Kristopher Ducheney - PeerSpot reviewer
IT System Engineer at PNFP
Real User
User-friendly, cost-effective, and saves a lot of time
Pros and Cons
  • "It is very user-friendly. There is no wondering about what a feature does. It is easy to use."
  • "If they already do not have it, they can have some APIs for the Horizon environment. Instead of having to use some scripts to get around, they can make it a lot more user-friendly for integration."

What is our primary use case?

We use Zerto for server migrations between data centers during the role swap that we do. We use it from a recovery standpoint as well.

We currently do not have disaster recovery to the cloud. We go between our data centers. That is what Zerto helps us accomplish.

How has it helped my organization?

Zerto works very well. We have not had any faults while using it. We are a financial institution, so we have to make sure the systems we have are available with very minimal downtime.

It has helped out a lot in man-hours. It has saved us a lot of overnight work. We can literally change our production servers in a matter of minutes to hours. Rather than having to do this gradually or a couple of weeks in advance and have several teams and business partners involved, we can literally do it live on the same day.

Zerto is probably one of the faster ones in terms of recovery. You can just go into the console, and because it is always replicating over to the other side, it takes minutes.

What is most valuable?

Being able to do our recovery and being able to migrate between data centers during the role swap is valuable just because of the amount of time it takes. It takes 55 hours or so. Right now, we are doing this in a VDI environment. We are going to experiment with it as a proof of concept because we have a thousand machines that we have to move and do all the assignments. Zerto would lessen that down by a few hours, and then we can use some scripts to do everything on the Horizon's side. We have not done it yet, but we are hoping to reduce it down to about 3 hours instead of 55 hours. We will also be able to manage our host better and be in a better recovery state. If the host happens to go down, we can quickly recover.

It is very user-friendly. There is no wondering about what a feature does. It is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

If they already do not have it, they can have some APIs for the Horizon environment. Instead of having to use some scripts to get around, they can make it a lot more user-friendly for integration.

Buyer's Guide
Zerto
September 2023
Learn what your peers think about Zerto. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2023.
735,432 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Zerto for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It has been very stable. We have not had any issues while using it. When we need it to do its job, it is always dependable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It scales very quickly. We can set up a whole new environment in an hour. We can get the server setup and all the VMs that are required for it to function in an hour or two.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used their support. My peers had to use it. They seem very responsive and knowledgeable. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The other DR tool that I have used is from Symantec. It was an old-school recovery tool. It was back in the day when it took a whole day to get things back up.

How was the initial setup?

It was deployed before I joined the company.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its price is fair. It is very cost-effective compared to the cost of the labor for your workers and associates. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We selected Zerto over others primarily for the ability to replicate and help with our role swap. It cuts the downtime of the production systems by a large volume. This way, we can meet the deadline and not have that much client impact. In the financial side of banking, you do not want bad performance.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Zerto a nine out of ten. There is always room for improvement, but it definitely makes your life a lot easier.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Abdellateef Hasan - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a insurance company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5
Easy to use with a straightforward interface and menus, and provides excellent analytics, reporting, and monitoring
Pros and Cons
  • "Zerto's ease of use is outstanding; it's easy to set up and has a clear interface and menus. The reporting, analytics, and online monitoring are also excellent."
  • "Improvements in stability would be welcome; there are some software bugs that can affect RPOs. We want more of a guarantee that we won't lose any of our backups, even in the event of a disaster."

What is our primary use case?

We use Zerto for backups and DR; we back up to a StoreOnce unit and then offsite. We have over 11 servers, including three Oracle servers, one Oracle database, and an Active Directory. 

How has it helped my organization?

Before Zerto, we used another solution that caused database crashes and did not offer certainty regarding disaster recovery. Zerto is more configurable and stable.

A DR site reduces downtime, especially with full VM backup and online synchronization. Zerto accomplishes this without affecting network efficiency, as synchronization occurs at specific intervals.

What is most valuable?

Zerto's ease of use is outstanding; it's easy to set up and has a clear interface and menus. The reporting, analytics, and online monitoring are also excellent.  

Compared to other solutions, the speed of recovery with Zerto is faster. Our last backup solution, Data Protector, was very slow, but Zerto is rapid even in file retrieval. 

The solution helped reduce our organization's DR testing; it's hard to say precisely how much, but Zerto does faster DR testing than other products.

What needs improvement?

Improvements in stability would be welcome; there are some software bugs that can affect RPOs. We want more of a guarantee that we won't lose any of our backups, even in the event of a disaster. 

