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IBM Storage Protect vs Veritas Backup Exec 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
Veritas Backup Exec
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.1%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Veritas Backup Exec is 1.6%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Backup and Recovery Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Storage Protect2.1%
Veritas Backup Exec1.6%
Other96.3%
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

"The solution is really scalable."
"From a tech perspective, utilizing deduplication is one of the most valuable features."
"It scales well. We have grown here in the last year or two, and it has been relatively easy."
"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."
"We apply the new dedupe and compression technology, using maintenance and time to give more time for the backup window and less time for the overhead related to the daily housekeeping."
"The archiving feature is the most valuable aspect of the solution."
"The feature that I have found the most valuable is that IBM Spectrum Protect is highly integrated with IBM ESS. In addition, it allows us to back up our virtual servers directly to take VM snapshots. It runs on Linux as well."
"The most valuable features are compression and de-duplication."
"The beauty of the solution is that you can rely on it. It offers a quick recovery time when it's backing up items. The way it recovers data is excellent."
"It is responding very well, and its performance is good. It has a lot of options. For backup, you can connect it to a cloud or a physical hard drive. They also provide an API for integration with different platforms and products. However, we have not integrated it with another product."
"It offers good performance and stability, and it works properly."
"The solution is good for small and medium-sized businesses."
"The product provides automated and faster data backup and recovery compared to other vendors."
"I have found the overall features of the solution very good and there is the option to backup to the cloud."
"The flexibility is very good."
"This solution works well and has good integration with technologies such as VMware and Hyper-V."
 

Cons

"We are still using TSM Manager for many of our projects to administer our platform because the gap was not resolved with the new Operations Center."
"Easier configuration of some of the products, e.g., VE comes to mind."
"I would like to see more technical training online. Sometimes, it is a little bit difficult to find, or that I do not really know what I am looking for as somebody who is starting off finding their learning curve."
"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."
"They took some of the funding off of it for a while. Therefore, instead of being a market leader, they took their position for granted. Then some competitors developed new bells and whistles that they advertise, and due to that lag a few years ago, there are not the resources to explain the differences."
"The software is very complicated. You have to do a lot of configurations to build a server, and you would need to backup and restore."
"For the database side, it does not have object level recovery."
"Ease of use. That has got to be the one thing that I routinely hear from clients and customers, that it's a little bit more difficult than it should be. What I'm finding is that IBM has heard that and they're responding with updated interfaces and things like that."
"Veritas can improve the user interface and the information displayed."
"I wish that they have an outlet for the other products from Veritas built into the Backup Exec product. For example, Backup Exec does only server backup. Currently, it is possible to read the backup of one other product, but if they can add more products so that you can just go into the dashboard of these other products by clicking on a button within the Backup Exec product, it would be great."
"Maybe they could improve reporting capabilities and predictions."
"The scalability could be improved even though the solution is targeted to small customers."
"I would like to improve their ability to back up the cloud environment. Additionally, it would be nice to have simpler UI."
"It's not too stable for client-server architecture. Center Management is not so interactive, and then there are some issues regarding the complex licensing which needs improvement."
"Veritas Backup Exec's support services could be faster."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't have an idea about the pricing. They send that over to someone else, but I know that one of the issues they had was the licensing costs. I don't think they were happy with how they were charged."
"IBM Storage Protect is not expensive and fits the needs of all business types. The licensing is based on a capacity-based model. You can take a license for one, two, or three terabytes."
"The pricing model of this solution is another difficult area, it's very sophisticated in the way they charge. It's based on PBU, which is a type of processor, how, many processors, and you need to put everything into an equation. However, they have different ways of charging or licensing. One way is a back-end volume or front-end volume, which is quite complicated."
"The product is not cheap."
"It is really expensive. Its price is not good for Latin America. Its price is good for the United States or Europe."
"The different license models can give good benefits to the end customer."
"The pricing is a little expensive for our current employer, so they want to move to a cheaper solution."
"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."
"Veritas comes with an annual licensing fee."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The solution could be more cost-effective."
"It is affordable, but I hope that the price will come down a lot because of other competitors. It is a good price for the customer, but sometimes, the competition provides a much lower price. There are two ways to license it. You can license it per instance or per terabytes of data that we are mocking up. It is enough because it is not so complex. It is good when you're working with customers."
"Licensing depends on the part of the backup you're using. If you have SQL backup, then you must have a SQL license. If you have normal data backup, you would require a license for that."
"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 price is reasonable for the features it offers."
"It is not an expensive product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
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 Business35
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise29
 

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 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.
 

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. Veritas Backup Exec and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,098 professionals have used our research since 2012.