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Dell Avamar vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

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
7.7
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offers competitive pricing and integration benefits, achieving mixed ROI within two to three years.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Dell Avamar's customer service is mixed; praised for expertise but criticized for reliability and communication issues post-acquisition.
Sentiment score
4.4
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus support is mostly praised for efficiency, though complex cases sometimes encounter delays and challenges.
When their technical person is online, the quality of service and technical knowledge are very good.
The current technical support by Dell is very good.
Their documentation, runbooks, troubleshooting articles, and support people are good.
 

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
6.3
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offers scalability for enterprises, supporting storage expansion and workload adjustments despite some infrastructure challenges.
Dell Avamar offers very good scalability.
IBM Data Protect is the scalable solution, not IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.
The solution does not provide horizontal and vertical scaling.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Dell Avamar is praised for its stability, reliability, and effective performance in virtual and physical infrastructure backup and restore.
Sentiment score
7.0
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is stable and reliable, handling heavy loads well, but may occasionally require repeated backup restorations.
 

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 integration, interface, automation, and security improvements, alongside enhanced installation, support, and data protection features.
They could add more features for cyber resilience and multi-cloud options in the next release to make it even better.
There are instances where backups fail on certain applications, which is an area that could be improved.
While Dell Avamar is a good product, the pricing is very high.
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.
It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling.
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.
 

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 offers strong value with scalable pricing, though some find it expensive for corporate use.
I don't currently have detailed knowledge about the pricing, however, it is geared towards enterprise businesses and might be on the higher side.
They are fairly expensive.
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
 

Valuable Features

Dell Avamar provides efficient data protection, scalability, and seamless integration, offering user-friendly features and strong deduplication with minimal resource use.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is praised for its integration, ease of use, scalability, and robust disaster recovery features.
Its encryption mechanisms are very efficient, helping to secure sensitive data.
The most valuable feature is the instant recovery capability.
The most valuable feature for me is the backup functionality.
The biggest benefit of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is that it's an agentless backup product which is very easy to configure and use.
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell Avamar
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (5th)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
25th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 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 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Dell Avamar2.6%
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus0.9%
Other96.5%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Ayodeji  Oyewole - PeerSpot reviewer
Reliable with good backups but has occasional failures
I use Dell Avamar primarily for backup and recovery The most valuable feature for me is the backup functionality. It gives large enterprises the comfort of knowing their workloads are being backed up. There are instances where backups fail on certain applications, which is an area that could be…
Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables organizations to make large-scale recoveries easily, but the security must be improved
The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise48
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise17
 

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 do you like most about Dell Avamar?
Easy to configure and highly reliable for backup.
What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something.
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.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Technical support could be improved significantly. 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.
 

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
PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell Avamar vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.