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IBM ProtectTIER vs Microsoft DPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 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 (13th)
Microsoft DPM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
39th
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 May 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 1.1% 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.
Nirukshitha Gamage - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager - System Infrastructure Software Support Team at DMS Electronics (Pvt) Ltd
User finds setup straightforward but seeks wider platform support and advanced features
Microsoft DPM could implement backup capabilities for third-party systems such as Linux. They also need to consider other features such as replication to DR sites, similar to what Veeam and other products offer. Microsoft DPM didn't have that capability at that time. If they want to remain competitive in the market, they need to observe the competition and implement improvements. The backup should have compression, deduplication, and DR replication. They should also improve monitoring of the environment. Microsoft DPM didn't have these basics at that time. If they had continued development on the products, they could have reached a higher level, especially given Microsoft's significant presence and majority of servers. 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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"If you are looking for a reliable and scalable enterprise-class solution, you should consider this solution."
"The cataloging is the best feature. It takes millions of frames for the backup. It's incremental, so it takes less time to complete."
"The command-line interface is good."
"The most valuable features are the self-service features and the ability to search the data."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution. It is easy to use."
"Overall IBM ProtectTIER is a great solution."
"I will highly recommend this product for excellent and quick backup solution in small and large IBM I Series environment."
"In terms of stability, I've found it to be very stable."
"The solution really does great recovery."
"Moving to this solution has improved our backup capability."
"It has an application backup, a file backup, a system backup and a hypervisor."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
"The initial setup is quite straightforward."
"The automated procedure is quite good for us, as it is able to capture all of the information that we require."
"Overall, I really like the product, it's very user-friendly, and I can do everything I need to do."
"The most valuable feature is the recovery."
 

Cons

"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."
"It is unmanageable. Support would be good."
"The backup for a large amount of data is slow."
"The configuration wizards are still complex and hard to navigate. These should be easier to manage."
"IBM ProtectTIER could improve by being more user-friendly."
"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 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."
"To evaluate the solution's abilities and its performance under demanding conditions, it is recommended to carry out a stress test."
"The user interface can be improved quite a bit."
"The solution isn't completely stable."
"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."
"Additional Hyper-V knowledge would be great."
"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."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"IBM ProtectTIER is an expensive solution."
"This solution is very expensive."
"Microsoft DPM is a free solution. However, we pay approximately $3,000 annually for support."
"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"
"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
Manufacturing Company
16%
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
5%
 

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

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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: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.