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IBM Spectrum Protect vs IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 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
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is 1.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery
 

Featured Reviews

Syed Habib - PeerSpot reviewer
Manageable and comprehensive and integrates robust backup features for core banking
It's adequate for my core banking, however, I am looking for another solution for all systems. It is not compatible with other operating systems like Windows or Linux, and lacks a consolidated dashboard from Browser Spectrum. This is why I am searching for another solution. The product also lacks any centralized graphical user interface (GUI), such as Jarek Pod, and I am limited to using a console-based text user interface, which my local partner handles completely.
Atif Najam - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Disk-based implementation of a data protection solution for multiple sites is a better fit for my complex data protection needs."
"It is scalable beyond anything my customers ever aspire to."
"The tool proves invaluable in scenarios where systems need recovery, such as restoring damaged data."
"We do not lose data. That is why we are using this product and have a backup in place."
"The solution is not complex, it's very easy to configure agents or VM backup and restore. Upgrades from one version to another are very fast and the product is very stable."
"In the past, one of the most valuable features, and the biggest advantage, was the incremental forever feature. Not many other backup vendors provided that. In the pre-virtualization environment, it was very robust and simple technology, especially writing to tape."
"It's very robust and has been on the market for a long time."
"We have been using it for several years, and it is quite reliable and predictable. We are quite comfortable with this solution. They're coming up with new features as well. It has good scalability, and it provides good integrations with business-critical applications or databases, such as SAP HANA. It works as expected, and we don't see any issues."
"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."
"This is a multi-platform backup solution where you can take a backup from AIX, Windows, or Linux servers and restore from CD, disk, or tape."
"A full-featured data protection solution that is reliable and stable."
"The most valuable features are the API features because it allows you to integrate with your Microsoft SQL, your Oracle, and your IBM Db2."
"The tool has enough documentation; you don't need to contact the support team."
"Using this tool, we can easily backup and restore or recover the data for PCs and mobiles in case of system crashes."
"The solution is scalable and can be fitted for any customer."
"The solution's stability is high because it is derived from Spectrum Protect."
 

Cons

"I am not really impressed with the Level 1 support, but once I get past that and go to Level 2, then we will usually get some type of resolution."
"We cannot take VMware backups for our banking data center environment."
"IBM Spectrum Protect does have a lot of the features that we need, but I think they need to improve their backup virtualization and backup for container."
"I find the solution somewhat difficult to use with virtual environments or VMware."
"We did not see any drawbacks to IBM Spectrum Protect before assisting a customer using Windows that wanted to migrate to using UNIX. IBM Spectrum Protect does not offer an option to migrate from other operating systems."
"The installation process could be simplified."
"The solution could be more user-friendly and provide better monitoring. The monitoring should be improved first since it is a higher priority."
"There is room for improvement in IBM Spectrum Protect, especially regarding its support for virtual environment backups."
"The tool needs to increase the number of threats."
"The replication feature is not available."
"The Gui interface and usability are not so friendly and easy."
"In the future, I would like to see support for global deduplication."
"The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots."
"There's significant room for improvement. They are not yet where I want them to be."
"You end up needing to do a lot of troubleshooting to get things to work effectively."
"The administration needs to be improved and made simpler to use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Regarding retro-compatibility of the product between versions, your data is always available and the ROI is unquestionable."
"We pay for a terabyte license to support our backend usage."
"Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less."
"IBM Spectrum Protect can be considered an averagely-priced product."
"We have spec'd out our build, and the cost of it can work quite easily today for our future needs."
"Its licensing is complicated. It goes by CPUs, and it is pretty expensive as well."
"The solution has a capacity based licensing, front and back-end license."
"Its licensing is complex, and its price is not really reasonable. It is on the expensive side. IBM, in general, is slightly expensive, but with IBM Spectrum for the virtual environment, they are looking into the aspect of helping customers with the cost and providing a cost-effective solution."
"Clients prefer to buy a perpetual license, but the majority opt for a yearly subscription."
"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."
"IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a little expensive."
"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."
"In addition to the standard licensing fees, we paid for implementation and training."
"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 price is lower than that of some competing products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
One point for improvement for IBM Spectrum Protect is security, as IBM has not been investing as much as in the past. There is a need for additional layers of security to fill the gaps, which is wh...
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
It is probably based on the number of CPUs. They are fairly expensive.
What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus?
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.
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CERN, Einstein Healthcare, Nyherji, Allianz Australia, TZM, ABT Online, NCT, Kindred Healthcare Inc., Cobalt Iron, TransGrid, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Cash America, Piedmont Healthcare, RWGV, Arkansas Tech University, British Columbia Institute of Technology
PT Wings Surya, Tectrade, State of Ohio
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
860,825 professionals have used our research since 2012.