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IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs Microsoft DPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.4
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is valued for integration, compatibility, and competitive pricing, with some users seeing quick ROI.
Sentiment score
3.3
Microsoft DPM improved backup efficiency, reduced costs, minimized data loss, and enhanced productivity with streamlined integration and minimal maintenance.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.6
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus support is generally praised for responsiveness, despite concerns about initial delays and technical complexity issues.
Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft DPM support is mixed, with praise for responsiveness but concerns over limited features and paid technical assistance.
We do not have a good experience with this product.
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
Their documentation, runbooks, troubleshooting articles, and support people are good.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
They provide professional services that are quite good and can meet your needs.
manager/consultant at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.7
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus scales efficiently from small to large enterprises, though optimal planning enhances its scalability potential.
Sentiment score
5.8
Microsoft DPM scales well with Microsoft products but may need adjustments for non-Microsoft databases and user-friendliness.
IBM Data Protect is the scalable solution, not IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
The solution does not provide horizontal and vertical scaling.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is praised for stability and reliability, though some report recovery issues and version-related instability.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft DPM's stability is generally praised, though some users experience synchronization issues and challenges with integration and patching.
I cannot determine what benefit IBM Spectrum Protect Plus brings to the organization because we deployed this solution with one customer, and that customer changed the product after one or two years because the product is not stable and it changes with every version.
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
The product is very stable, rating between eight and nine out of ten.
IT Administrator at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus needs a user-friendly interface, improved security, better integration, efficient backup, and enhanced technical support.
Microsoft DPM lacks user-friendliness, struggles with backups, and needs better integration, documentation, and support for efficient performance.
It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
I used IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but IBM is now replacing it with IBM Data Protect, which is a giant product now in common development with a well-known company in backup solutions.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
The backup should have compression, deduplication, and DR replication.
Senior Manager - System Infrastructure Software Support Team at DMS Electronics (Pvt) Ltd
Microsoft DPM could improve by adding S3 backup to S3 storage capabilities.
IT Administrator at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Setup Cost

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is costly but offers flexible licensing and is valued for scalability and automation benefits.
Microsoft DPM pricing is appealing for enterprise buyers due to integration, reasonable value, and affordability compared to competitors.
They are fairly expensive.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft licensing is complex, especially for enterprise or data center solutions.
manager/consultant at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
The pricing of Microsoft solutions rates in the middle range at five out of ten.
IT Administrator at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus offers seamless integration, user-friendly features, and comprehensive data protection across multiple platforms and applications.
Microsoft DPM efficiently manages VM migration, backup, and recovery, integrates with Microsoft tools, and supports SMB environments.
The biggest benefit of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is that it's an agentless backup product which is very easy to configure and use.
IT Specialist at Saudi Business Machines - SBM
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is the software we work with, and the new name is IBM Storage Protect.
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
Microsoft DPM impacted my organization positively, and that was definitely possible.
Senior Manager - System Infrastructure Software Support Team at DMS Electronics (Pvt) Ltd
The two-layer backup system is a particularly valuable feature in Microsoft DPM.
IT Administrator at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem.
manager/consultant at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
47th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft DPM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
38th
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 January 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft DPM is 0.9%, down from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft DPM0.9%
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus1.0%
Other98.1%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1656648 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Offers reliable recovery and backup but needs better ransomware protection
With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible. IBM provides these through a third party, so enhancement is needed. There's significant room for improvement. They are not yet where I want them to be. It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling. These are areas IBM can improve.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Pricing is good; it is reasonable and more reasonable than any other vendors.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
Technical support could be improved significantly. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
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

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
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 Spectrum Protect Plus vs. Microsoft DPM and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,844 professionals have used our research since 2012.