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IBM Storage Protect vs OpenText Data Protector vs Veritas Backup Exec comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

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 OpenText Data Protector is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Veritas Backup Exec is 1.7%, down from 2.5% 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.
Jeroen Vranckaerts - PeerSpot reviewer
Though a highly stable tool, it needs to be made easier to use and configure
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten. OpenText Data Protector is complex to configure correctly, but the areas concerning the data and compression are good. Once you get the product to work, it works, but it's much too complex to configure and troubleshoot, as it takes a lot of time and energy, making it not so efficient. Once the tool is configured in your environment, it provides good backup and compression features. In my company, we use OpenText Data Protector as a backup for our servers, and we have a team of 20 people to take care of the data backup using the tool. My company doesn't use OpenText Data Protector as a backup for our client's computers. In my company, we have scheduled the process related to backup, which makes the tool run daily around 30 to 40 times.
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

"All other products contain the same features, but when I'm backing up an IBM Power server I feel more comfortable with IBM Spectrum Protect because it's the same vendor."
"It is an IBM product. With SAP, you are using IBM software to protect it. DB2 and AIX servers are both IBM. Therefore, it is a total IBM solution, which helps."
"We have better, faster backup times, and it has improved efficiency in the backups."
"You can scale the product."
"It is more efficient than most traditional backup solutions."
"The backup is very good. In other backup systems, you need a lot of storage to gain the same backup policy."
"I have found that the most valuable feature is useful documentation and troubleshooting."
"The most valuable features of Spectrum Protect would be the compression and the deduplication."
"It's supports Unix, Linux, all of the OS's. It's very stable software."
"If you have an idea of what you are doing, it's very flexible and very stable."
"The reliability of HP Data Protector is the most valuable feature for us."
"What we find most valuable in Micro Focus Data Protector is that it provides Japanese data protection, for example, it protects information such as the full Japanese name, address, etc."
"Micro Focus Data Protector's most valuable feature is its interaction with the fiber share. It is easy to use, we use it to back up without any problem to VTLs, and can use the Fiber Channel that is still the TCP."
"The most valuable feature is the capability to back up our SQL server."
"Deduplication implementation with CAPA is very good."
"It's user-friendly and not overly complicated to configure."
"The disk-to-disk paid backup feature is quite good, and file locking is a very important feature."
"I like that Backup Exec integrates with Microsoft Exchange. We can retrieve backups from the email boxes."
"The solution is good for small and medium-sized businesses."
"The interface easy to use and it is compatible with most backup devices."
"The usability and interface of the solution are good."
"Backup Exec 2012 R2 is a very good product for the Windows file system and SQL backups. It is very user-friendly, but the next version Backup Exec 2014 that is released and the other next versions of Backup Exec product is not so friendly."
"Its reliability and the fact that we have all the skills that we need for Veritas Backup Exec are the most valuable."
"Veritas helps me manage business-critical backups effectively and has been pretty useful in keeping the functions comfortable."
 

Cons

"If IBM could provide a partial module, that would be great."
"It doesn't integrate with storage pools, with a normal pool. I'd like to see that."
"I would like a little more ease with the virtual platforms, because it is a huge thing that is coming up."
"They do not have a unified GUI, they only work on CLI and operations center, which is really complicated for the installation and configuration."
"It should have the ability to break down the data that's being backed up. It should have better reporting."
"In a future release, it would be a benefit to have the ability to add an application as a storage target, as a storage pool. Additionally, they should add more functionality to the administration for the Operation Center."
"An area for improvement would be the ease of use - the GUI is not up to the mark compared to other products in the market."
"Better integration with other tools and databases is needed."
"Virtualization."
"The product can be developed by including functionalities like DR, CDP, and SureBackup, which are currently unavailable in the solution."
"We face challenges with its stability."
"The Micro Focus Data Protector support is not as good as Veeam Backup & Replication's support."
"We faced some certification issues after we upgraded to version 10.2."
"The downside of the flexibility on offer is if you over-configure it, it may fail to function as some configurations may not match."
"We have a lot of requests for the Micro Focus team, particularly in terms of the Japanese data pattern, as it's not as good now. The Japanese data pattern accuracy of the Micro Focus Data Protector needs to be improved because there are a lot of false negatives and false positives. We are currently testing this and our product team has been communicating with the Micro Focus team."
"The interface has been the same for many years and needs to be updated"
"This solution does not support image-level backup of a physical server."
"Some improvements are needed to enhance flexibility."
"The integration with SaaS applications like Office 365 needs to be improved."
"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."
"There is no training provided, and their technicians are unaware of the features available."
"Maybe they could improve reporting capabilities and predictions."
"Veritas Backup Exec could improve the analytics. If there were some more detail in our scan reports it would be beneficial."
"The deduplication feature can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of IBM Spectrum Protect is expensive. However, there are a few packages and it is unclear because, for the entry suite they have both options, which are the back-end storage capacity and the front-end storage capacity."
"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's very complicated. Licensing is a pain."
"It is expensive."
"It can be perceived as expensive since it is designed for enterprise use."
"When compared to the cost of other enterprise products, it seems to be in the same range. However, compared to the cost of non-enterprise products, it is really high."
"That's a hard estimate. It depends on the licensing, the hardware, and other stuff, but it is fairly expensive. It is generally more expensive than other solutions."
"Use capacity licensing. It's easier and cheaper."
"The pricing is acceptable for enterprise level companies, but it's not acceptable for small- and medium-sized businesses. Micro Focus Data Protector is not an enterprise level solution, and it should cover small- and medium-sized businesses with acceptable prices."
"Pricing for Micro Focus Data Protector is reasonable."
"There is a perpetual license involved in addition to support which needs to be renewed annually."
"Data Protector's pricing is very competitive and we have no issues in this regard. I would give it an eight out of ten in terms of pricing."
"They have two types of licensing, one is for storage capacity and the other is client licensing. The capacity licensing here is a bit expensive."
"Pricing/licensing is Data Protector's single best offering. In its most basic environment, the only license required is for whatever target device is required."
"The solution requires paying for a license."
"The licensing cost is too high."
"I think, at least for the price I've seen, it could be lower compared to other products."
"The pricing of Veritas Backup's license is comparable to Veeam."
"The solution costs $700 per agent and is expensive compared to other products that offer better stability."
"Regarding expense, Backup Exec is generally suitable for small and medium businesses. However, we can customize them based on the workload."
"I think it's sold at the right price. It's not expensive. The license is usually for a year."
"It is not an expensive product."
"It has a good price-value ratio. Its price-value ratio is better than Veeam."
"Its price is a bit high. There is only the standard fee. There is no additional fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Performing Arts
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
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 contin...
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 m...
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....
What do you like most about Micro Focus Data Protector?
I haven't experienced any crashes while using the solution...Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Data Protector?
The solution is expensive as it requires purchasing all features without the option to negotiate based on client numb...
What needs improvement with Micro Focus Data Protector?
OpenText Data Protector is not user-friendly, especially for cloud backup. It lacks functions and facilities compared...
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 syste...
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 pr...
 

Also Known As

IBM Spectrum Discover
Micro Focus Data Protector, Data Protector, OmniBack, HPE Data Protector
Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CEMEX
GSK Vaccines, Repsol, Vodafone Group, Siemens AG, Medium Enterprise Transportation Services Company
Beta Offshore
Find out what your peers are saying about Veeam Software, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Commvault and others in Backup and Recovery. Updated: July 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.