IBM Spectrum Protect vs IDERA SQL Safe Backup comparison

IBM and IDERA are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.3, while IDERA is ranked #82. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in BRS, compared to IDERA’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 33% of IDERA users who would recommend it.

IBM Spectrum Protect

Read 149 IBM Spectrum Protect reviews

3,978 Views
3,421 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Read 3 IDERA SQL Safe Backup reviews

337 Views
266 Comparison Views

33% willing to recommend

IBM Spectrum Protect

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

IBM Spectrum Protect and IDERA SQL Safe Backup compete in the backup solutions category. IBM Spectrum Protect seems to have the upper hand in enterprise environments due to its broad feature set and excellent customer support, while IDERA SQL Safe Backup is favored for SQL Server databases because of its specialized features and competitive pricing.

Features: Features include IBM Spectrum Protect's robust scalability, extensive policy-based management, and broad feature set for enterprise environments. IDERA SQL Safe Backup offers compression technology, fast recovery capabilities, and specialized features for SQL Server databases.

Room for Improvement: Areas for improvement include IBM Spectrum Protect needing a more modern and streamlined management experience, better cloud integration, enhanced reporting functionalities, and usability improvements. IDERA SQL Safe Backup could benefit from enhanced cloud integration, improved reporting functionalities, and enhanced specific technical capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Deployment of IBM Spectrum Protect is seen as more complex due to its wide range of features, but IBM's customer support is responsive and helpful. IDERA SQL Safe Backup has a simpler deployment process, but user reviews mention mixed experiences with customer service.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Spectrum Protect is perceived as more expensive upfront but offers a good return on investment due to its comprehensive features. IDERA SQL Safe Backup is favored for its competitive pricing, offering good value for its cost. Users note IBM's higher cost is justified by its extensive features, while IDERA provides a budget-friendly option that delivers strong performance.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 861,803 peers since 2012

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

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

82nd

Average Rating

5.0

Reviews Sentiment

4.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Event Monitoring (18th)

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 IDERA SQL Safe Backup is 0.2%, up from 0.1% 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

SeniorDB3550

Senior DBA Lead at a government with 10,001+ employees

It has reduced our backup time, however backups do get skipped

I would like to see the pieces that they have put in the web only to be put into the thick client sitting on the desktop client. They moved a lot of the features to their web-based version of it. Because of the large number of databases that we have along with our backup, their web product can't handle it. So, we can't use it. So, we are missing out on a lot of the new features. The way the filtering goes, if you filter on your view, there is no indication that you have made a selection. Unless you can remember day-to-day that you may have something deselected or selected, your view may be different than you expect, and there is no visual indication of it.

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

"We like IBM Spectrum's versioning capabilities. It lets us specify how many versions of a file we want to keep and for how long. Also, the archive component of the software helps us a lot."

"SPIR is Instant Recovery for Spectrum Protect. It sends snapshots using space efficiently and blocking backups to the Spectrum Protect server. It provisions the snapshot from the backup server to the same or new server near instantly."

"It is very stable. A plus is to use POWERAge for the SNR copy of the Spectrum Protect, then it is more reliable."

"The interface is easy to use."

"The most valuable features are the stability and also how it's seamlessly integrated with other IBM offerings."

"Reliability: It has never had a problem with backups or restores. If you store something, it is there."

"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 helps our customers protect their data, especially with stuff like ransomware, compliance, and regulatory requirements."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pros

"It has reduced our backup time and simplified our backup processes across all the servers."

"The compression, because it drastically reduces the disk space."

Cons

"The features should be a little bit closer together."

"I should be able to backup Linux. I would like SUSE for Linux on POWER. Right now, we have to use Storex, which is a pain to use."

"It doesn't integrate with storage pools, with a normal pool. I'd like to see that."

"I want a better user interface, support, and integrations."

"Stability is very good now. It used to be rocky years ago."

"Needs more support for non-mainstream databases, in particular PostgreSQL, SQL, and MySQL."

"We cannot take VMware backups for our banking data center environment."

"The version that we had when I first started made it look really bad. We are talking about commands that should have run in two seconds, but instead took four to eight hours. Other components were sluggish."

More IBM Spectrum Protect cons

"The way the filtering goes, if you filter on your view, there is no indication that you have made a selection."

"Make sure you check your backups on a regular basis. Backups do get missed with this tool, for whatever reason."

"I would like to see the pieces that they have put in the web only to be put into the thick client sitting on the desktop client."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We chose IBM Spectrum Protect, because they actually have something called MSP pricing, which means managed services provider pricing. The pricing was attractive, and it seems to be a platform that IBM is totally investing on in terms of new functions and new capabilities."

"Some of the new advanced features are definitely more into cost savings, e.g., dedupe compression, so doing more with less."

"Customers need to pay for licensing in order to use IBM Spectrum Protect. The customers that have been using it for a long time are okay and happy with it. From a cost point of view, it's better for them to renew their licenses than to go through the difficult process of changing a backup product in their environment, and migrate from one product to another."

"The most important feature which I wish to be added involves the GUI, the user interface."

"One can go with either a PVU licensing model or a capacity based licensing model. Either solution does not block the usage, if over used."

"Its licensing is complicated. It goes by CPUs, and it is pretty expensive as well."

"We pay for a terabyte license to support our backend usage."

"The pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."

More IBM Spectrum Protect pricing and cost advice

"The product's pricing is a good value. They have a straightforward licensing model."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Backup and Recovery solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

861,803 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

12%

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.

See all answers

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

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

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Veeam Data Platform vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 16% of the time

IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 15% 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

HPE StoreOnce vs IBM Spectrum Protect

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Spectrum Protect Competitors

Cohesity DataProtect vs IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Compared 53% of the time

Rubrik vs IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Compared 47% of the time

More IDERA SQL Safe Backup Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect

July 2025

Download IBM Spectrum Protect product report

Buyer's Guide

IDERA SQL Safe Backup

July 2025

Download IDERA SQL Safe Backup product report

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager

SQL Safe Backup

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

SQL Safe Backup helps database administrators to back up and recover instantly across SQL Servers. Unlike its competition, it provides virtual databases with access to back up files without consuming disk space, instant restore, centralized management across SQL Servers, and alert notifications for success and failure of operations.

IDERA

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

Woman's Hospital; Sisters of Mercy Hospital System; University Medical Center; MetTel; PPG Industries; 3M; Abbott Laboratories; Comcast; Daimler; GameStop; Hormel Foods; Marriott International; Merck; NCR; United Technologies; City of Lynnwood; Linfosys B.V.; TRI-KES; American Customer Care; Merck & Co., Inc.; Service Corporation International; Fresenius Vascular Care Inc.; Bates White; TechPro Inc.; TW Metals, Inc.; Tulane University; ISO Group; Ameriben Solutions; Instron Corporation; Sentric, Inc.; SPIE; GAS Distribution Company of Thessaloniki and Thessaly SA; American Printing House for the Blind; Paysafe; Freeman Decorating Services, Inc.; Sentric, Inc.; Auburn University; Corporate Communications Group; Sagicor Financial Corporation; Crystal Run Healthcare; Principality Building Society; Experiencias Xcaret; Missoula County; Shellpoint Partners LLC; Solix Inc.; Advicent Solutions, Inc.; Phoenix Newspaper Inc.; Park Place Technologies; Kelly & Associates Insurance Group; Boston Medical Center; Service Corporation International; eResearchTechnology, Inc.

Buyer's Guide

IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup

July 2025

Free Report: IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

861,803 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our IBM Spectrum Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup report.

See our list of best Backup and Recovery vendors.

We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.