Dell NetWorker vs IBM Spectrum Protect comparison

Dell Technologies and IBM are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. Dell Technologies is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.8, while IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.4. Dell Technologies holds a 2.9% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Dell Technologies users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Dell NetWorker

Read 85 Dell NetWorker reviews

4,869 Views
4,382 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

3,978 Views
3,421 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

Dell NetWorker

IBM Spectrum Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and Dell NetWorker compete in the data protection solutions category. Users generally rate IBM Spectrum Protect higher for pricing and support, but Dell NetWorker's features often make it a preferred investment.

Features: IBM Spectrum Protect is praised for its scalability, extensive platform support, and cost-effectiveness. Dell NetWorker is noted for its advanced integration capabilities, comprehensive reporting, and user-friendliness.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect users suggest enhancements in speed, modernizing backend processes, and better user interface customization. Dell NetWorker users seek improvements in backup and recovery speeds, better documentation, and improved security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect is described as complex to deploy but has robust customer service. Dell NetWorker offers a simpler deployment process yet has mixed reviews regarding customer support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is considered cost-effective with a good ROI. Dell NetWorker's higher setup costs are balanced by its robust features and perceived long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 862,499 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:

Categories and Ranking

Dell NetWorker

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Spectrum Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

149

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 2.9%, 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

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

"The solution is very user-friendly. After setting up five machines for our customers we teach them how to set up the agent and start doing their backups. It is very easy for them once they see how to do it, they like to do it on their own."

"Once the scheduler is configured, backups proceed without any interruption."

"The possibility of recovering up-to-the-moment data is very useful."

"Technical support is good."

"The best feature is the DR replication for us."

"The GUI is the best feature. It's very good and easy to use."

"The software is quite complicated and useful for large corporations using different information systems."

"The extensive information provided on tool properties has been very useful, specifically the information on databases"

More Dell NetWorker pros

"The feature we have found most valuable is when you want to integrate it with a Tape Library and then do the DRM life cycle. That is when it works the best."

"We apply the new dedupe and compression technology, using maintenance and time to give more time for the backup window and less time for the overhead related to the daily housekeeping."

"What I found most valuable in IBM Spectrum Protect is that it allows you to back up physical machines, and its proxy feature lets you back up virtual machines."

"One of the main things that I like about IBM is the versioning of the data - meaning that we can have multiple versions of a file or directory of a server."

"Regarding stability, it's been rock solid."

"It is pretty easy to use and maintain."

"Data archiving is easier and less time-consuming."

"Performance and recoveries are better. Our clients and customers are happier with the performance of it."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

Cons

"We have faced problems with the initial configuration of the solution."

"The tool should be more streamlined and simplified to create a backup to receive objects."

"When it comes to the stability of the product, some of the stores that have bad connectivity have some challenges backing them up because they operate remotely, the connection is slow, and it takes longer to manage the backup stuff."

"They need more support for image backups."

"The UI is not user-friendly."

"The solution could be graphically better."

"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."

"I would like to see the user interface improved, more documentation, faster support, and it could be easier to configure."

More Dell NetWorker cons

"We are not so happy with the technical support because dealing with them is not easy. We have a very complicated environment, therefore I understand for a support person that it is not easy to troubleshoot it."

"The licensing isn't very clear. They should work to simply or clarify the cost structure."

"We would like to see cloud integration."

"It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum."

"They are behind on many things, especially security. They are catching up a little bit now, but the competitors are doing better security-wise. There should be malware detection and prevention and higher security."

"IBM Spectrum Protect could be improved by making the installation easier. Once it's implemented, it's okay. IBM started lagging behind when things started moving to storage and cloud-based solutions. Even though they've recently released updates that give cloud-based protection, personally, I still believe they are not up to par with the likes of Rubrik. The entire product is a little bit clumsy because they have co-joined two different products, so it's complex. Even from a sales/explaining to people what it does point of view, it's complex. Whereas, if you take more current products, it's a single box solution. You reel it in, you fire it up, you do a couple of points and clicks, and off you go, whereas the IBM system is seriously complex. There's a lot of training involved and it's a massively difficult product to sell at this point in time."

"There have been some sizing issues now, and we are dealing with those."

"The only thing that I would like to have a little more of is insight in reporting. I find that Spectrum Protect needs a lot of monitoring, and I have to actually log into the servers."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

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

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

"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."

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

"The tool is pricey."

"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 of the license could be cheaper and it would be a benefit if they came up with a new pricing model. The competitors here in Oman sell universal licensing where a number of virtual machines are hosted at the customer place which can be licensed, or you can license the CPU sockets in those servers. However, NetWorker offers only CPU sockets or overall storage capacity to backup, but there is no universal licensing where you can provide a number of VMs. They should offer more options to stay competitive with other solutions, such as Veeam."

More Dell NetWorker pricing and cost advice

"We are paying for support and maintenance on a monthly basis."

"The solution is not cheap."

"The solution's pricing is fair. Price-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."

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

"It can be perceived as expensive since it is designed for enterprise use."

"There may be an advantage to going with IBM in terms of pricing. They have a pay-as-you-grow policy, so there is no need to take one license for the entire datacenter. You can start with small licenses and then grow, and pay, as you use more."

"Licensing can be either complicated or simple depending on what type of licensing you wish to use and what works best for your environment."

"IBM Spectrum Protect, cost-wise, has way higher pricing than Veeam. By switching over to Veeam, my company saved over $600,000 in USD. The IBM Spectrum Protect pricing is a two on a scale of one to ten. My company paid additional fees for maintenance, apart from the standard licensing fees."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 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 available, but our customer is not comfortable switching to it. A five to seven perce...

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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?

One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past. There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is wh...

See all answers

Comparisons

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 30% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 14% of the time

Dell Avamar vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 9% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 9% of the time

Azure Backup vs Dell NetWorker

Compared 2% of the time

More Dell NetWorker Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 15% of the time

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 15% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 12% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 10% of the time

Azure Backup vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker

July 2025

Download Dell NetWorker product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

July 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Also Known As

NetWorker

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Overview

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

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

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

July 2025

Free Report: Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect

Find out what your peers are saying about Dell NetWorker vs. IBM Spectrum Protect and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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