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Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect vs Veeam Data Platform 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 July 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Commvault Cloud is 7.3%, up from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Veeam Data Platform is 14.8%, down from 19.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Matt Reller - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides extremely fast backup, is easy to manage, and is flexible
Commvault Cloud's automated policies provide the notification we need to ensure our data is secure and managed correctly. Commvault Cloud provides excellent visibility across all of our organization's data. It is extremely important to our organization that Commvault has a unified platform that offers recovery across cloud, on-prem, and SaaS workloads. It has helped our organization improve by simplifying the way we manage our environment. We could not manage the same environment with only half of our current staff. We have yet to find anything in our environment that Commvault does not support. Commvault Cloud's Risk Analysis helps us identify, categorize, and classify sensitive data enabling us to take the appropriate actions to protect it. Commvault does a good job helping us limit our exposure and ensure compliance. Commvault has helped us reduce our data management costs significantly. Compared to Dell Avamar, the costs are vastly different. Commvault is much more cost-effective. We are licensed by capacity, so we don't have to worry about licensing different features. We have all the features that are licensed by capacity. And as far as ongoing support costs and other expenses, they are much lower than what they were with Dell Avamar. Commvault also gives us the flexibility to use any storage we want, while Avamar is tied to the Data Domain, which is not cheap to support. It has helped us reduce our backup time unless we are using Data Domain. This is because we can perform deduplication and compression on the client layer, which reduces the load on the network. We cannot do this with Data Domain. In fact, if we even attempt to perform a quick progress check before sending data to the Data Domain, the system fails completely. We learned this the hard way. We are using many more advanced features in Commvault Cloud than we ever did in Dell Avamar, simply because we had to license each feature separately in Avamar. As a result, we did not perform many backups in Avamar, such as all database backups (DB2, SAP HANA, Oracle, and SQL). These backups were performed outside of Avamar. We are now using Direct Connect agents for all of our databases. This allows us to perform incremental backups, which we could not do with the previous method. As a result, we have reduced our backup times by two-thirds, or even more in some cases. Compared to when we were backing up directly to Data Domain, Commvault is now running our backups ten times faster. This has resulted in a significant reduction in our backup times. Commvault has helped us reduce the RPO. Even in Data Domain, it has reduced our storage times by about half. It has also helped us reduce the threat detection time. We reduced the RTO significantly with Commvault. Commvault has helped us reduce downtime primarily due to the increase in the performance of resources.
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.
Edward Hore - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable with good support but needs a better navigation menu
We use Veeam Data to back up our VMware infrastructure Veeam Data Platform is valuable for its stability and the ability to easily contact support for assistance. The support team provides answers whenever we need them. It is also one of the most scalable backup solutions I've worked with. The…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's easy to configure multiple jobs and media agent locations for each server. We do offsite backups for all of our servers, but we also do onsite hourly backups of them. That has benefited us several times when we had an incident and didn't want to roll back a server an entire day."
"Commvault has support for backing up operating systems and servers."
"It's very stable."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use, the graphical interface, and it's high speed."
"The solution has the fastest backup and better licensing."
"It's a software-based solution so we just need a license to expand it."
"Restoring is very fast. In testing, I did a restore for a single item from a mailbox. Within a minute, I had the message back in my mailbox. So, it didn't take hours or days. Obviously, there will be a limit. If we suddenly go into DR and have to restore five terabytes of emails for people, then it will take a couple of days, which would be acceptable. For general usage, where we have to do the odd restore, we have never had issues. It happens within minutes."
"The most valuable features of Commvault Cloud include deduplication and compression."
"Scalability is pretty much unlimited."
"We work very closely together with IBM using their Support Center, but we have a strong contact in their development teams, and we have dedicated people from IBM working with us."
"We are able to run it in an enterprise quite easily with one or two resources."
"Its incremental forever approach is valuable, so we don't have to load tapes to do a restore."
"The components of IBM Spectrum Protect explain how the data is protected. The administration is very easy, and the vertical migration is intuitive."
"The solution is not complex, it's very easy to configure agents or VM backup and restore. Upgrades from one version to another are very fast and the product is very stable."
"The ability to use S3 Data Store as a repository."
"It allows us to have one interface."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"The integration of Veeam Backup Replication is very good."
"The installation is pretty straightforward."
"Setting up Veeam is easy, and it's portable, too."
"The instant VM recovery feature is the most valuable. It is a very good tool for disaster recovery. It is also easy to manage."
"One of the newest features in version 12.1 is malware detection. This feature allows the software to detect malware before initiating a backup job for a server. Although I haven't had the opportunity to personally try it out due to its recent release, I came across it while working on an environment in a cluster for a customer."
"They introduced a new feature called the Immutable Repository feature, which helps protect environments from malware attacks that target backup file extensions."
"The solution does a good job with VM backups."
 