The platform measures the write speed of storage devices and gives an alert on the VPG if there is latency, but the nature of the alert suggests the solution isn't meeting the SLA. However, this shouldn't affect the health status of the backup. It should provide an express report that we should enhance our hardware rather than express latency as a threat to the backup capability.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is acceptable, we experienced an issue once, but the backup time is speedy.

How are customer service and support?

Customer support is one of Zerto's best aspects; the support is excellent, and we can quickly get through to them. I rate them ten out of ten. The support staff are very kind and always solve a problem. I feel secure knowing I have access to such good support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Micro Focus Data Protector and Veeam Backup & Replication. Zerto is easier to use and more straightforward to configure. 

Zerto replaced our legacy backup solution, Data Protector. This not only saved on the cost of the old product but also provided more stability and security to our company. We now have a new backup methodology, and it's a significant upgrade.  

How was the initial setup?

I carried out the initial setup with support from Zerto, which was very straightforward.

The only requirement for maintenance is monitoring the solution and updating versions.

What about the implementation team?

I have 20 years of experience in IT, so I was well-positioned to carry out the deployment myself, with the assistance of Zerto support.

What was our ROI?

We have seen an ROI with Zerto. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is slightly above average, but the immediate and comprehensive support makes the price acceptable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated many other options but found Zerto the best, especially for our HPE environment. It's the most stable and straightforward tool, and even those with limited experience can operate it.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the solution eight out of ten. 

I strongly recommend Zerto; I've tried many other solutions, but it's the most stable.

We use the product to help protect VMs in our environment, and regarding RPOs, I carry out the test for them every six months, and it's working correctly.

I advise those evaluating the solution to use it, especially in an HPE environment, as it's fully compatible and easy to manage. There is no requirement for special drivers or configurations.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Buyer's Guide
Zerto
September 2023
Learn what your peers think about Zerto. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: September 2023.
735,432 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Director of IT at a marketing services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
It is easy and simple. Allows administrators to sleep at night.
Pros and Cons
  • "We don't have to spend a whole lot of time worrying about DR and whether or not we are covered. Zerto just works. As it is replicating, we don't need to spend a whole lot of time with it. That is a huge benefit as far as daily management."
  • "We would like more mobile options. If we are at a restaurant or out and about in our normal daily lives, we would like to be able to interface via our mobiles."

What is our primary use case?

We have three locations. We replicate circularly around all those locations for all our VMs. This is for DR.

How has it helped my organization?

We don't have to spend a whole lot of time worrying about DR and whether or not we are covered. Zerto just works. As it is replicating, we don't need to spend a whole lot of time with it. That is a huge benefit as far as daily management.

Luckily, we haven't actually had to do a full failover. We have tested it many times, and it proves out okay, but we don't have to spend a lot of time managing it.

Our insurance companies provide assistance with staff or boots on the ground. Whereas, using Zerto has allowed us to act very quickly with just our current team. We can fail over and switch over to our disaster recovery site, instead of having to bring in a bigger team.

What is most valuable?

It is amazingly simple to use, monitor, look at, and utilize. It is great for that.

What needs improvement?

We would like more mobile options. If we are at a restaurant or out and about in our normal daily lives, we would like to be able to interface via our mobiles.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for about five years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is simple. If you just add more virtual managers, then you are good to go.

How are customer service and support?

Our customer rep, success manager, and engineer are great.

Luckily, I haven't had to use the technical support that often. The times that I have, it has been fantastic. They quickly had me where I needed to be, which is top-notch and good.

I would rate them as eight or nine out of 10. Nobody is perfect.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

It gives us peace of mind. Before we had disaster recovery and long-term retention protection against ransomware, it was one of those things that kept us up at night.

We previously used VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) and Veeam for backup. Zerto is way better and more friendly. Zerto's interface, simplicity, and reliability are definitely better than SRM.

When we were using SRM, it didn't have a web interface. Zerto's web interface makes it easier to navigate. When we used SRM, it was an actual application. It was a bit clunkier and a lot more difficult to use. However, it has been awhile, so it might not be a fair comparison at this point.

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment was pretty simple. The implementation took less than half a day. It has been awhile, but it was very seamless, easy, and did not take very long. We were up and running pretty quickly.

What about the implementation team?

Zerto was involved with the initial deployment. We paid for their Professional Services, who walked us through the whole thing. It was very simple.

What was our ROI?

