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Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) vs NetApp SnapCenter 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
22nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NetApp SnapCenter
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
48th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) is 0.6%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp SnapCenter is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

SamuelThomas - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures data safety and effective cloud integration with AI-powered protection
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) offers a backup, recovery, and management tool that is very easy to use. It provides a flexible protection suite that accommodates scalability and performance needs. Integration with VMware and multi-cloud protection is effective. AI integration enhances backup operations by analyzing data and ensuring malware protection. Customers also benefit from hybrid cloud options and tiers of backup.
Mir Gulzar Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well with various applications , provides a cloning feature for creating snapshots or clones of volume and a centralized command
It is basically centralized command control software. When the users visualize the workflow of the backup, the management and the customer storage administrator know the ins and outs of the backup and recovery. They can make the strategy for their backup and recovery and the certainty of their backups and restore. Strategic planning: Also, it is easy to make a strategy when you have visualized the inflow and outflow of the backup and recovery. With the CLI or native way, without any UI or management tool, you might not be able to create any strategy at all. This is especially important when you have multiple storage systems inside your data center or organization. You need a tool that connects and visualizes the workflow of the backup and recovery from all the storage systems and NetApp storage systems installed within the organization. It is very important when you have multiple storage systems, and you need to manage your backup and recovery workflow. Ease of Management: Unlike other storage vendors, NetApp has its own product called SnapCenter. Other vendors need to acquire third-party software or integrate with other software to manage storage systems. NetApp has its own solution, which is SnapCenter. NetApp's SnapCenter gels well with their storage systems and products. Ease of management is already there. It's a fine software with easy installation, management, and understanding. It's not a complicated software to understand.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is easy to troubleshoot and store data."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) offers a backup, recovery, and management tool that is very easy to use."
"What I find valuable about Dell PowerProtect IDPA is its stability and strong performance."
"The most valuable feature is the deduplication rate."
"It is very simple to perform an upgrade of the system and the environment."
"The product is integrated with Huawei software and its backup and recovery time is very fast."
"We use it for complete backup and recovery. We have multiple clients and have created multiple large virtual capabilities and zoning backlogs."
"IDPA's best feature is Turbo Boost Technology. The compression and duplication features are excellent, too."
"It's a centralized, easy-to-use solution empowering RBAC management, monitoring, notifications, extensive logging, and backup schedules for standalone as well as groups of the same types of environments. The cloning capabilities accelerate development."
"A feature that stands out is cloning databases. If you have a SQL database and it's huge, like one terabyte, the classical SQL way would be to do a backup-restore to create a clone of your database for test purposes. With SnapCenter now, we can clone a database but through the Snapshot technology, which means if you right-click and you click Clone, the one terabyte database is there instantly."
"The Exchange plugin is the most valuable because we have a lot of customers that use SnapManager Exchange and have to migrate to SnapCenter."
"Most banks and financial institutions use the solution."
"It helps with strategic planning because it is easy to make a strategy when you have visualized the inflow and outflow of the backup and recovery."
"It's all together managing both storage and backup, which makes it easier for troubleshooting issues and the automation part of it"
"It has very fast backup and can handle a huge amount of data. It also enables really fast recovery."
"It's very helpful because SnapCenter is already integrated with VMware Snapshot, so it's very easy to use."
 

Cons

"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) requires more updates and innovations in AI-powered cyber resilience."
"The solution's implementation was very complicated and could be improved."
"The product's index master feature needs improvement."
"There is room for improvement in terms of network connectivity."
"The two-factor authentication is missing from Dell products."
"We cannot add IDPA to DPC, and each IP has a DP Central, which cannot monitor other IDPAs."
"The solution should be easier to use."
"We would like to see the pricing drop a bit."
"We would like to see more granular repording and reporting in bigger sets available in SnapCenter."
"One thing that might be improved is the ease of management."
"Some of the minor functionalities from SnapManager did not transfer over to SnapCenter. These should be added in future releases."
"Plugins should be developed in shorter times. Performance generally could be a little bit faster."
"I'm waiting for SnapCenter for hybrid solutions. Right now, we only have SnapManager for hybrid. I need agents for that. People are looking to install SnapCenter in a SQL environment, but where they're running SQL on Hyper-V and using virtual files. Currently, we don't have support for hybrid."
"I feel a little bit that during the whole process of putting this software into production we were like a beta program. It was full of bugs... For example, we had a problem with truncating our Exchange log files... It has improved over time."
"The Dashboard view needs to be more compressed with better ease of access and drill-down features. They should also reinstate Linux filesystem backups of storage volumes (which existed in the prior version)."
"The Microsoft environment is its biggest disadvantage due to the central management of all the actions. Because the SnapCenter server is where we deploy everything, it also affects the Microsoft environment, which can cause many difficulties when resolving issues like Windows update problems."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing is billed on a monthly basis. Dell is bundled so that when you order IDPA, you get everything together with the license."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"We have a perpetual license. It is a capacity-based license."
"I would rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) has a yearly subscription fee."
"The licensing is well-designed because it's already included in some packages with NetApp storage. Therefore, for most customers, it's okay as the SnapCenter license is already included in some NetApp bundles."
"The product is inexpensive."
"We see a financial value with SnapCenter because we don't have to license Commvault, which is pretty expensive."
"Pricing is very good because if you already have NepApp controllers, then it's included."
"The license for SnapCenter was included with the storage array."
"It's free. The license is included with other NetApp products."
"It comes free with the amount of equipment we purchase from NetApp. In terms of pricing, zero is my favorite number."
"We have a site license, so it comes with the product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
19%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
19%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
What I find valuable about Dell PowerProtect IDPA is its stability and strong performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
Pricing is competitive with other software vendors. The product's features, network, and VMware integration contribute to its value. There are different licensing options available, such as applian...
What needs improvement with Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA)?
Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) requires more updates and innovations in AI-powered cyber resilience. While technical support is generally not poor, there are challenges with expertise in Linux-based c...
What do you like most about NetApp SnapCenter?
Most banks and financial institutions use the solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp SnapCenter?
The product should be free because it is just software to administrate systems purchased from NetApp, which are already expensive.
What needs improvement with NetApp SnapCenter?
The interface usability needs improvement. It should be more user-friendly and easier for customers to use.
 

Also Known As

Dell EMC IDPA, Dell IDPA, EMC IDPA
SnapCenter
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Under Armour, Christian Brothers University, Presidio
All for One Steeb AG, Accenture
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerProtect DP (IDPA) vs. NetApp SnapCenter and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.