IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs NetApp SnapCenter comparison

IBM and NetApp are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #49 with an average rating of 7.0, while NetApp is ranked #53 with an average rating of 7.0. IBM holds a 1.0% mindshare in BRS, compared to NetApp’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of NetApp users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Read 32 IBM Spectrum Protect Plus reviews

1,507 Views
1,462 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

NetApp SnapCenter

Read 27 NetApp SnapCenter reviews

1,268 Views
1,192 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

NetApp SnapCenter

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and NetApp SnapCenter are both data protection and recovery solutions. NetApp SnapCenter appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set.

Features: Users value IBM Spectrum Protect Plus for scalability, ease of integration, and reliable backup capabilities. NetApp SnapCenter stands out with powerful snapshot and replication features and efficient application-aware backups.

Room for Improvement: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus needs enhancements in reporting, analytics, and compatibility. NetApp SnapCenter requires better compatibility with certain environments and a more intuitive performance monitoring system.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is praised for straightforward deployment and excellent customer service. NetApp SnapCenter has a relatively easy deployment process but mixed reactions about support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is more budget-friendly and offers good ROI due to lower initial setup costs. NetApp SnapCenter, though more expensive, is seen as worth the investment for its advanced features and robust capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs. NetApp SnapCenter Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs. NetApp SnapCenter

September 2025

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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 Spectrum Protect Plus

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

49th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

NetApp SnapCenter

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

53rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

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 Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.0%, up from 0.9% 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 Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus	1.0%
NetApp SnapCenter	0.7%
Other	98.3%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Atif Najam

Chief Information Officer and Program Lead at Gatron Industries Ltd

Enables organizations to make large-scale recoveries easily, but the security must be improved

The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.

Read full review

MervynMorgan

IT Storage Engineer at Unixque Solutions Pty Ltd

Enables us to save data for data projection but could improve its integration with other backup solutions

NetApp SnapCenter is highly efficient because it allows you to automate the creation of snapshots. Instead of manually creating snapshots using IMS or HMS, you can schedule and automate them, specifying the timing and frequency. This eliminates the need for daily manual intervention and streamlines the process. SnapCenter also enables you to assign specific user roles to manage these tasks, enhancing efficiency. SnapCenter ensures that your LPOs and RTOs are extremely quick. Although it may seem expensive initially, after using it for a while, you'll appreciate the efficiencies and gains it provides. I recommend the solution. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

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

"Reliability, recovery features, and stability are valuable to me."

"Virtual snapshots that offer incremental backups."

"The most valuable feature of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is the deduplication functionality. The clients moved to this solution originally because of this feature."

"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."

"The biggest benefit of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is that it's an agentless backup product which is very easy to configure and use."

"Using this tool, we can easily backup and restore or recover the data for PCs and mobiles in case of system crashes."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration with Oracle."

"The API is very good."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pros

"It has greatly improved our DR activity."

"The backup features are the most valuable because they allow the DBAs to replace SnapManager for Oracle (SMO), which is going away, and to do cloning as well. We can also clone to different servers and have the actual backup clone mounted on different servers. And we can split easily too."

"The main advantage is its fast backup and restore."

"The reporting feature has been particularly beneficial to upper management... When you do manual backups, you do not get the benefit of seeing successes and failures and how often you have to do restores. With SnapCenter, you get all of that."

"It's very helpful because SnapCenter is already integrated with VMware Snapshot, so it's very easy to use."

"Technical support has been very helpful when we have issues."

"The central pane view is the most valuable feature. You have one console where you can monitor all your jobs, as opposed to going to different vCenters."

"I like the instant backups and recovery feature that SnapCenter provides within NetApp storage systems."

More NetApp SnapCenter pros

Cons

"There could be better integration with Spectrum Protect and Spectrum Protect Plus, it should be one solution."

"It still needs to grow and add new features. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, I believe, requires time to become competitive due to a weakness in the other software products."

"IBM has made a decision to withdraw the product and replace it with IBM Data Protect."

"Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface."

"The backup support for IBM Power Virtualization needs to be added."

"The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots."

"I would like to see continuous data protection (CDP). If there is machine failure, you don't have to go to the backup copy that you took 12 hours ago. You can actually go back to the backup copy made half an hour ago. That is, it would be good to have certain-point-in-time recovery."

"The Gui interface and usability are not so friendly and easy."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus cons

"It needs to support vSphere 6.7."

"The interface usability needs improvement. It should be more user-friendly and easier for customers to use."

"Some of the minor functionalities from SnapManager did not transfer over to SnapCenter. These should be added in future releases."

"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."

"We have experience some difficulties with our current support. We are engaging in engineering level support because some of our problems are more technical."

"The product lags in terms of availability."

"The compatibility with other manufacturers, like Oracle and Hyper-V, could be improved. I would like to see it be more compatible with other software."

"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."

More NetApp SnapCenter cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."

"The price is lower than that of some competing products."

"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."

"In addition to the standard licensing fees, we paid for implementation and training."

"If you need to extend it, it can be extended acting like a normal Spectrum Protect with a long archive."

"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."

"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."

"Unlike some other solutions, such as Veritas NetBackup where you have to pay for different licenses to use different features, there is a single license that allows you to use all of the features."

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus pricing and cost advice

"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."

"Pricing is very good because if you already have NepApp controllers, then it's included."

"It's free. The license is included with other NetApp products."

"The product is inexpensive."

"The license for SnapCenter was included with the storage array."

"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."

"We see a financial value with SnapCenter because we don't have to license Commvault, which is pretty expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

17%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	13
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	17

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that the product works and helps with restoration areas whenever there is a need to restore something.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp SnapCenter?

The interface usability needs improvement. It should be more user-friendly and easier for customers to use.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetApp SnapCenter?

I help my customers to install and integrate NetApp SnapCenter ( /products/netapp-snapcenter-reviews ). The solution is used for central consolidation of NetApp ( /products/netapp-41749-reviews ) d...

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Comparisons

IBM Storage Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 43% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 12% of the time

Rubrik vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 10% of the time

Atempo Live Navigator vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 8% of the time

HPE Zerto Software vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Plus Competitors

Synology DSM vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 21% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 14% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 14% of the time

Veritas NetBackup vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 10% of the time

Rubrik vs NetApp SnapCenter

Compared 10% of the time

More NetApp SnapCenter Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus

October 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect Plus product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp SnapCenter

October 2025

Download NetApp SnapCenter product report

Also Known As

No data available

SnapCenter

Overview

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a data protection and availability solution for virtual environments that can be deployed in minutes and protect your environment within an hour. It simplifies data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It can be implemented as a stand-alone solution or integrate with your IBM Spectrum Protect environment to off-load copies for long term storage and data governance with scale and efficiency.

IBM

Unified, scalable platform for application-consistent data protection and clone management. This software simplifies backup, restore, and clone lifecycle management with application-integrated workflows.

NetApp

Sample Customers

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio

All for One Steeb AG, Accenture

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs. NetApp SnapCenter

September 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs. NetApp SnapCenter

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