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IBM Storage Protect vs IDERA SQL Safe Backup 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
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IDERA SQL Safe Backup
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
78th
Average Rating
5.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Event Monitoring (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of IBM Storage Protect is 2.3%, 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 - 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.
SeniorDB3550 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support for Spectrum Protect is very mature. It is very committed to giving a top-notch support experience."
"The product helps us do data protection and restoration for disaster recovery (DR)."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is application-aware backups."
"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."
"The most valuable features of Spectrum Protect would be the compression and the deduplication."
"It saves you a lot of storage."
"The interface is easy to use."
"The customization and the ability to backup across all platforms are the most valuable features."
"The compression, because it drastically reduces the disk space."
"It has reduced our backup time and simplified our backup processes across all the servers."
 

Cons

"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)."
"Its management part can be better and simplified. It is kind of a beast as compared to Commvault or Veeam, but they are more user-friendly. They are also easier to learn, whereas Spectrum Protect definitely takes time. They should simplify it. Our teams are pretty comfortable with it because we have been using it for a long time, but from the perspective of a new user who is evaluating or using this solution, it is definitely more complex in terms of manageability. Its monitoring could be improved so that it can even monitor the jobs that are scheduled by external schedulers. There are situations where a database team might decide to use their own schedulers, but currently, Spectrum Protect is not able to catch those jobs in the Operation Manager console."
"The solution should improve the ability to monitor backup failure."
"For the database side, it does not have object level recovery."
"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."
"We are having a balance issue between the reclamation and the backup function. It has to take the space back from the tapes before it can record to those tapes, but sometimes those two processes are overlapping."
"It does not do too well in our virtual environment."
"The interface could be more user-friendly."
"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."
"Make sure you check your backups on a regular basis. Backups do get missed with this tool, for whatever reason."
"The way the filtering goes, if you filter on your view, there is no indication that you have made a selection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 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."
"It is fairly reasonable as compared to other solutions in the market."
"Spectrum Protect is not a cheap option."
"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."
"It is very scalable, but the downside is that it costs money."
"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."
"The product's pricing is a good value. They have a straightforward licensing model."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
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 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...
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Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
SQL Safe Backup
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
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.
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. IDERA SQL Safe Backup and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,484 professionals have used our research since 2012.