Dell Avamar vs NetApp SnapCenter comparison

Dell Technologies and NetApp are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Dell Technologies is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.1, while NetApp is ranked #53 with an average rating of 7.0. Dell Technologies holds a 2.6% mindshare in BRS, compared to NetApp’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

Dell Avamar

Read 90 Dell Avamar reviews

5,260 Views
4,787 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

NetApp SnapCenter

Read 27 NetApp SnapCenter reviews

1,268 Views
1,192 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell Avamar

NetApp SnapCenter

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Dell Avamar and NetApp SnapCenter are key players in data protection and backup solutions. NetApp SnapCenter has an edge due to its robust feature set and seamless NetApp storage integration.

Features: Dell Avamar is valued for efficient data deduplication, ease of backup management, and user-friendly interface. NetApp SnapCenter provides strong integration with NetApp storage arrays, ability to perform application-consistent backups, and compatibility with varied environments.

Room for Improvement: Dell Avamar needs enhancements in scalability, support for newer technologies, and more detailed documentation. NetApp SnapCenter requires better documentation, streamlined upgrade processes, and improved scalability for large environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell Avamar has straightforward deployment but can be time-consuming, with efficient customer support. NetApp SnapCenter offers straightforward deployment with comprehensive guidance, and responsive, knowledgeable customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Dell Avamar has competitive pricing and users report reasonable ROI, especially with its deduplication feature. Extensive features justify NetApp SnapCenter's higher pricing, providing a strong ROI and better value according to user feedback.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell Avamar vs. NetApp SnapCenter Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar vs. NetApp SnapCenter

September 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

Dell Avamar

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

7th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (5th)

NetApp SnapCenter

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

53rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell Avamar is 2.6%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp SnapCenter is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Dell Avamar	2.6%
NetApp SnapCenter	0.7%
Other	96.7%

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

MervynMorgan

IT Storage Engineer at Unixque Solutions Pty Ltd

Enables us to save data for data projection but could improve its integration with other backup solutions

NetApp SnapCenter is highly efficient because it allows you to automate the creation of snapshots. Instead of manually creating snapshots using IMS or HMS, you can schedule and automate them, specifying the timing and frequency. This eliminates the need for daily manual intervention and streamlines the process. SnapCenter also enables you to assign specific user roles to manage these tasks, enhancing efficiency. SnapCenter ensures that your LPOs and RTOs are extremely quick. Although it may seem expensive initially, after using it for a while, you'll appreciate the efficiencies and gains it provides. I recommend the solution. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

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

"We have seen huge data reduction and data deduplication and compression, which is very cost-effective and cost-reducing for the company."

"So far, Avamar covers everything we want. We are replicating to other sites for disaster recovery, so it's working well for us."

"It is a very complete product."

"They are extremely reliable and scalable — they provide the best de-duplication on the market."

"Dell EMC Avamar is easy to work with and is user-friendly."

"It is one of the best solutions for backing up Oracle and other servers."

"The source site replication feature is valuable."

"Quick incremental backups and product replication are the two highlights of the product. Once you capture a full backup, incrementals are pretty quick. It is fairly efficient from that perspective."

More Dell Avamar pros

"I like the instant backups and recovery feature that SnapCenter provides within NetApp storage systems."

"You can quickly deploy new virtual environments. It provides efficient and easy-to-use data protection. If a file goes missing or corruption occurs, you can restore it swiftly using the snap restore feature, allowing you to return to work almost immediately."

"The backup features are the most valuable because they allow the DBAs to replace SnapManager for Oracle (SMO), which is going away, and to do cloning as well. We can also clone to different servers and have the actual backup clone mounted on different servers. And we can split easily too."

"The support from NetApp is very good, and I would rate it as ten points."

"The central pane view is the most valuable feature. You have one console where you can monitor all your jobs, as opposed to going to different vCenters."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"It's integrated with VMware vCenter. You can also see the backups there and you can do a restore completely out of vCenter."

"It helps with strategic planning because it is easy to make a strategy when you have visualized the inflow and outflow of the backup and recovery."

More NetApp SnapCenter pros

Cons

"The product could be improved by simplifying the components available."

"The solution is not very strong on the Cloud. They should work out how they can use this as a backup as a service."

"Its ability to back up very large objects can be improved. In terms of new features, they can include the ability to use cloud services, like S3, more natively."

