not slow down your computer or use a lot of resources as it works."

More Carbonite Server pros

"Performance and recoveries are better. Our clients and customers are happier with the performance of it."

"Data archiving is easier and less time-consuming."

"Incremental backup is highly valuable as it allows for significant time and cost savings."

"Good user interface."

"Forever incremental - allows TSM to optimize storage needs."

"Support of the IBM X platform and the backup data replication to DR are the most valuable features."

"The tool proves invaluable in scenarios where systems need recovery, such as restoring damaged data."

"It scales well. We have grown here in the last year or two, and it has been relatively easy."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

Cons

"The stability has room for improvement."

"The support for object storage isn't quite there yet. Its public cloud support can be improved. I would love to see the public cloud support for object storage, and it would be great, but what I always hear from the folks at Carbonite is that in a lot of cases, it directly competes with their cloud offering. So, I don't know when or where that will go or if that will go anywhere, but we are hopeful to see something. The dashboard is a little outdated. If they gave it a facelift and put some better design around their dashboard, that would be tremendous. I generally care less about the visual aesthetics of an application as long as it does what it needed to do, which is true in the case of this solution. We also have the Microsoft 365 platform. Because they're two separate platforms, I have to log in to my Microsoft platform to manage it, and I have to log into my Carbonite server backup platform to manage it. Having these two coexist together in one management console is really what we're looking for, but we went for it knowing this. We also knew that there would be some integration coming down the road. So, we're again hoping to see some of that coming in 2021."

"In the next release I would like to see an improvement in the auto failover option."

"The only thing that I would like to see improved is related to marketing. Currently, it is very difficult to find the right paper and stuff for me. Their marketing department should provide better information because currently, it is very difficult to find information on the internet. It was bought over by OpenText, and you won't be able to find a lot of information about this solution on their site. They should also provide training facilities for commercial purposes. Some of my colleagues recently went for pilot training, and they were technical. If I want to get trained, the training has to be more commercial. Currently, there is no such training for users like me."

"They do not yet have USB recovery but they are adding it in coming releases."

"The Hyper-V backup has room for improvement."

"It could be a little bit easier or faster to be able to access data files without having to download anything."

"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."

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

"I would like to see the operations center be a lot more functional. It was nowhere near as functional as the admin center, and I'm doing a lot of command line with it."

"The licensing isn't very clear. They should work to simply or clarify the cost structure."

"IBM Spectrum Protect does have a lot of the features that we need, but I think they need to improve their backup virtualization and backup for container."

"For the database side, it does not have object level recovery."

"They do not have a unified GUI, they only work on CLI and operations center, which is really complicated for the installation and configuration."

"They should introduce more features for virtualization platforms and backing up IBMs. Backup speeds should also be improved."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open source."

"The pricing is between $120 and $150 per year."

"We pay 9,000 dollars per year for our license."

"Its price is reasonable."

"It is very scalable, but the downside is that it costs money."

"You need to put it in a PoC and test it out if you can."

"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."

"When compared to the cost of other enterprise products, it seems to be in the same range. However, compared to the cost of non-enterprise products, it is really high."

"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."

"The pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."

"Going to IBM Tech University Conference saved me from making a major purchase of the wrong thing, which was very helpful."

"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Carbonite Server?

I find the BMR/image and the recovery pieces are valuable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Carbonite Server?

The ability to perform instant recovery would be a game changer. For a large user base, the creation of user accounts at this time is a little cumbersome, there isn't any Single-Sign-On (SSO) integ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Carbonite Server?

I work for a managed services provider, and we supply the solution for various sized customers.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect?

IBM Spectrum Protect is stable.

See all answers

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

It's expensive. I acknowledge the cost associated with it.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past. There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is wh...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Backup

June 2025

Download Carbonite Server product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

June 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Also Known As

Carbonite Recover Backup

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Overview

Carbonite Server securely replicates data to the local backup server while securing a second copy in the cloud. Granular restore and local failover options ensure rapid recovery and minimal data loss. With integrated hardware and cloud failover for critical systems, Carbonite Server provides reliable data protection.

OpenText

IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. It is the flagship product in the IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) family. It enables reliable, cost effective backups and fast recovery for virtual, physical and cloud environments of all sizes.

IBM

Sample Customers

INLINE Commercial Construction, Hamilton County

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

Buyer's Guide

Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

June 2025

Free Report: Carbonite Server vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

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

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