Dell Data Protection Advisor vs Dell NetWorker vs IBM Spectrum Protect comparison

Dell Data Protection Advisor and Dell NetWorker are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Dell Data Protection Advisor is ranked #25 with an average rating of 9.5, while Dell NetWorker is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.9. Dell Data Protection Advisor holds a 0.4% mindshare in BRS, compared to Dell NetWorker’s 3.0% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Dell Data Protection Advisor users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Dell NetWorker users who would recommend it.

Dell Data Protection Advisor

Read 13 Dell Data Protection Advisor reviews

1,681 Views
582 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Dell NetWorker

Read 84 Dell NetWorker reviews

4,587 Views
3,692 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

3,616 Views
2,660 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Dell Data Protection Advisor

Dell NetWorker

IBM Spectrum Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Dell Data Protection Advisor, Dell NetWorker, and IBM Spectrum Protect based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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To learn more, read our detailed Backup and Recovery Report (Updated: May 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

May 2025

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Helped 855,164 peers since 2012

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 June 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell Data Protection Advisor is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 3.0%, down from 3.1% 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

AnkurGupta1

Lead Consultan at HCL Technologies

Offers seamless integration with robust data privacy features

I am currently working with other companies on data center solutions. In our data center, we work with HP, Dell, and Nutanix on data center build-up and migrations. I work with Dell Data Protection Advisor for cloud, though not extensively, and we provided that solution to one customer and are awaiting their approval. I am a reseller and service provider. We implemented Dell Data Protection Advisor for data privacy, and another team handles data protection and related issues. I did not work extensively on specific features, so nothing particularly stands out. From my reseller and end customer perspective, I would rate Dell Data Protection Advisor an eight out of ten as it is a good solution.

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ErmiasGirma

System and Cloud Deployment Engineer at Safaricom Ethiopia plc

Offers seamless integration and cost-saving benefits with enhanced recovery capabilities

Currently, in my organization, I am using Dell NetWorker for open-source solutions like PostgreSQL and MySQL databases, and some large VM environments. It also supports the Dell library and is used for the library archiving system Dell NetWorker allows for extensive customization, supporting…

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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

"I have never found any glitch in any Dell solution to date."

"The most valuable aspects of the solution are the compression and the duplication."

"I can increase the tool's licensing as per my requirement with no conditions applied."

"The product's ability to give predictions and advice on how to protect data is incredible."

"The solution is easy to use, flexible and has a lot of out-of-the-box functionality. You can configure the dashboards or you can use a script. However, to fully utilize its capabilities you will want to use a lot of scripts which you will need advanced training. The reports can be customized for many things, such as chargeback billing."

"This is a stable solution."

"The reporting feature and the Dell's continuous improvement of the solution are the most valuable features. The solution not only supports Dell Power Products but also other products."

"It has a lot of stock reports. I believe over 300 canned reports, which for the most part meet a lot of generic needs."

More Dell Data Protection Advisor pros

"It is the best umbrella, serving the best applications."

"It's a good product that can be integrated easily with the Data domain."

"The software’s best feature is data backup for any system."

"It integrates well with Dell's Data Domain as a backup storage solution."

"The initial setup is very easy. It's incredibly fast."

"Technical support is good."

"Deduplication is the most valuable feature of this solution."

"The solution has a longer lifespan."

More Dell NetWorker pros

"The backup of Sybase databases is the most valuable feature in the existing environment. They have got the most documentation out there on the internet for its software protection. The documentation is excellent, and there are a lot of blogs, websites. Because it's still one of the oldest products out there for data protection, there are also lots of people who have a lot of experience in using this solution."

"The amount of data that it protects with very little storage by doing incremental forever is one of its most valuable features."

"From a tech perspective, utilizing deduplication is one of the most valuable features."

"Incremental forever: This feature helps us reduce backup time and backup storage space."

"They have recently added support tickets specifically engineered around performance. This has been very useful for us when we run into issues where customers are looking to try to squeeze a lot more horsepower out of older system."

"Disk-based implementation of a data protection solution for multiple sites is a better fit for my complex data protection needs."

"The product helps us do data protection and restoration for disaster recovery (DR)."

"I have found that the most valuable feature is useful documentation and troubleshooting."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

Cons

"The functionality of the Data Protection Advisor is limited and is something that is lacking in this solution. Other solutions like CloudIQ and DDMC provide a much better outlook on how data protection should be done."

"We have encountered issues where we were unable to pull data from the database server. It should also improve the backward compatibility."

"It's a bit difficult for first-time users."

"The stability of the solution needs improvement for stand alone users."

"Some minor adjustments could be made regarding the graphical interface and customization options."

"The solution requires more integration with our other solutions. I know that they have full integration with VMware because it is also from EMC. However, we have to have better integration with Microsoft and Nutanix as well."

"There is a steep learning curve to use the interface and to create new reports, this could be made easier. If the solution could provide more drag and drop functionality to build more advanced reports that would be very helpful."

"They should empower their customers with the ability to upgrade this solution as long as it's in the same major release."

More Dell Data Protection Advisor cons

"They need more support for image backups."

"The management of Dell Networker is quite cumbersome."

"The software also isn't user-friendly like Convault or Rubrik. The solution errors and management aren't so good in comparison."