"What would make Dell Avamar better is if it can do faster backups because right now, PowerProtect Data Manager is better in this area with its new UI and a new way to implement backups. Customers nowadays also expect more up-to-date solutions, and this is another area for improvement in Dell Avamar. It's not as up-to-date, so I'm counting on PowerProtect Data Manager, but customers who have Dell Avamar don't want to switch because you don't have as many backup problems in Dell Avamar compared to other solutions. What I'd like to see in the next release of Dell Avamar is an updated UI and a different way to manage backups because currently, backup management is a bit heavy for customers using Dell Avamar."

"If there is a need to move the data from one backup solution to another, it might be difficult since there is no option for a straightforward migration."

"There also needs to be single sign-on support."

"The client caches and deduplication system have a few problems."

"Dell EMC Avamar is a very complex product. It took a lot of time for the IT admins to get trained on how to use it. It is not very user-friendly, and we won't be using Avamar anymore. It needs a lot of improvement in terms of how the backups have been configured, and the reporting is too complex."

More Dell Avamar cons

"We have experience some difficulties with our current support. We are engaging in engineering level support because some of our problems are more technical."

"Reporting of the jobs could be better."

"One thing that might be improved is the ease of management."

"It needs to support vSphere 6.7."

"The product lags in terms of availability."

"When you have role-based access, for example, it's a bit of a problem that the person who creates the backup job is the owner of it. We are struggling a bit with this, that everyone has the same view and the same permissions in there."

"The Dashboard view needs to be more compressed with better ease of access and drill-down features. They should also reinstate Linux filesystem backups of storage volumes (which existed in the prior version)."

"Groups might be helpful for each site or data center so that we know a given data center has these resources while another data center has those resources. It's not always easy to group hosts by type."

More NetApp SnapCenter cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale of one to five, I would rate the pricing policy of Dell Avamar as five. The solution has a very good price, and a lot of improvements were done to it."

"The solution is expensive."

"It might not be beneficial to smaller businesses due to its high cost."

"This solution is less expensive than Veeam for us, although it depends on the customer because we get a great discount."

"Dell Avamar is free when we deploy the data protection. When we order data protection, this software is included in the hardware."

"Avamar's pricing is quite competitive compared to other vendors."

"Licensing fees are paid annually."

"This is a fairly expensive solution. It cost approximately 21,000 each year."

More Dell Avamar pricing and cost advice

"It's free. The license is included with other NetApp products."

"It comes free with the amount of equipment we purchase from NetApp. In terms of pricing, zero is my favorite number."

"We see a financial value with SnapCenter because we don't have to license Commvault, which is pretty expensive."

"The product is inexpensive."

"The licensing is well-designed because it's already included in some packages with NetApp storage. Therefore, for most customers, it's okay as the SnapCenter license is already included in some NetApp bundles."

"We have a site license, so it comes with the product."

"The license for SnapCenter was included with the storage array."

"Pricing is very good because if you already have NepApp controllers, then it's included."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

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	8
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	11

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...

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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 NetApp SnapCenter?

The product should be free because it is just software to administrate systems purchased from NetApp, which are already expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp SnapCenter?

The interface usability needs improvement. It should be more user-friendly and easier for customers to use.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp SnapCenter?

I help my customers to install and integrate NetApp SnapCenter ( /products/netapp-snapcenter-reviews ). The solution is used for central consolidation of NetApp ( /products/netapp-41749-reviews ) d...

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Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell Avamar

Compared 38% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell Avamar

Compared 12% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell Avamar

Compared 7% of the time

Rubrik vs Dell Avamar

Compared 7% of the time

Dell NetWorker vs Dell Avamar

Compared 6% of the time

More Dell Avamar Competitors

Synology DSM vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 22% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 14% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 14% of the time

Veritas NetBackup vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 11% of the time

Rubrik vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 11% of the time

More NetApp SnapCenter Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar

October 2025

Download Dell Avamar product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp SnapCenter

September 2025

Download NetApp SnapCenter product report

Also Known As

Avamar

SnapCenter

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

Unified, scalable platform for application-consistent data protection and clone management. This software simplifies backup, restore, and clone lifecycle management with application-integrated workflows.

NetApp

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

All for One Steeb AG, Accenture

Buyer's Guide

Dell Avamar vs. NetApp SnapCenter

September 2025

Free Report: Dell Avamar vs. NetApp SnapCenter

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Avamar vs. NetApp SnapCenter and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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