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IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs Synology DSM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

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
48th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Synology DSM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
53rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Synology DSM is 1.3%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus1.1%
Synology DSM1.3%
Other97.6%
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Christophe LAMAMY - PeerSpot reviewer
Architecte Solutions at Novahe
Complex deployment has limited adoption but has provided structured backup management
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is very simple to deploy for us, but for more clients or competitors, the solution is hard to deploy and to integrate. For our team, deployment of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus may take a couple of days and longer if you have a complex customer solution. The deployment itself is not very lengthy, but the integration in production is more complicated. I assess the efficiency of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus's Advanced Snapshot Technology as not good because they change a lot of things. During multiple versions, we have experienced many changes in the product, and from the customer's view, it is not a good product because with each evolution, we encounter problems. We do not sell this product or advise this product. For SLA management features with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, I utilize file level. SLA management is a good solution and a good idea, but the product does not work well, and customers do not adopt this product. I cannot assess the integration capability of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus using RESTful API. 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. The customer wanted to move away from this solution. The price of the product is good, but the solution does not adapt to the market. The market in France does not adopt IBM Spectrum Protect Plus.
Michael Adejoh - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Manager at Excel Connect Ventures
Reliable and cost-effective
One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication. Currently, it lacks the capability to automatically stop backups if it detects a virus or suspicious network activity, as some third-party solutions can. Having AI-driven analytics to identify anomalies and halt backups during potential attacks, along with notifications to administrators, would be valuable. Additionally, providing a dashboard for monitoring the backup environment's security would be a beneficial feature. These improvements would help address security concerns and make Synology more competitive in this aspect.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The feature I find most valuable is the offload to Spectrum Protect for long-term retention, and I think the deduplication and replication are quite nice on Plus."
"We have experienced about an 80% savings in effort on our backups and satisfying data safety which makes us more efficient and improves our organization."
"The licensing model of Spectrum Protect Plus is more efficient and cheaper compared to the original."
"Reliability, recovery features, and stability are valuable to me."
"The solution works as expected with no problems."
"If the system were to go down, we needed to make sure that the system could be recovered and available as soon as possible. Spectrum Protect provides you access to directly bind the backup volume to the server and make the system available instead of restoring it and copying the system."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the integration with Oracle."
"If you want to have a strong backup for recovery and restore, you need this solution."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it serves as a backup for our company's virtual machine."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to handle multiple disks."
"Because of its simplicity and the wide array of features it offers, I would recommend DSM for both tech-savvy individuals and those who prefer a straightforward file-serving solution."
"It offers a variety of software options through its package center, allowing users to customize their NAS device to serve multiple purposes."
"The most valuable features of Synology DSM are its security and connectivity."
"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its ease of use, making it the tool's most interesting part."
"The product performs well. It is easy to use and implement."
"Synology DSM is very easy to work and operate."
 

Cons

"Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface."
"The only thing that I would like to see improved is the actual schedule that you get on the policies."
"I would not recommend this solution to others because there are far better solutions on the market."
"The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots."
"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."
"I would like integration into where the VMware guys can do their own restores."
"Not particularly user friendly."
"The user experience is very bad and the interface needs to be improved."
"The only bothersome aspect is that the device is aging."
"Even though Synology provides a backup solution, it does not recognize the VM movement across cluster hosts."
"The platform could be much more cost-effective and flexible for integrating third-party products."
"One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication."
"The product's only shortcoming is pricing, as it is an expensive solution."
"There's a surveillance application that allows you to connect IP cameras and stream footage to Synology and it is a great feature, but it's not always clear that adding more cameras may require purchasing additional licenses."
"Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly."
"Synology DSM's user interface is not quite intuitive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Depends on the licensing options that you choose."
"The licensing model of Spectrum Protect Plus is more efficient and cheaper compared to the original."
"In addition to the standard licensing fees, we paid for implementation and training."
"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."
"If you need to extend it, it can be extended acting like a normal Spectrum Protect with a long archive."
"We have a perpetual license for the tool since it is deployed on-premise."
"There are a few options available for purchasing the solutions. Overall, the price of the is high."
"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."
"The licensing part of the solution is free. The hardware is more expensive than the other solutions in the market, but it's okay in the long run."
"The solution’s pricing is neither cheap nor expensive."
"The price of the solution is very good."
"The pricing varies widely, catering to a broad range of needs."
"It is quite an affordable solution."
"Synology DSM is a cheap solution."
"Synology DSM is a free tool."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
8%
 

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 Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise1
 

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?
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is very simple to deploy for us, but for more clients or competitors, the solution is hard to deploy and to integrate. For our team, deployment of IBM Spectrum Protect Plu...
What is your primary use case for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
We are an IT integrator and we need to have a good vision of all recovery and backup recovery solutions. Most frequently, we use Veeam Backup. We use Cohesity. For some old workloads, we use IBM TS...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

No data available
Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM)
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs. Synology DSM and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.