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IBM ProtectTIER vs Microsoft DPM 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

IBM ProtectTIER
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
65th
Average Rating
7.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Deduplication Software (12th)
Microsoft DPM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
41st
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM ProtectTIER is 0.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft DPM is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft DPM0.9%
IBM ProtectTIER0.7%
Other98.4%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Andrei Kolmogortsev - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Administrator at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Efficiently manages backups with long-standing reliability and ease of integration
We use Microsoft DPM for backup servers. ManageEngine is used to manage workstations and servers, and Operation Manager is used for monitoring The two-layer backup system is a particularly valuable feature in Microsoft DPM. The short layer and long layer backups are features I appreciate.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"The most valuable feature is the incremental backup."
"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"The command-line interface is good."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"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."
"This solution helps us to manage all of the operations across servers and different workstations."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
"I like the core backup feature. I also like the file server backup feature. I find Microsoft DPM interesting because it has fantastic integration with Microsoft products. For example, in Exchange and SharePoint, DPM is excellent when it comes to backing up data. It also does a decent job with open-source products."
"It has an application backup, a file backup, a system backup and a hypervisor."
"The most important feature is that it's easy to use."
"Microsoft support for this product is very good."
"Microsoft DPM is scalable."
"The solution really does great recovery."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"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."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"These days, we are thinking about pushing another solution because of the poor support from IBM."
"It needs portability for other vendors. It is good for backing up Microsoft servers, but it doesn't support third-party solutions such as Oracle Database. It depends on Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy, especially for Hyper-V, which has a lot of problems. They should enhance the Volume Shadow Copy functionality. Its reporting should also be better. Reporting is too weak in DPM."
"Microsoft DPM didn't have any support structure in the backend. If they had a support structure, we could have escalated issues. I never received any support from Microsoft DPM."
"They could improve the compatibility and integration with other products and the ability to do file-to file backups of other products."
"Recent minor upgrade required a reboot of all of my protected 2008 servers. This I considered unacceptable as I had to reschedule an outage window to reboot 100+ servers."
"Microsoft DPM could improve by adding S3 backup to S3 storage capabilities."
"It would be better if it integrated seamlessly with open source and competitor products. In the next release, I would like to see some data governance frameworks. It should have support features for data integration and data replication like Veeam. Right now, we are also using Veeam for certain scenarios."
"Optimization of fabric administrator cause management problem to arise in backup administrator as it leads to the backup software failure in a manner that cannot be foreseen or anticipated finding backup administrators unawares."
"Microsoft DPM could improve if it was available in a public or private cloud."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"The customer can decide how they want to purchase a license. However, the price of the solution is expensive."
"This solution is very expensive."
"We have a capacity-based license, which is managed centrally for all the sites of my company."
"Microsoft DPM can be considered as an expensive solution for smaller or medium enterprises, but we have been satisfied with the price structure as it is fixed and it offers a variety of useful features"
"Microsoft DPM is a free solution. However, we pay approximately $3,000 annually for support."
"I think Microsoft DPM pricing is reasonable. The additional costs are related to storage and technical support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft DPM?
The pricing of Microsoft solutions rates in the middle range at five out of ten.
What needs improvement with Microsoft DPM?
Microsoft DPM could improve by adding S3 backup to S3 storage capabilities. AI integration is not necessary for backups as this is not a security solution.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft DPM?
We use Microsoft DPM for backup servers. ManageEngine is used to manage workstations and servers, and Operation Manager is used for monitoring.
 

Also Known As

No data available
DPM, Data Protection Manager, MS DPM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Durham Police Department, Re-Store LLC, CenterGrid, pixx.io GmbH, Australian Government Department of Defence, QD, Refresco Gerber
Medical Park, Centropol Energy, a.s., NCFE, D & H Distributing, Metalor, Colosseum, a.s., Sanitas S.A., Icebreaker
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM ProtectTIER vs. Microsoft DPM and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,679 professionals have used our research since 2012.