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Dell Avamar vs IBM ProtectTIER comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Dell Avamar
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Ranking in Deduplication Software
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM ProtectTIER
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
65th
Ranking in Deduplication Software
13th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Deduplication Software category, the mindshare of Dell Avamar is 10.7%, up from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 2.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Deduplication Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell Avamar10.7%
IBM ProtectTIER2.5%
Other86.8%
Deduplication Software
 

Featured Reviews

SamuelThomas - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
Have supported critical environments despite room for improvement in legacy backup options
It is very efficient in cyber resilience. Deduplication, automation, and everything is very efficient. It is multi-cloud enabled and has broad protections. The software delivers flexible and efficient backup and recovery options through its cyber resiliency features. Dell PowerProtect Manager provides insights in managing backup processes. Its encryption mechanisms are very efficient, helping to secure sensitive data. Its integration with Dell EMC Data Domain is very good. It is easy to integrate with Data Domain. Multi-cloud options are enabled, and backup in cloud options exist in Dell Avamar.
AG
Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a short-term backup, archive, and cataloging for 20,000 people in our organization
The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time. I have a 24 hour cycle, so it doesn't get completed in 24 hours with the large amount of data. With Veritas NetBackup, I can take 20 terabytes of backup in a day.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The integration with host domains is very good."
"The performance of Dell EMC Avamar is good."
"Dell EMC Avamar is very good with endpoint backups."
"We were happy to switch to something else."
"The most valuable feature for me is the backup functionality; it gives large enterprises the comfort of knowing their workloads are being backed up."
"It was very simple to deploy the solution to the client that you wanted to backup."
"We sell Avamar with Data Domain. Data Domain and Avamar work really well together and their compression ratios are very high compared to Veeam, Commvault, and all the other backup software on the market."
"We have seen huge data reduction and data deduplication and compression, which is very cost-effective and cost-reducing for the company."
"The command-line interface is good."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable. I've walked into the server room when it was at 60 degrees Celcius, and it was still running fine."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"The cataloging is the best feature, as it takes millions of frames for the backup and, because it's incremental, it takes less time to complete."
"The most valuable feature is the incremental backup."
 

Cons

"The user interface needs to be improved. It's not as good as it could be."
"Avamar is not the best tool when it comes to taking Azure backups. Like Commvault, if Avamar can support VM-level backups for the cloud, that would make it a bit better."
"Desktop-laptop backups and backup over the WAN needs lot of improvisation. For DTLT there must be a provision to push agents from the management console."
"The scalability is limited right now."
"Avamar is dependent on the hardware. It can't be implemented with ordinary storage."
"The performance takes up a lot of resources, unfortunately."
"The challenges we do face typically revolve around aligning specific features with our accustomed tool usage."
"Because of the EOL issues, I would not recommend to anyone to use this product anymore."
"The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to conduct a proof of concept first because everybody's needs are different, and this product is not suitable for every kind of backup."
"I would like the possibility to back up the infrastructure and then replicate it upon on restart, without having to orchestrate the starting of the VM."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It was approximately $70-80,000 when it was under support, but right now EMC has not been supporting this product for two years."
"I'm not sure, but perhaps the pricing could be done better at the moment."
"Dell EMC needs to lower Avamar's price and add more features to stay competitive."
"Dell Avamar is expensive."
"The cost of the solution is very expensive."
"Dell Avamar, including its virtual add-ons and cloud-based offerings, is cheaper than other solutions, but in the end, the price still depends on your use case. Price-wise, I'm rating Dell Avamar as six out of ten."
"I rate the tool's price as a three out of ten if one means expensive and ten means it is a cheaply priced tool."
"This solution is less expensive than Veeam for us, although it depends on the customer because we get a great discount."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"This solution is very expensive."
"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise47
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What's the difference between Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC NetWorker?
From the very beginning, Dell EMC NetWorker considers users and those who might potentially become users. In terms of both pricing and setup, this product offers an experience that is significantly...
What needs improvement with Dell Avamar?
It is a very good product. My only concern is that there is no tape backup. For tape backup, we have to use Dell NetWorker. They could add more features for cyber resilience and multi-cloud options...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Avamar
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dodge County, St Laurence's College, FieldCore (a GE Company), Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Getronics, Lewisville Independent School District, EnvisionRxOptions, Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions
Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Avamar vs. IBM ProtectTIER and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.