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Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) vs Dell PowerProtect Data Manager 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
4.0
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers mixed ROI, with benefits in automation, integration, and efficiency, yet not always perceived favorably.
Sentiment score
2.7
Dell PowerProtect DP offers cost efficiency, malware protection, and reliable features, providing users a beneficial return on investment.
Previously they had somewhere around 100 TB of capacity for the backup for a few VMs on one side. Now, the overall setup is hardly 80 TB, where they use almost 240 TB of production data into that 80 TB.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would recommend Dell PowerProtect Data Manager to other organizations because it is cost-effective and delivers good performance compared to alternative solutions.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
I do find that with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, the ROI is good when compared to other Dell products, but when compared to others in the current market, such as Cohesity or Veeam, it is not as good.
Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I see it as both time-saving and money-saving.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager's support is efficient for some, criticized for delays by others, with regional service inconsistencies.
Sentiment score
8.4
Dell PowerProtect DP support is highly rated, with improved logistics, though some communication and scheduling challenges remain.
Dell provides reliable support for PowerProtect Data Manager, with 24/7 availability and a qualified support team.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
My experience with the technical support team of Dell is that they are actually great.
Ops Specialist: System Engineer Backup at BCX
When we had the compliances and any of the backups were getting failed or we identified that some of the backups were frequently failing, the system would alert us.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
If I were to rate customer service from zero to ten points, I would give it ten out of ten.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
Challenges exist in certain Linux-based cases.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
On the one or two occasions where we needed to engage with Dell support, they've been most helpful.
Senior Systems Engineer at NTT DATA
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.3
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is scalable, but some users see room for improvement in cloud scalability and organizational growth.
Sentiment score
5.5
Dell PowerProtect DP is highly scalable, easily upgraded, supports large datasets but may require hardware updates at capacity.
Its capability to back up existing environments can be improved, particularly when it comes to disaster recovery in the cloud.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
As per the documentation, that is an easy process, whether you need to scale up or scale out.
Ops Specialist: System Engineer Backup at BCX
If you are okay to purchase the license, they have the feasibility to increase the capacity as well.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Scalability is great here, and it achieves this without downtime.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
The product offers flexibility for scalability, making it user-friendly and adaptable to different performance requirements.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
I find the scalability of the product to be good and scalable as a family with the need for proper engagement in the sizing stage based on customer requirements.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is stable, though users report some connection issues and require occasional reboots and maintenance.
Sentiment score
8.3
Dell PowerProtect DP is stable, reliable, with seamless scalability, minor network issues, and strong support, rated highly by users.
It is extremely reliable and I have never experienced a crash.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Making sure the system is properly understood before deployment and handling upgrades efficiently would improve stability.
System Engineer at Konvergenz
I would assess the stability and reliability of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager as quite stable; there are no issues with the workloads I am using.
Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is a stable solution because it's a mature product.
Senior Systems Engineer at NTT DATA
None of the customers has experienced any downtime.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
 

Room For Improvement

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager needs improved integration, user interface, upgrade simplicity, and enhanced support, compatibility, and reporting features.
Dell PowerProtect DP is costly with setup challenges, needing better security features, AI tools, and improved integration options.
I would like to see improvements that include bare metal restore capabilities and enhanced data restore features in Dell PowerProtect Data Manager.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
This is an enterprise solution and a bit costlier, but it is a solution where people should be looking into if they want to go into one single umbrella and have the centralized backup solution, which integrates with the cloud and can manage their cloud workload as well as the on-premises workload, and can be managed with one dashboard.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enhancements for microservices and container backups would be beneficial, enabling a more consolidated management platform for modern architectures.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) requires more updates and innovations in AI-powered cyber resilience.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
You cannot integrate with any other third-party solution or your Data Domain since it is very tightly coupled and has limited licenses with respect to capacity that are integrated directly with Avamar.
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
The solution is quite expensive, but when it comes to manageability or interaction with the solution, it is great.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
 

Setup Cost

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager offers cost-effective, flexible pricing options with features like compression, accommodating various storage needs and licensing models.
Dell PowerProtect DP provides flexible, capacity-based licensing with competitive pricing, offering discounts for partners and simplifying purchases with monthly billing.
From a license perspective, it is a cheaper option, and there is a subscription license as well.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is cost-effective, as it is licensed per socket rather than by workload.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Overall, pricing does not significantly impact our decision.
Business Development Manager at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Pricing is competitive with other software vendors.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
The only disadvantage I can see with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is the cost.
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
The pricing of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is competitive compared to its peers in the market.
Senior Systems Engineer at NTT DATA
 

