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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
47th
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
52nd
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 August 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.1%, up from 0.9% 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 most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"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 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."
"The solution's stability is high because it is derived from Spectrum Protect."
"The solution is scalable."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is stable; we have a big environment that we are working in and are backing up close to two thousand machines without any problems from an IBM Spectrum Protect Plus perspective."
"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a good investment."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it serves as a backup for our company's virtual machine."
"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its ease of use, making it the tool's most interesting part."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to handle multiple disks."
"It offers a variety of software options through its package center, allowing users to customize their NAS device to serve multiple purposes."
"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."
"The product performs well. It is easy to use and implement."
"Synology DSM is very easy to work and operate."
"The most valuable features are the basic storage, file management, Btrfs file system, and built-in backups that come with the solution."
 

Cons

"In the future, I would like to see support for global deduplication."
"The only thing that I would like to see improved is the actual schedule that you get on the policies."
"You end up needing to do a lot of troubleshooting to get things to work effectively."
"The solution only supports HyperV and VMware but doesn't support Nutanix."
"IBM has made a decision to withdraw the product and replace it with IBM Data Protect."
"The software's technical support could improve its response time for different time zones."
"The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots."
"I would like integration into where the VMware guys can do their own restores."
"The platform could be much more cost-effective and flexible for integrating third-party products."
"Even though Synology provides a backup solution, it does not recognize the VM movement across cluster hosts."
"The product's only shortcoming is pricing, as it is an expensive solution."
"Users may lose their data if they don't configure the solution properly."
"The only bothersome aspect is that the device is aging."
"One area where Synology DSM could improve is in enhancing its ability to detect and respond to security threats during backups and replication."
"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."
"Synology DSM is a good enough solution for small and medium companies, but I have not seen a big configuration of the solution for a big organization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is an annual license required to use IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. The cost of the license could improve, it is expensive."
"The price is lower than that of some competing products."
"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."
"The solution is too expensive."
"The price offering from IBM is coming down because it is based on number of VM machines. So, IBM is coming to the market to show the added value of the product."
"The initial cost of the product is perpetual but the support fees are billed annually."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."
"I rate the price of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus a one on a scale of one to ten, where one is extremely expensive, and ten is very cheap."
"Synology DSM is a free tool."
"Synology DSM is a cheap solution."
"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."
"It is quite an affordable solution."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
7%
 

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: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.