"In the next release, I would like to see better pricing and more integration with the other products in Dell EMC."

"In some cases, solutions are not found in one method of call and it escalates to many levels until an experienced person can join to resolve the issue."

"Its console UI should be better. It should also have more out-of-the-box reporting functionalities. It should also have easier cloud integration. They have got cloud boost and things like that, but if you want to directly back up to the cloud, I'm not too sure whether you can do it. For example, you can easily send data from Commvault to AWS, Azure, or a container, but it seems to be not so easy in NetWorker."

"NetWorker sometimes has issues with the backup not starting and with connecting to the Oracle servers."

"There should be total integration of the replication and cloud logistic back up on cloud."

More Dell NetWorker cons

"The version that we had when I first started made it look really bad. We are talking about commands that should have run in two seconds, but instead took four to eight hours. Other components were sluggish."

"If you take Spectrum Protect into account, and you have it along with restrictions to Spectrum Archive by means of LTFS, this is also something which should be made better within the overall product's program."

"The interface could be more user-friendly."

"There were scalability issues only in the brand new features which were recently released."

"We have had some problems about using storage agents on the X6 environment. It is not quite stable, but it is also not supported in a virtualized environment."

"The solution should have better integration with VMware and with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus."

"I want to see better compression than what it currently does."

"The reporting could be better."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is affordable."

"You need to make an upfront payment for three, five, or seven years and renew the licenses for support. We can do an annual maintenance contract with Dell. I would rate the product's pricing a six out of ten."

"It's not very expensive — I think the price is fair."

"The product pricing has been satisfactory, particularly with the economy of scale in our agreement."

"For pricing, I would rate Dell 2 out of 5. It's affordable."

"If the customer has huge lineup of Dell Products then they receive discount on the pricing."

"You have to procure the license when you are ordering or quoting for Dell Data Protection Suite (DPS). DPS is bundled with the suite and comes with a license. However, if you purchase NetWorker separately then you will have to procure the license for DPS separately."

"It is not very expensive and not very cheap."

"It is a relatively inexpensive product compared to one of its competitors."

"Dell NetWorker is an expensive solution. None of the backup products are cheap. The licensing model offered is usually a five-year one."

"The price is a little on the high side, but it's reliable and provides a good service."

"It's approximate, but I believe we pay around $20-30,000 a month in licensing."

"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."

"We do need to purchase a license, but sometimes, it comes as a part of the Dell Data Protection Suite (DPS). It has a capacity-based licensing."

"Earlier, users had to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs of the product. The licenses were expensive but users used to get the best device to use."

More Dell NetWorker pricing and cost advice

"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."

"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."

"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."

"IBM provides an open license policy, which is more like a gentlemen's agreement."

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

"The solution is expensive."

"Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less."

"We have been at our size for a few years. We are not really looking to battle the licensing costs, as this is our primary system."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell Data Protection Advisor?

The platform's most valuable features are data protection and retention.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell Data Protection Advisor?

The product pricing has been satisfactory, particularly with the economy of scale in our agreement.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell Data Protection Advisor?

The product could be improved by addressing intermittent collector failures affecting status reports' accuracy. Addit...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell NetWorker?

The feature that offers the greatest benefits in ensuring data integrity is its backup capability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell NetWorker?

The licensing cost is somewhat expensive. While we use a traditional license, there is a capacity-based license avail...

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?

It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible w...

See all answers

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell Data Protection Advisor

Compared 25% of the time

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell Data Protection Advisor

Compared 21% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell Data Protection Advisor

Compared 15% of the time

Veritas NetBackup vs Dell Data Protection Advisor

Compared 14% of the time

More Dell Data Protection Advisor Competitors

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 31% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 14% of the time

Dell Avamar vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 10% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 9% of the time

Cohesity DataProtect vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell NetWorker Competitors

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 17% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 17% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 10% of the time

Cohesity DataProtect vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell Data Protection Advisor

June 2025

Download Dell Data Protection Advisor product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker

June 2025

Download Dell NetWorker product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

May 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Also Known As

DPA

NetWorker

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Overview

Effectively managing your data protection environment can be labor intensive and complex. It requires knowledge of backup applications, replication technologies, and the entire supporting infrastructure, yet it is critical in keeping your data secure.

With Dell Data Protection Advisor, you can automate and centralize the collection, monitoring and reporting of this data and get a single, comprehensive view of your environment, no matter where your data resides. This includes monitoring data on AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

With clear visibility, you can gain actionable insight and effectively manage service levels while reducing costs and complexity. You can also collect and report on that data to help other stakeholders make the best decisions for your organization.

Data Protection Advisor is available as part of Dell Data Protection Suite.

Dell Technologies

Built on a reputation of efficiency and reliability, thousands of customers trust Dell NetWorker to protect their data and applications across multiple environments, from core to edge to cloud.

Inherently flexible, NetWorker helps you deploy and leverage the data protection that fits your needs. NetWorker protects both physical and virtual environments, including VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V, as well as cloud workloads on AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

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

Dell Technologies

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

Nielsen, Trek Bicycle, Cal-Israel Credit Cards

Republic Bank, Westgate Resorts, Macquire Cloud Services, Shriners, Panatonni, Qatar Islamic Bank, Eurosport

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

Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: May 2025.

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