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IBM Storage Protect vs Microsoft DPM 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
Microsoft DPM
Ranking in Backup and Recovery
28th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Microsoft DPM is 1.0%, down from 1.3% 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.
Nirukshitha Gamage - PeerSpot reviewer
User finds setup straightforward but seeks wider platform support and advanced features
Microsoft DPM could implement backup capabilities for third-party systems such as Linux. They also need to consider other features such as replication to DR sites, similar to what Veeam and other products offer. Microsoft DPM didn't have that capability at that time. If they want to remain competitive in the market, they need to observe the competition and implement improvements. The backup should have compression, deduplication, and DR replication. They should also improve monitoring of the environment. Microsoft DPM didn't have these basics at that time. If they had continued development on the products, they could have reached a higher level, especially given Microsoft's significant presence and majority of servers. Microsoft DPM didn't have any support structure in the backend. If they had a support structure, we could have escalated issues. I never received any support from Microsoft DPM.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of the product are data deduplication and disaster recovery."
"High availability (HA): It is one of the best features."
"Enterprise-wide type of architecture supports a lot of different platforms."
"With Spectrum Protect, you can use any type of disk to back-end the repositories. It gave us flexibility to use whatever storage we wanted at our secondary site."
"Since the technology is reliable, it simplifies the backup process significantly. Now, our focus can primarily be on managing full backups and creating some offline copies."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the centralized enterprise backup."
"Support of the IBM X platform and the backup data replication to DR are the most valuable features."
"The most important feature is that it's easy to use."
"This solution helps us to manage all of the operations across servers and different workstations."
"Its capability to give a BMR for all the workstations that I want to connect to."
"The initial setup is quite straightforward."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
"The user interface is very good. The reporting and monitoring features are also good."
"The most valuable feature is that DPM has an index so individual files can be searched."
"One of the most effective features of Microsoft DPM is its integration with the entire Microsoft ecosystem."
 

Cons

"The solution is expensive."
"There have been scalability issues. The core product does not support scale out. We needed to create a new system and manage resources separate from the existing one."
"The solution must protect against ransomware attacks better."
"They do not have a unified GUI, they only work on CLI and operations center, which is really complicated for the installation and configuration."
"This solution does not have good support for virtualization and a hyper-converged environment."
"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."
"My customers are not always happy with the Level 1 support. Sometimes, it just takes too long for the response to come, which is probably something that needs to be addressed."
"For Spectrum Protect Plus, I would like to see more enhanced reporting features and integration with Spectrum Protect."
"There is a very poor online user community in terms of people blogging about their experiences with DPM."
"Additional Hyper-V knowledge would be great."
"It would be better if it integrated seamlessly with open source and competitor products. In the next release, I would like to see some data governance frameworks. It should have support features for data integration and data replication like Veeam. Right now, we are also using Veeam for certain scenarios."
"Microsoft DPM didn't have any support structure in the backend. If they had a support structure, we could have escalated issues. I never received any support from Microsoft DPM."
"The user interface can be improved quite a bit."
"Compatibility and integration with other products needs improvement."
"The data tagging feature needs improvement. The solution could be a bit more intuitive in certain aspects."
"Microsoft DPM could improve by adding S3 backup to S3 storage capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 licensing fees are between $8,000 and $10,000 per year."
"It is fairly reasonable as compared to other solutions in the market."
"The pricing of the solution is high in comparison to other products on the market. For example, IBM and Symantec have less costly options."
"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."
"The license model that they have at IBM, which is due to volume, from a certain volume onward is not the right license model."
"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."
"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."
"Microsoft DPM can be considered as an expensive solution for smaller or medium enterprises, but we have been satisfied with the price structure as it is fixed and it offers a variety of useful features"
"I think Microsoft DPM pricing is reasonable. The additional costs are related to storage and technical support."
"Microsoft DPM is a free solution. However, we pay approximately $3,000 annually for support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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...
What do you like most about Microsoft DPM?
This solution helps us to manage all of the operations across servers and different workstations.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft DPM?
Microsoft DPM was more affordable for customers compared to other products such as Veritas, which were somewhat expensive. This was one of the main reasons customers chose to purchase Microsoft DPM...
What needs improvement with Microsoft DPM?
Microsoft DPM could implement backup capabilities for third-party systems such as Linux. They also need to consider other features such as replication to DR sites, similar to what Veeam and other p...
 

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
DPM, Data Protection Manager, MS DPM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
Medical Park, Centropol Energy, a.s., NCFE, D & H Distributing, Metalor, Colosseum, a.s., Sanitas S.A., Icebreaker
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Storage Protect vs. Microsoft DPM and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.