Valuable Features

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager provides flexible, efficient data protection, centralized management, and seamless integration with advanced security and deduplication features.
Dell PowerProtect DP offers easy management, high deduplication, scalability, hybrid cloud, and fast recovery in a comprehensive platform.
It provides a seamless backup solution integrated with a dashboard full of capabilities, enhancing recovery point objectives and recovery time objectives.
Senior System Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
It satisfies my customers' scalability needs and provides interactive features, allowing efficient integration.
System Engineer at Konvergenz
Compared to other products such as Veritas, Dell offers more competitive pricing while other vendors charge significantly more.
Backup Administrator at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
AI integration enhances backup operations by analyzing data and ensuring malware protection.
Consultant at Key Information Technology L.L.C.
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) has a scalable architecture, offering flexibility, so you can always scale the capacity to meet any increased demands.
Senior Systems Engineer at NTT DATA
The concept of pre-integrated solutions was very nice, allowing a customer to have a single dashboard to manage everything, which includes backups for desktops, laptops, enterprise applications, virtual and physical servers, along with comprehensive cloud-based backup capabilities.
Pre Sales Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerProtect Data Manager
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (3rd)
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
44th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is 2.1%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerProtect Data Manager2.1%
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)0.7%
Other97.2%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2767527 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Architect at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Centralized backups have simplified hybrid protection and improved ransomware recovery and compliance
The majorly needed improvement is that the product should easily simplify the upgrade and installation process. Sometimes Dell support should be more active. They take time for P1 issues. Sometimes it is not a P1 for Dell, but it is P1 for the customer, and the support needs to be very mature. That is a major drawback I see. Otherwise, the product is quite well. This is an enterprise solution and a bit costlier, but it is a solution where people should be looking into if they want to go into one single umbrella and have the centralized backup solution, which integrates with the cloud and can manage their cloud workload as well as the on-premises workload, and can be managed with one dashboard. In that way, it makes their backup management easier and they can get detected anomalies as soon as possible. This is one of the solutions I would recommend. However, if it is a very small company, they really need to think about the cost, as it is very costlier for them. But as an enterprise solution and a mid-enterprise solution, this is the solution where companies think their data is very critical, in sectors such as financial, banking, and health. This kind of sector should go with that solution because it always gives the compliances of HIPAA, GDPR, and all those things that are really required for them. From management perspectives and consolidation solution perspective, the integration is quite easy. With respect to the backup administrator and everything, it is quite straightforward. There are some layers that need to be improved and should have the internal feature instead of creating the additional VMs for the NAS backup. It should be internal and directly have the agent base or something that can communicate easily with Dell storage. If it is third-party, I would understand, but it should be able to communicate. The benefit of it is that it is easily understood and you can do knowledge transfer with a lot of documents available. The drawback of it is that when it comes to the installation, Dell always takes a lot of time for all these things with third-party involvement in between Dell and the customer. Support is the major part of it. People need to understand that when a customer raises their ticket for P1, they should treat it as a P1. Instead of by their book being P3 or P2, sometimes they only treat it as such when the complete backup server is down. However, for the customer, if it is not happening with the critical system of backup, then it is a P1 for them. From Dell support, they do not treat it as a P1, or they treat it as a P3 or P2. That kind of understanding and some agreements need to be done between the customer and Dell. It is a costlier solution. Comparatively, other backup solutions make this one of the costlier solutions. However, someone who has their enterprise data or needs protection in a good way can go for it. I could say it is a mid-enterprise or enterprise level solution. Otherwise, people do have the same solution but with differentiated features. However, it is costlier compared to the other.
LANRE OGUNDARE - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at Tenece Professional services
Centralized backups have simplified daily management and improved recovery for our customers
The only disadvantage I can see with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is the cost. In terms of the usage and also the management aspect of it, it has been great and fantastic. The solution is quite expensive in this regard. That is what most of the customers say. The solution is quite expensive, but when it comes to manageability or interaction with the solution, it is great. If tomorrow brings the next release of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA), I would like to see some additional features included and some new functionalities. At the moment, the solution is great, so I do not know if there will be any additional functionality for the solution, but I would not mind. For now, it is acceptable. Apart from price, I would say there are no other issues or areas for improvement other than cost. Only price could be slightly less.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Construction Company
11%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
One notable feature is its robust backup support for Kubernetes and container environments. Additionally, PPDM stands out for its ease of deployment and management compared to other backup solution...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
Regarding the pricing aspect of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager, I am not very happy with that; compared to some other products, it is a bit more costly, and there are definitely areas for improvement.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect Data Manager?
I apologize, but I'm not in a position to answer what areas of Dell PowerProtect Data Manager I would like to see improved or enhanced. There is still a lot of features that we haven't tried yet. I...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
The pricing of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is competitive compared to its peers in the market, and while it can always come down, I still think it's a fair price.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
You cannot integrate with any other third-party solution or your Data Domain since it is very tightly coupled and has limited licenses with respect to capacity that are integrated directly with Ava...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
We implemented Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) for one of our biggest enterprise customers across their 30 sites. The customer had hyperconverged infrastructure and was looking for a completely isolate...
 

Also Known As

PowerProtect, Dell EMC PowerProtect
Dell EMC IDPA, Dell IDPA, EMC IDPA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

National Bank of Greece, USC Australia, PCS Publishing, Dell Digital IT, Rushmore Electric, Melanson Health, Arrow Electronics
Under Armour, Christian Brothers University, Presidio
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) vs. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
890,124 professionals have used our research since 2012.