The protocols are very good. Clients use them a lot as backup extensions due to the reports on the backup, the capacity managing, and the success rates, etc.
Personally, I find it's more than an extension of the backup solution. It's more of a data center than a reporting tool. You can get information about everything and you can anticipate some errors that may occur on the system.
Customization of reports or creating new reports can be difficult. Users need to have a deep knowledge of SQL. 70-80% of customers can't seem to understand how to do it. They don't know how to address reporting. If Dell EMC could simplify it, it would benefit the end-user.
Currently, you have the option to put the solution in a Windows server, but by putting your general reporting on the Windows server you have the potential to lose everything one day. It's better to be able to deploy it on a VM.
I've been using the solution for eight years.
My impression of the stability of the solution is that it is quite good. We've had a few issues here and there, but it's always been minor things. Stability hasn't been a big deal.
Scalability questions are a bit difficult to address. It's straightforward, but the questions should be more around what you think about the sizing of the DPA.
There should be some sort of proper sizing for DPA. Proper sizing is very important. Otherwise, scaling is tricky.
I've never contacted technical support. I know a lot about the product myself, and I know people that I can talk to if I have issues.
We didn't previously use a different solution. There was only a bit of SQL script and that was it.
The initial setup is very straightforward. Deployment typically takes about one hour. You just need one person to handle the deployment process.
I handled the deployment myself.
We did evaluate other options before ultimately choosing DPA.
We're a gold partner with Dell EMC.
The clients that we have on the solution are medium to enterprise-level organizations.
I'd advise others to see if there's a data center solution and not just an extension of the backup. You also need to edit the data to show what you want and you'll want to set up and get the reports that apply to your specific needs.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. I really like it, but they do need to address the difficulties surrounding reporting to make it perfect.