What is our primary use case?
I use Veeam Data Platform in my company to back up virtual machines and replicate them to offsite locations.
How has it helped my organization?
Veeam Data Platform reduced the RPO. In our company, one of the network monitoring systems is working on the DR side for some reason, which may be because of some problem with the IP provider, but we just managed to restore it from the replication on our main data system and data center, after which we got the system running in a few minutes. My company doesn't use the tool too much, though we use it in case we need to recover some data, which happened only a few times, after which the tool has been running smoothly. It is a great product.
What is most valuable?
There are no features of the product that I found to be specifically valuable to our company. I like the simplicity of the product. I like the overall product since it is a great tool that is available in the market.
Though I don't like the pricing model of the solution as it is constantly being made more and more expensive, it is a great product that my company likes.
What needs improvement?
Veeam Data Platform uses only a limited set of features. The product's pricing is an area of concern where improvements are required.
Our company will eventually renew the licenses, and then we will discuss internally the cost in the upcoming year because we don't have the time to switch to another solution. If my company gets a solution that does the same job as Veeam Data Platform for a lower price, then we may switch over to that product only because of pricing. Our company uses the tool for its features that allow for the backing up of virtual machines and SQL databases, so it is not a big deal to switch over to another solution since we don't have a very large system in that sense. My company only has around 15 to 20 virtual machines, so any tool that provides backup for the virtual machines and helps us with the replication to another location is okay for us.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Veeam Data Platform for a year or two. My company is a customer of Veeam. Currently, I use Veeam Backup & Replication v12.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
In our company, only two people use the solution.
The tool is used for its backup capabilities every two to three days. For some of the virtual machines in our company, the tool's backup capabilities are used every day while we only monitor the logs, during which, if there is something to be resolved, then we jump in and resolve it.
How are customer service and support?
I don't even remember if we faced any technical issues with the solution in our company, because of which we had to consider raising a ticket with the product's technical support team. In our region, there are some people with whom I was in touch, some of whom were and some still are Veeam employees, who are doing a great job and with whom our company is satisfied. Most of the consulting parts related to the solution were taken care of by our company with the help of the local people or technicians in the Adriatic region. The documentation part of the product is okay.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase was easy to handle, and it was not a big deal. In our company, we will eventually install a tape library in backup within the next few months. In our company, we will have to figure out how the integration of Veeam Data Platform with a tape library needs to be done. From our company's experiences with Veeam Data Platform until now, we are happy and really satisfied with the product.
The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.
The solution can be deployed in a few days.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed the tool by myself without any training, and I felt it was very easy.
What was our ROI?
Though the tool is an expensive product, it is worth the money since it does the job.
In our company, we use the Veeam Data Platform for the protection of our data, especially if we get stuck with any malware or damage in our information system, but we don't have to face such scenarios. Our company uses the product as a backup of our data, so I don't see any ROI, to be honest. I hope that the tool's use in our company does not reach a point where we need to evaluate the return on investment. Presently, there is no return on investment, and it only involves costs for now.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not have to evaluate the other products in the market since I bought Veeam Data Platform owing to the fact that I knew some of the employees at Veeam in my region.
What other advice do I have?
In our company, we will introduce Veeam Data Platform as a backup for Office 365, with which we will reduce the total instances that we are protecting because we have already removed some virtual machines. After the aforementioned process is followed, we will eventually revise our license for backing up our data that is hosted on Office 365 platform, and then we will use even more features, after which we will know how that works. Basically, we are very happy with the solution. In our company, we don't even have upgrades to deal with since they are being taken care of very smoothly by Veeam.
I recommend the product to those who plan to use it, and I still recommend it to a lot of the people who use the community version of the tool, which is also great for small infrastructures.
I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.