Cons

"With so many features, sometimes you cannot find what you are looking for in the interface and you have to dig into books online to find out how to solve an issue."
"They should move the CommServe outside of Windows machines and the database should be distributed among servers. It's still a single point of failure."
"Commvault could benefit from increased automation to streamline processes and enhance predictability."
"The local support could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in its user interface and web console, called Command Center. They are improving it every year so if they continue in that direction, I think it will be a very reliable console."
"The reporting is complicated and should be simplified in an upcoming release."
"Reduce the complexity for better understanding of the reports. There are a lot of variables in which you can get confused while elaborating on reports."
"The reporting could be improved because the reports we get from our partner aren't sufficient. It isn't very detailed. I'm not sure if it's an issue with our partner or Metallic. They do a full backup on Monday and incremental backups throughout the week. However, we don't get detailed reports about the size of the incremental backups. The report just tells us whether a backup was successful."
"They should introduce more features for virtualization platforms and backing up IBMs. Backup speeds should also be improved."
"Its management part can be better and simplified. It is kind of a beast as compared to Commvault or Veeam, but they are more user-friendly. They are also easier to learn, whereas Spectrum Protect definitely takes time. They should simplify it. Our teams are pretty comfortable with it because we have been using it for a long time, but from the perspective of a new user who is evaluating or using this solution, it is definitely more complex in terms of manageability. Its monitoring could be improved so that it can even monitor the jobs that are scheduled by external schedulers. There are situations where a database team might decide to use their own schedulers, but currently, Spectrum Protect is not able to catch those jobs in the Operation Manager console."
"IBM's support hasn't been so good in the last few years."
"Integration with Windows environments needs improvement. It should be more "assisted", both at the application and database level. It remains a product that fits better in Unix/Linux environments than in Windows environments, given its configuration procedures."
"We recently had a situation where we quickly got code, and the number of tapes exceeded the library capacity so we were waiting a while to change. We got a fix for this right away."
"It needs better connectivity with other non-IBM application hardware and non-IBM platforms."
"Needs more support for non-mainstream databases, in particular PostgreSQL, SQL, and MySQL."
"They took some of the funding off of it for a while. Therefore, instead of being a market leader, they took their position for granted. Then some competitors developed new bells and whistles that they advertise, and due to that lag a few years ago, there are not the resources to explain the differences."
"The patching can be quite difficult at times."
"Limited support for environments other than VMware or Microsoft."
"Margins should not be distinct; instead, they should seamlessly integrate with the Veeam Backup and Replication tools, requiring minimal separation."
"The reporting feature can be improved."
"The product’s stability has certain issues and needs to be improved. The solution’s pricing could be also cheaper."
"If you don't have technical knowledge about these services, monitoring the virtual machines is hard."
"The tech support could be better."
"The remote SQL server has had multiple sizing issues within the logs and SQL backup space and sharing with other database apps."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is fairly in line with the other products we've compared it with recently. We do spend more on it than we did in our Backup Exec days, but it's fairly competitive with some of the other best-in-class data protection platforms."
"You have to pay for the licenses and the hardware you need for the Commvault environment. If you don't have all the hardware, you have to buy it, which can cost a few million. In the end, it's vital to protect our data, so the price isn't an issue."
"The tool is cost-effective."
"The price could always be lower."
"There is now a subscription based licence option that, depending on your environment, could offer a more efficient method to licence the solution if you are OPEX cost driven rather than CAPEX."
"Our cost is around $20,000 per month. The previous year, it was around $30,000 per month. It now costs less because Commvault changed the licensing type for providers."
"The price is a little bit high."
"The price should be reduced because it is too expensive for our customers."
"I rate the pricing a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is not cost-effective, and ten is cost-effective."
"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective.​"
"Licensing IBM Spectrum Protect can be somewhat confusing for new users due to the options available, such as licensing on a capacity or per server basis."
"The licensing is varied. If we have small environments (not many TB being managed) it is best to license by PVUs (depending on the number of cores of the machine). If we manage many TBs we look at licensing by capacity which allows us to use all the agents of the product."
"The solution has a capacity based licensing, front and back-end license."
"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive and there is only a standard licensing fee."
"Customers need to pay for licensing in order to use IBM Spectrum Protect. The customers that have been using it for a long time are okay and happy with it. From a cost point of view, it's better for them to renew their licenses than to go through the difficult process of changing a backup product in their environment, and migrate from one product to another."
"Its licensing is complex, and its price is not really reasonable. It is on the expensive side. IBM, in general, is slightly expensive, but with IBM Spectrum for the virtual environment, they are looking into the aspect of helping customers with the cost and providing a cost-effective solution."
"The product is inexpensive."
"I acknowledge there are concerns about pricing, specifically in gaining more customers for VM. We've encountered difficulties in convincing them due to pricing issues. So, I rate it a six."
"We are fine with its pricing policy."
"The software subscription model can be once a year, or every three years, or every five years."
"The licensing fee depends on the licensing model we choose."
"Veeam has been raising its prices in the last two years, so it's now lacking some competitiveness in pricing."
"The subscription-based pricing of Veeam Backup Replication is competitive."
"A nice aspect of Veeam's pricing is that the cost benefit is good. It's very economical."
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Comparison Review

