IBM Spectrum Protect vs IBM Tivoli CDP for Files comparison

IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Tivoli CDP for Files are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM Spectrum Protect is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.4, while IBM Tivoli CDP for Files is ranked #75. IBM Spectrum Protect holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to IBM Tivoli CDP for Files’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM Spectrum Protect users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM Tivoli CDP for Files users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 150 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

3,616 Views
2,660 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Read 1 IBM Tivoli CDP for Files review

263 Views
192 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Spectrum Protect and IBM Tivoli CDP for Files based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

May 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

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

14th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

150

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

75th

Average Rating

9.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 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 Tivoli CDP for Files is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

Syed Habib

Head of Infrastructure Security (S.A.V.P) at EXIM Bank Ltd

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.

Read full review

reviewer1035033

Sr. Aix Admin at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Restoration and infrastructure are extremely reliable

We are currently using Tivoli to backup 15 terabytes within our Oracle Database using a RMAN backup script. The RMAN's utility and restoration has been perfect, we have yet to experience any issues. It's very reliable The restoration and infrastructure are extremely reliable. We would like to…

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

"The business value comes from the capability to overcome data losses."

"The interface is easy to use."

"Every time customers make a change or we have made a change, then they use the product to do a cloning and refreshing. They are happy that they get good performance something changes."

"The scalability of IBM Spectrum Protect is good."

"It has increased our security, scalability, and high availability."

"Data archiving is easier and less time-consuming."

"Incremental backup is highly valuable as it allows for significant time and cost savings."

"Since the technology is reliable, it simplifies the backup process significantly. Now, our focus can primarily be on managing full backups and creating some offline copies."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"The restoration and infrastructure is extremely reliable."

Cons

"The reporting could be better."

"They can include more cloud-enriching features. I would like IBM Spectrum Protect to have the functionality for backing up a VM directly in Azure. I would like to be able to back up a VM directly in Azure without spinning up a Hyper-V cluster and backing up the virtual server."

"We should be talking about the capacity of the tape drives. That's the only problem."

"The interface could be more user-friendly."

"This solution does not have good support for virtualization and a hyper-converged environment."

"The only thing that I would like to have a little more of is insight in reporting. I find that Spectrum Protect needs a lot of monitoring, and I have to actually log into the servers."

"Most customers still struggle with the reporting piece, especially generating reports. I think it needs some improvements in this area."

"It needs BMR (bare machine recovery) solutions for both Windows and Linux systems."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"We would like to have the opportunity to omit data from being backed up. For example, we have three virtual machines, each with three disks. When running the backup, it will automatically take each disk rather than allowing us to select what data we want backed."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."

"The platform is neither highly priced nor inexpensive. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"That's no longer my department, but I have some past experience with licensing. It is not cheap. I would rate it a three out of five in terms of licensing. In terms of additional costs, there is management overhead. It is a complex solution and a lot of work goes into managing clients. It has gotten better over the years, but compared to its competitor, it is still heavy on management overhead."

"The solution has a capacity based licensing, front and back-end license."

"The licensing fees are between $8,000 and $10,000 per year."

"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."

"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."

"When compared to the cost of other enterprise products, it seems to be in the same range. However, compared to the cost of non-enterprise products, it is really high."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"It's expensive, but it's worth for it due to the volume of critical information within our database. We are currently paying about $22,000 per year."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Educational Organization

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Spectrum Protect?

IBM Spectrum Protect is stable.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Spectrum Protect?

It's expensive. I acknowledge the cost associated with it.

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What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?

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Comparisons

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 17% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 17% of the time

Dell PowerProtect DD (Data Domain) vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 12% of the time

Commvault Cloud vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 10% of the time

Iron Mountain Connect vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 2% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Compared 38% of the time

OpenText Data Protector vs IBM Tivoli CDP for Files

Compared 29% of the time

More IBM Tivoli CDP for Files Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

June 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

Backup and Recovery

May 2025

Download IBM Tivoli CDP for Files product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

Tivoli CDP for Files

Overview

IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) is a data protection platform that gives enterprises a single point of control and administration for backup and recovery. It is the flagship product in the IBM Spectrum Protect (Tivoli Storage Manager) family. It enables reliable, cost effective backups and fast recovery for virtual, physical and cloud environments of all sizes.

IBM

IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files is a continuous backup software that protects your most important files. This real-time, continuous data protection solution for file servers and user endpoints automatically backs up your most critical files the moment they are saved.

IBM

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

Cyberian Data Protection

Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Zerto, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: May 2025.

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