No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) vs IBM ProtectTIER comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 PowerProtect DP (IDPA)
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
21st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM ProtectTIER
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
66th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)0.7%
IBM ProtectTIER0.7%
Other98.6%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

NimitPuvar - PeerSpot reviewer
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
Centralized backup has improved data protection and simplifies secure, compliant restores
The biggest advantage of the product is that it is basically a single appliance which comes with a bundle of backup software and the appliance, as we have a single console to manage it. It also provides other features such as data encryption at rest, along with data deduplication and compression in backup which is very useful. From the centralized dashboard, we can manage the backup job and determine if the backup job is happening appropriately or not. If any backup job fails, we can find out the root cause for the failures. Because it is a hardware-based appliance, we can restore the data immediately, and it provides genuine restore capabilities. In terms of data availability compliance, we are looking for data availability and data security in terms of encryption, data deduplication and compression. It provides data availability as each appliance comes with RAID. If one or two disks fail, then our data appliance is still available for backup. It also provides encryption, so our data is also ransomware protected.
AG
Technical Lead at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Provides a short-term backup, archive, and cataloging for 20,000 people in our organization
The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time. I have a 24 hour cycle, so it doesn't get completed in 24 hours with the large amount of data. With Veritas NetBackup, I can take 20 terabytes of backup in a day.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The features I appreciate the most about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) are that it's self-service, simple to use, and has some immutability to protect the data from any tampering."
"In fact, deploying Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) for the first time is very simple and straightforward."
"The solution is strong."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) was positioned as an appliance concept for clients, providing faster go-to-market strategies by having everything pre-integrated, which gives customers advantages so that within two to three hours, I am ready to deploy my policy."
"It is a good, stable product with good reliability and performance."
"What I appreciate most about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is the ability to adjust your type of bandwidth, because some of our nodes sit in remote areas in the mining industry, so we have wireless links running, and especially with wireless, we sometimes have intermittent connectivity."
"The biggest advantage of the product is that it is basically a single appliance which comes with a bundle of backup software and the appliance, as we have a single console to manage it."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is versatile because I can use it for any type of use case, as it is an all-in-one box."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."
"The cataloging is the best feature, as it takes millions of frames for the backup and, because it's incremental, it takes less time to complete."
"The solution is highly stable."
"The command-line interface is good."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable. I've walked into the server room when it was at 60 degrees Celcius, and it was still running fine."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
 

Cons

"The solution has not been working as advertised."
"I would like to see more options and features about Recovery from Dell EMC Cloud Tier"
"Managing the product is a little bit complicated."
"The negative aspect I can mention regarding Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is that when it was built on VMware, it had some flaws, and the system was not built properly, necessitating access to individual VMs for configuration and troubleshooting, which has been resolved in the DM version."
"One area of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) that can be improved is probably more integrations with third-party software, particularly third-party backup software."
"I would like to see integration with Dell EMC's Cloud Tier."
"Dell PowerProtect DP needs to include more features and improve backup for a continual base."
"After resizing and compression, the system continuously runs out of space. Dell EMC doesn't do automatic cleanup or other things, so we constantly have to manually go in there or work with Dell support on this. The solution has not been working as advertised."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"My advice to anybody who is considering this solution is to conduct a proof of concept first because everybody's needs are different, and this product is not suitable for every kind of backup."
"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."
"The backup for a large amount of data is slow. When there's a large amount of data, sometimes the backup isn't completed in time."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"I would like the possibility to back up the infrastructure and then replicate it upon on restart, without having to orchestrate the starting of the VM."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"The licensing is billed on a monthly basis. Dell is bundled so that when you order IDPA, you get everything together with the license."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) has a yearly subscription fee."
"We have a perpetual license. It is a capacity-based license."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"This solution is very expensive."
"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
The pricing for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is quite expensive, but I would say, compared to the work that has been put into the appliance itself, we all know Dell is the most expensive product on ...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
I find it difficult to identify faults with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA). The only initial issues we had were with bare-metal restores, but their support was absolutely excellent, and we worked thro...
What is your primary use case for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is used to back up Dell VX Rails, as we have six Dell VX Rail nodes or clusters in our current company, and to have an off-site backup. We have two Dell PowerProtect DP ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Dell EMC IDPA, Dell IDPA, EMC IDPA
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Under Armour, Christian Brothers University, Presidio
Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) vs. IBM ProtectTIER and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.