IBM ProtectTIER vs IBM Storage Protect comparison

IBM ProtectTIER and IBM Storage Protect are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM ProtectTIER is ranked #83, while IBM Storage Protect is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.3. IBM ProtectTIER holds a 0.3% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM Storage Protect’s 2.1% mindshare. Additionally, 60% of IBM ProtectTIER users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of IBM Storage Protect users who would recommend it.

IBM ProtectTIER

Read 7 IBM ProtectTIER reviews

581 Views
360 Comparison Views

60% willing to recommend

IBM Storage Protect

Read 3 IBM Storage Protect reviews

4,461 Views
3,747 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM ProtectTIER

IBM Storage Protect

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2025

IBM ProtectTIER and IBM Storage Protect are data protection and storage solutions. IBM Storage Protect is deemed superior due to its enhanced features.

Features: IBM ProtectTIER offers efficient data deduplication, optimized storage space, and improved backup speeds. IBM Storage Protect provides comprehensive backup options, scalability, and robust data recovery features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM ProtectTIER allows straightforward deployment and robust support, making the setup process easier. IBM Storage Protect's deployment is more complex but includes excellent configuration tools and comprehensive customer support, balancing its intricacies with strong service support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM ProtectTIER is favored for competitive initial costs and a decent ROI, suitable for budget-conscious enterprises. IBM Storage Protect, though having higher initial costs, offers advanced features and long-term benefits, making it attractive for businesses focused on long-term value.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Storage Protect Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Storage Protect

September 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 869,760 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

IBM ProtectTIER

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

83rd

Average Rating

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Deduplication Software (13th)

IBM Storage Protect

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

13th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Storage Protect	2.1%
IBM ProtectTIER	0.3%
Other	97.6%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

ValereFEUGWANG

Information System Consultant at CFAO Technologies

Protects data in hybrid infrastructures, but it is an expensive product with poor support

The main challenge for our customers is to replicate the virtual environment upon restart, without using any additional solutions such as VMware SLM. 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. It would be much better for us. This solution can be made easier to use. Technical support is very frustrating and we are considering other solutions because of it. Stability is something that should be improved. The product is expensive and the licensing should be changed.

Read full review

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 highly stable."

"The most valuable features are the Self-Service, and the ability to search the data."

"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."

"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 command-line interface is good."

"The cataloging is the best feature. It takes millions of frames for the backup. It's incremental, so it takes less time to complete."

"We can scale. Today, we have an average backup volume of 100TB a day."

"Our performance is better."

"IBM Spectrum Protect is a scalable solution."

"It integrates well with Spectrum Scale."

"The business value comes from the capability to overcome data losses."

"The feature that I have found the most valuable is that IBM Spectrum Protect is highly integrated with IBM ESS. In addition, it allows us to back up our virtual servers directly to take VM snapshots. It runs on Linux as well."

"It is pretty scalable. It will scale to anything."

"We can freeze and start databases for consistent backups."

More IBM Storage Protect pros

Cons

"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."

"The backup for a large amount of data is slow."

"Setting up the system to work with legacy equipment is a bit complex at times."

"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."

"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."

"High availability (HA) is a scalability challenge."

"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."

"Enhancements are required for backing up our virtual environment."

"Probably educating the virtual group who are not as used to the product. Most of our expertise is with AIX servers and virtual server backups."

"Scalability is poor. As you get to bigger environments, this is where our gaps have been introduced. As we have grown over the past couple of years, the gaps have become more apparent."

"The product should be improved to save more space."

"It might be seen as leaning towards the legacy side, missing some features of newer solutions. The main drawbacks would be its complexity and high pricing."

"It seems like they are a little behind on the integration to Azure Cloud as well as Amazon."

More IBM Storage Protect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is very expensive."

"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."

"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."

"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."

"The licensing is varied. If we have small environments (not many TB being managed) it is best to license by PVUs (depending on the number of cores of the machine). If we manage many TBs we look at licensing by capacity which allows us to use all the agents of the product."

"Its licensing is complex, and its price is not really reasonable. It is on the expensive side. IBM, in general, is slightly expensive, but with IBM Spectrum for the virtual environment, they are looking into the aspect of helping customers with the cost and providing a cost-effective solution."

"I rate the pricing a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is not cost-effective, and ten is cost-effective."

"One can go with either a PVU licensing model or a capacity based licensing model. Either solution does not block the usage, if over used."

"It's very complicated. Licensing is a pain."

"The product is not cheap."

"We have spec'd out our build, and the cost of it can work quite easily today for our future needs."

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

More IBM Storage Protect pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	53
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	94

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about IBM Storage Protect?

The best point about IBM Storage Protect is that it can use IBM tape environments, which we still use and will continue to use in the future.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Storage Protect?

IBM Storage Protect is generally an expensive tool. However, with good contracts with IBM or its partners, the cost might not be so high. New customers can expect very high prices.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Storage 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 DD (Data Domain) vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 65% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM ProtectTIER

Compared 35% of the time

More IBM ProtectTIER Competitors

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 14% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 11% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 10% of the time

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM Storage Protect

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM Storage Protect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Deduplication Software

September 2025

Download IBM ProtectTIER product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Storage Protect

October 2025

Download IBM Storage Protect product report

Also Known As

No data available

IBM Spectrum Discover

Overview

IBM TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway is designed to meet the disk-based data protection needs of the enterprise data center while enabling significant infrastructure cost reductions. The solution offers industry-leading inline deduplication performance and scalability up to 1 petabyte (PB) of physical storage capacity per system, and can provide up to 25 PB or more backup storage capacity. Combined with IBM or third-party storage, TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway provides a powerful disk-based repository to improve the performance, retention and availability of backup and archive data in a small footprint for energy and cost efficiency.

IBM

IBM Storage Protect offers data protection and management to secure critical business information efficiently. It's designed to be a scalable and flexible solution for data backup, recovery, and archive needs in complex IT environments.

IBM Storage Protect delivers comprehensive data protection by integrating backup, recovery, and archiving functionalities. It supports a range of workloads and infrastructures, from on-premises to cloud environments, facilitating efficient data management. Its platform provides seamless scalability to meet evolving business needs, underpinned by reliable security measures. Organizations leverage its capabilities to ensure business continuity and minimize data loss risks, making it vital in a data-driven world.

What are the key features of IBM Storage Protect?

Advanced Data Protection: Offers robust encryption and data integrity for secure backup processes.
Scalability: Grows with your data demands, supporting large data volumes without compromising performance.
Cloud Integration: Seamlessly integrates with cloud platforms, enhancing backup strategies with hybrid options.
Automated Operations: Simplifies management tasks with automation, reducing manual intervention and errors.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating IBM Storage Protect?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces storage costs by optimizing backup processes and data retention strategies.
Data Safety: Ensures data accessibility and integrity during recovery efforts, building trust in data protection strategies.
Operational Efficiency: Boosts productivity through streamlined and automated backup management workflows.
Compliance Readiness: Helps maintain compliance with data protection regulations by providing thorough reporting and audit trails.

Industries like finance and healthcare implement IBM Storage Protect to safeguard sensitive information against threats. In financial services, it's crucial for maintaining client data confidentiality, while healthcare institutions use it to protect patient records, ensuring both accessibility and compliance with regulations.

IBM

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber

CEMEX

Buyer's Guide

IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Storage Protect

September 2025

Free Report: IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Storage Protect

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Storage Protect and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM ProtectTIER vs. IBM Storage Protect report.

See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.