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IBM Storage Protect vs NAKIVO Backup & Replication comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2025

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 Storage Protect
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NAKIVO Backup & Replication
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
6th
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Disaster Recovery (DR) Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NAKIVO Backup & Replication is 1.4%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NAKIVO Backup & Replication1.4%
IBM Storage Protect2.2%
Other96.4%
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.
Mattia Sangiorgio - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhances data protection strategies and ensures the reliability of backups with helpful support
The features we have found most valuable in NAKIVO Backup & Replication include its cost-effectiveness, seamless integrations, comprehensive functionalities, and ease of installation and management. The pricing model is very competitive, providing excellent value for the robust features offered. Its seamless integration with our VMware infrastructure ensures smooth operation without any compatibility issues. The wide range of functionalities, including incremental and full backups, storage optimization, and disaster recovery options, meets all our backup needs comprehensively. Moreover, the simplicity of installation and the intuitive user interface have made it easy for our team to quickly set up and manage the backups without requiring extensive training.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The feature we have found most valuable is when you want to integrate it with a Tape Library and then do the DRM life cycle. That is when it works the best."
"The backup of Sybase databases is the most valuable feature in the existing environment. They have got the most documentation out there on the internet for its software protection. The documentation is excellent, and there are a lot of blogs, websites. Because it's still one of the oldest products out there for data protection, there are also lots of people who have a lot of experience in using this solution."
"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."
"The most valuable features are compression and de-duplication."
"The amount of data that it protects with very little storage by doing incremental forever is one of its most valuable features."
"It is a really scalable solution. We can scale it up. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"In general, the solution is quite user-friendly. The GUI is very nice."
"They have recently added support tickets specifically engineered around performance. This has been very useful for us when we run into issues where customers are looking to try to squeeze a lot more horsepower out of older system."
"We have found all the features of Nakivo to be useful and the solution is easier to use compared to Proxmox. It is user-friendly, we are very satisfied."
"I could install and configure the trial version in maybe half an hour and had a successful backup of our file server on the same night."
"The VM, restore, and file recovery capabilities are considered gold standards."
"Backup jobs are running smoothly every day with job reports sent to email after they finish each job. That gives us peace of mind."
"It is easy-to-use."
"The VM Backup Verification is one of the features I appreciate the most."
"With Nakivo, I have the peace of mind that all of my production environment is safely backed up and can be restored safely, easily, and quickly with a few clicks."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of creating a backup copy job to get the backups to a second device."
 

Cons

"The solution needs to work on disaster recovery integration. Basically, VMware applications to the cloud, for example. There needs to be integration with the storage, and integration with VMware."
"There could be various client systems and process integration included in the product."
"We should be talking about the capacity of the tape drives. That's the only problem."
"The GUI has long been a problem for TSM/Spectrum Protect."
"It's difficult in terms of the configuration at set up. In our case, it required another admin, one person dedicated to the backup."
"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."
"No one can fix every solution for backup and restore."
"I would love to see something which allows us to do an auto restart of backup jobs."
"There could be better integration with other solutions, such as Amazon S3."
"An additional feature that would be appreciated is disaster recovery automation."
"They need to add a failover feature to the Essential Pro license in case the environment is a simple virtual environment and the client does not need to upgrade."
"The reporting features could be enhanced to provide more detailed and customizable reports for better insights into backup operations."
"In terms of what could be improved for the next release, I would probably answer better documentation and licensing models."
"Using an independent bootable media to restore full physical machines would enable physical machines that may be serving as Nakivo Director or Transport machines to be reliably restored to service without undue delay, ensuring that an enterprise's local environment remains intact."
"In the press releases, it would be useful to make sure that the manual space reclaim procedure does not have to be performed but that it happens automatically, thus optimizing the use of space."
"In the loading of a backup, choosing what to restore seems to be a lengthy process, but it has always worked in my restore tests."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Use capacity licensing. It's easier and cheaper."
"We have spec'd out our build, and the cost of it can work quite easily today for our future needs."
"Spectrum Protect is not expensive, and it is simple to use."
"It can be perceived as expensive since it is designed for enterprise use."
"We worked our licensing into a capacity model, which is nice. Now, everything is much simpler to manage from a licensing perspective.​"
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"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."
"Licensing IBM Spectrum Protect can be somewhat confusing for new users due to the options available, such as licensing on a capacity or per server basis."
"Nakivo has a good price-performance ratio."
"This product provides good value for the price."
"As a free solution for a small environment, this is a great solution!"
"The licensing model is very affordable compared to competitors, with a good quality-to-cost ratio, and the software is quite simple and fast to setup."
"The solution's pricing is adequate for its features and quality."
"From the perspective of Indian users, the cost is a little bit high."
"Nakivo Backup & Replication also have another great value, which is that it is one of the lowest prices on the market."
"Nakivo is cheaper per machine and per backup."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business53
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise94
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business78
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Storage Protect?
The best point about IBM Storage Protect is that it can use IBM tape environments, which we still use and will continue to use in the future.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Storage Protect?
IBM Storage Protect is generally an expensive tool. However, with good contracts with IBM or its partners, the cost might not be so high. New customers can expect very high prices.
What needs improvement with IBM Storage 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...
How does Nakivo compare with Veeam Backup & Replication?
Nakivo is my favorite backup software. Below are the main benefits of Nakivo compared to Veeam 1. Low cost. 2. Backup storage with global deduplication (this is the main requirement of a backup sol...
What do you like most about Nakivo?
NAKIVO Backup & Replication is very easy to use.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nakivo?
The product is affordable even for smaller organizations.
 

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
Coca Cola, Honda, 3M, University of Arizona, University of Maryland, University of Arkansas, Johns Hopkins University, Marriott, Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Fujifilm, Eiffage
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. NAKIVO Backup & Replication and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.