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IBM Spectrum Protect vs Veritas Backup Exec 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
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
149
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Veritas Backup Exec
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Spectrum Protect is 2.2%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Veritas Backup Exec is 1.8%, down from 2.6% 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.
Pawel Augustyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Simplified interface with good performance but needs monitoring
I need to use PowerStore and Veritas Backup Exec. It is a direct backup to types, and it is supported by my backup. It offers good performance and stability, and it works properly. I am happy with this program. It is still working on aligning with security requirements and data encryption for Amazon or ATAC. It has a lot of functions and security measures, which ensure our backups are secure.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has to ability to backup DV2, Oracle, and Informix."
"The most valuable feature for data recovery in IBM Spectrum Protect is its database protection capabilities."
"I've had no problems with the stability of this solution."
"I find the whole product useful. The backup archive client, snapshot, spectrum for virtual environments are beneficial features."
"It provides our customers with the comfort of having reliable enterprise data protection."
"It's a very stable product, and we've never had any downtime with it."
"A robust tool which allows us to backup pretty much any environment, virtual or physical."
"Regarding technical support, if one has the entire enterprise support, I would rate it a nine out of ten...Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten."
"I find Veritas to be quite useful and it fits completely with my business requirements."
"It has good stability. Its interface is very good, responsive, and easy for restoring data. I use it for backup, encryption, and restore operations, and it works. I am using many agents from VM to LMDP. I also use an agent for SQL Server, which has advanced options because it is the Enterprise version."
"The disk-to-disk paid backup feature is quite good, and file locking is a very important feature."
"The solution is stable."
"I have not seen another backup solution as scalable as this one."
"It's quite stable, and so far, we have had no technical issues with Veritas Backup Exec."
"The solution is good for small and medium-sized businesses."
"Once the solution is integrated with the Exchange, you just click Exchange to back up that file."
 

Cons

"The installation process could be simplified."
"The software is complex; setup is complex."
"The product’s recovery process in terms of agent installation needs improvement"
"I would like to see monitoring within the platform: monitoring for storage pools and monitoring for the server's health (e.g., CPU and memory)."
"Enhancements are required for backing up our virtual 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."
"They do not have a unified GUI, they only work on CLI and operations center, which is really complicated for the installation and configuration."
"RTO is a huge gap for us. If we had a disaster scenario and had to recover a bunch of stuff from tape, the RTO would be too long for us."
"Currently, the solution does not have the capability to restore a single mailbox, so you lose a lot of time having to restore for example ten mailboxes just to recover one."
"I would like to see this solution improve on faster restoration. Currently, it takes a long time to restore my data."
"The solution could improve and adapt to new applications in the market so we can integrate Veritas Backup Exec with them to facilitate backup processes within these applications."
"There are some issues with the Backup Exec Library and the random picking of tapes."
"This solution does not support image-level backup of a physical server."
"In the future, their console should not be complicated."
"The licensing packet is confusing. If Veritas could do a better job of clarifying it, that would be helpful."
"Veritas can improve the user interface and the information displayed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Spectrum Protect, cost-wise, has way higher pricing than Veeam. By switching over to Veeam, my company saved over $600,000 in USD. The IBM Spectrum Protect pricing is a two on a scale of one to ten. My company paid additional fees for maintenance, apart from the standard licensing fees."
"We have found that the pricing is high in our country."
"We pay for a terabyte license to support our backend usage."
"The platform is neither highly priced nor inexpensive. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten."
"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."
"The licensing is varied. If we have small environments (not many TB being managed) it is best to license by PVUs (depending on the number of cores of the machine). If we manage many TBs we look at licensing by capacity which allows us to use all the agents of the product."
"There may be an advantage to going with IBM in terms of pricing. They have a pay-as-you-grow policy, so there is no need to take one license for the entire datacenter. You can start with small licenses and then grow, and pay, as you use more."
"The licensing fees are between $8,000 and $10,000 per year."
"The product's price is reasonable."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The product is inexpensive compared to enterprise software."
"The price of Veritas Backup Exec could be reduced and we pay annually for the license. However, compared to other solutions, such as Veeam, it is less expensive."
"The solution costs $700 per agent and is expensive compared to other products that offer better stability."
"The pricing can be improved."
"Regarding expense, Backup Exec is generally suitable for small and medium businesses. However, we can customize them based on the workload."
"The product is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Spectrum Protect?
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 dash...
How do the backup solutions of Veeam and Veritas compare?
Technically, Veeam is best for hyper-v & VMWare replications, snapshots, HA failover, also support for file system backups inside VMs., support for tape library & FC too. But Veritas Netbac...
What do you like most about Veritas Backup Exec?
The most important feature is the variety of backup applications it supports, including ERP systems and most other programs, such as Microsoft.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Veritas Backup Exec?
The price is one of the best. When I compare it with others, it is twice or three times cheaper, however, the functionality is the same.
 

Also Known As

IBM TSM, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager
Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec
 

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
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Spectrum Protect vs. Veritas Backup Exec and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.