Dell Avamar vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Dell Technologies is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.9, while IBM is ranked #51 with an average rating of 6.3. Dell Technologies holds a 1.9% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Dell Avamar

Read 90 Dell Avamar reviews

5,936 Views
5,461 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Read 33 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus reviews

2,389 Views
2,365 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Dell Avamar

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Dell Avamar and IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offer robust data protection solutions. While Dell Avamar is noted for its support and cost-effectiveness, IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is often preferred for its advanced features.

Features: Dell Avamar is known for efficient deduplication capabilities, integrated backup systems, and cost-effectiveness. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offers scalability, comprehensive data management features, and advanced functionality.

Room for Improvement: Dell Avamar users suggest better reporting tools, enhanced speed for large-scale deployments, and improved performance. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus users desire simpler configuration, more intuitive navigation, and improved usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell Avamar is recognized for its straightforward deployment process and responsive support. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is well-regarded for deployment flexibility and strong support services, but Dell's simpler process gives it an edge.

Pricing and ROI: Dell Avamar offers competitive pricing and quick ROI, appealing to budget-conscious users. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus has higher setup costs but provides substantial ROI through its feature set, justifying the pricing with the returns provided.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell Avamar vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

March 2026

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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:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.8

Dell Avamar offers efficient data reduction, cost savings, enhanced IT operations, and strong data security against ransomware threats.

Sentiment score

5.4

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is valued for integration, compatibility, and competitive pricing, with some users seeing quick ROI.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.9

Dell Avamar support is knowledgeable but slow, with communication challenges and limited first-level responsiveness hindering comprehensive assistance.

Sentiment score

4.6

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus support is generally praised for responsiveness, despite concerns about initial delays and technical complexity issues.

When their technical person is online, the quality of service and technical knowledge are very good.

Atul Pandya

Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

The current technical support by Dell is very good.

SamuelThomas

Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

We do not have a good experience with this product.

Christophe LAMAMY

Architecte Solutions at Novahe

Their documentation, runbooks, troubleshooting articles, and support people are good.

reviewer1656648

Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.6

Dell Avamar offers scalability for medium to large enterprises but requires costly node additions and has infrastructure limitations.

Sentiment score

5.7

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus scales efficiently from small to large enterprises, though optimal planning enhances its scalability potential.

Dell Avamar offers very good scalability.

Atul Pandya

Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

IBM Data Protect is the scalable solution, not IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.

AhmedSorour

IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM

The solution does not provide horizontal and vertical scaling.

reviewer1656648

Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.2

Dell Avamar is stable and reliable, praised for smooth operation and low failure rates in various infrastructures.

Sentiment score

6.4

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is praised for stability and reliability, though some report recovery issues and version-related instability.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

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.

Christophe LAMAMY

Architecte Solutions at Novahe

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Room For Improvement

Dell Avamar needs UI, backup speed, cloud integration, and scalability improvements, with concerns over pricing and technical support.

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus needs a user-friendly interface, improved security, better integration, efficient backup, and enhanced technical support.

They could add more features for cyber resilience and multi-cloud options in the next release to make it even better.

SamuelThomas

Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.

There are instances where backups fail on certain applications, which is an area that could be improved.

Ayodeji Oyewole

Managing Director at Atlantic factorial

While Dell Avamar is a good product, the pricing is very high.

Atul Pandya

Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling.

reviewer1656648

Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing 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.

AhmedSorour

IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM

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.

reviewer1541931

Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Setup Cost

Dell Avamar offers varying pricing experiences, with praised setup ease, but cost-effectiveness compared to competitors like Veeam is debated.

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is costly but offers flexible licensing and is valued for scalability and automation benefits.

I don't currently have detailed knowledge about the pricing, however, it is geared towards enterprise businesses and might be on the higher side.

Ayodeji Oyewole

Managing Director at Atlantic factorial

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

They are fairly expensive.

reviewer1656648

Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.

reviewer1541931

Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Valuable Features

Dell Avamar provides efficient deduplication, scalable backup, and recovery with strong integration and platform support for robust data protection.

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offers seamless integration, user-friendly features, and comprehensive data protection across multiple platforms and applications.

Its encryption mechanisms are very efficient, helping to secure sensitive data.

SamuelThomas

Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.

The most valuable feature is the instant recovery capability.

Atul Pandya

Project Engineer at Concept Information Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.

The most valuable feature for me is the backup functionality.

Ayodeji Oyewole

Managing Director at Atlantic factorial

For more quotes and insights, download the Dell Avamar report

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

AhmedSorour

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.

Christophe LAMAMY

Architecte Solutions at Novahe

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus report

Categories and Ranking

Dell Avamar

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

11th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (6th)

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

51st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell Avamar is 1.9%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell Avamar	1.9%
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus	1.1%
Other	97.0%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

SamuelThomas

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.

Read full review

AhmedSorour

IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM

Has provided straightforward backup and rapid deployment for diverse environments

There is reporting in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but I'm not very familiar with this area. I always concentrated on getting the customer to do the backup, restore, and related tasks, but there is reporting. IBM has made a decision to withdraw the product and replace it with IBM Data Protect. The correct direction is Data Protect, which includes ransomware detection. With IBM Data Protect, you can add more servers for backup. It's scalable, which is a key feature over Storage Protect and Storage Protect Plus, even more capable than Veritas, because Veritas has an option to make different media servers. You can scale the backup process regardless of the load of the customer. This speeds up the backup and restore process for a complete data center, which cannot be done with any other product. I rate IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 9 out of 10.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Marketing Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	26
Midsize Enterprise	18
Large Enterprise	48

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	17

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...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell EMC Avamar?

The cost is very significant, and it could be lower.

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell Avamar?

Easy to configure and highly reliable for backup.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is very simple to deploy for us, but for more clients or competitors, the solution is hard to deploy and to integrate. For our team, deployment of IBM Spectrum Protect Plu...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

We are an IT integrator and we need to have a good vision of all recovery and backup recovery solutions. Most frequently, we use Veeam Backup. We use Cohesity. For some old workloads, we use IBM TS...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell Avamar

Compared 34% of the time

Rubrik vs Dell Avamar

Compared 6% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell Avamar

Compared 6% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell Avamar

Compared 4% of the time

Dell PowerProtect Data Domain vs Dell Avamar

Compared 3% of the time

More Dell Avamar Competitors

IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 12% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 8% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 4% of the time

Atempo Live Navigator vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 4% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar

March 2026

Download Dell Avamar product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

March 2026

Download IBM Spectrum Protect Plus product report

Also Known As

Avamar

No data available

Overview

Dell Avamar data protection software delivers flexible and efficient backup and recovery operations that can scale from daily backup protection for endpoints to high-performance protection for large enterprises with diverse applications and workloads. With application consistent recovery, automation and fast backup and restores, Avamar can help you meet your SLAs and optimize your backup and recovery processes

If you are deploying all or part of your backup environment to the cloud, Avamar enables you to make the most of your cloud investment, enabling replication, disaster recovery and long-term retention for customers using AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud.

Avamar is available as part of Dell Data Protection Suite, which offers comprehensive data protection software applications and tools. Avamar is delivered as software and as a virtual edition.

Dell Technologies

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

Dodge County, St Laurence's College, FieldCore (a GE Company), Comanche County Memorial Hospital, Getronics, Lewisville Independent School District, EnvisionRxOptions, Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio

Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

March 2026

Free Report: Dell Avamar vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Avamar vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

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