it_user159711 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 9, 2014
VMware SRM vs. Veeam vs. Zerto
Disaster recovery planning is something that seems challenging for all businesses. Virtualization in addition to its operational flexibility, and cost reduction benefits, has helped companies improve their DR posture. Virtualization has made it easier to move machines from production to…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Commvault?
The tool is affordable. I rate the pricing a six out of ten. Implementation requires additional costs because we need...
What needs improvement with Commvault?
Data center backup must be improved. We also want the product to provide us with a cloud-based backup. If we use Micr...
What do you like most about Commvault Complete Data Protection?
IntelliSnap and file system backups are valuable features.
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....
Major Differences Between These 4 Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions?
Comparing the features of the four is not the right approach. You need to develop a list of requirements for backup ...
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...
How does Nakivo compare with Veeam Backup & Replication?
Nakivo is my favorite backup software. Below are the main benefits of Nakivo compared to Veeam 1. Low cost. 2. Backup...
 

Also Known As

Commvault Complete Data Protection, Commvault Backup & Recovery, Commvault HyperScale X, Metallic, ThreatWise
IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Veeam Backup & Replication, Veeam ONE
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Aberdeenshire Council, Acxiom, BAM Group Ireland, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta, CI Investments, Clifford Chance, American Municipal Power, American Pacific Mortgage, AstraZeneca, Dongbu Steel, Denver Health, Dow Jones, Emirates Steel, Penn State Health, Prime Healthcare, Sonic Healthcare, Sony Network Communications, TiVO, UCONN Health, The Weitz Company
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
Business & Legal Resources Inc., Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities, Alliance Healthcare, Poulin Grain Inc., Linear Technology, Northwestern University, ARKEMA, Sogegross, City of Lynchburg
Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: June 2025.
862,077 professionals have used our research since 2012.