Our technology committee established an RPO and RTO. We beat those times with Zerto. We have a 30-minute RTO and we can recover within seconds. We have far exceeded any expectations so far.

From the simple point of not having to worry about whether or not we are protected in the event of ransomware or disaster, it is worth the money.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing seems fair.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at other solutions around five years ago.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend buying it. It is easy and simple. It works. It is all the things that any administrator would want. You don't need to spend a lot of time messing with it and you can sleep at night.

I would rate this solution as eight out of 10 because nothing is perfect.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Mike Erin - PeerSpot reviewer
VP of IT Infrastructure at Fay Financial
Real User
Top 10
The near-synchronous certification has positively impacted our operations
Pros and Cons
  • "It's very stable. It doesn't require a lot of intervention."
  • "Maybe the reporting for the failover test could be a little better."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is for disaster recovery. We replicate up to Azure, and that's essentially disaster recovery as a service.

Overall, the effects of RPO have been great. They are never more than a minute or two, even throughout the production day.

What is most valuable?

If we can replicate from our native VMware environment up to native Azure, it converts the machines for us. We don't have to maintain another VMware environment somewhere. It's really given us the ability to eliminate the entire data center.

Moreover, there are cost savings tied to this. We don't pay for the rack space, power, or hardware; all of that is gone. Because the machines aren't active, all we're paying for is storage in Azure. So it has saved us quite a bit of money.

Zerto's near-synchronous certification has positively impacted our operations. Any recovery point that's too far in the past, we'll lose transactions when we fail over. We really don't want to do that. Real-time replication gives us a much better sense of security for the enterprise. It simplifies things for us and reduces costs.  It makes management feel really good, too.

Using DR in a cloud environment has been a positive experience. We're saving money. We don't have to maintain the hardware. We don't have the rack space at the other data center. It just simplifies things for us and reduces costs. It's been a positive experience overall. It's pretty easy to use. Once it's up and running, it stays running. We have had a few times when we called support and the support has been very, very good.

What needs improvement?

Maybe the reporting for the failover test could be a little better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zerto since 2020, so it's been three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very good. It's very stable. It doesn't require a lot of intervention. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't had any problems with scalability. We have 75 machines protected by Zerto and it does a fine job.  

How are customer service and support?

Support has been very good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used to use Site Recovery Manager when we had two data centers, and it was VMware to VMware. We were using EMC storage. Zerto is a lot easier to use than Site Recovery Manager. It requires less care and feeding. 

Site Recovery Manager occasionally would lose virtual machines, and it was kind of a pain, but Zerto just kept running. So overall, we're really happy with the switch to Zerto.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy.

Since we don't have to maintain all of the hardware and the second data center, one person can manage the entire Azure environment by themselves. As a result,  Zerto has helped us reduce staff. 

What about the implementation team?

We did an assisted setup with Zerto tech on the line, and It was really painless. It was simple and straightforward. The initial process including getting the servers and everything set up, was pretty short. The process included getting the VMs all added to the recovery groups and things like that. 

The whole process from start to finish took less than a week.

What was our ROI?

It has proven to be a cost-effective solution for us. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It could always be less money. 

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. It requires little care and feeding. Not a lot goes wrong with it. It just works.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Systems Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Gives us more granularity, but not at the expense of complexity
Pros and Cons
  • "The most important features are the simplicity of recovery and the wider capabilities and feature sets than VMware SRM has."
  • "I haven't been a super big fan of the support area. The support could really be better in terms of responsiveness. I've had some issues that took two or three days to get resolved. Once I got to the right person, they were resolved quickly, but it took a while to get to that person."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for disaster recovery, by replicating to our DR data center.

How has it helped my organization?

It has simplified our disaster recovery plan. With VMware SRM it was a little bit more complex. Zerto adds more granularity, but not at the expense of complexity.

What is most valuable?

The most important features are the 

  • simplicity of recovery 
  • wider capabilities and feature sets than SRM has.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zerto for about three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We've been using it since version 7. Since then, it's gotten better and better. We've had some bad experiences with DR tests where everything went sideways and we had to restore a bunch of VPGs or recreate them. It seems like those situations are happening less and less as the product develops.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 1,200 seats and we have about 1,000 VMs that are replicated. So far, scalability hasn't really been an issue. We haven't run into a problem scaling it out.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't been a super big fan of the support area. The support could really be better in terms of responsiveness. I've had some issues that took two or three days to get resolved. Once I got to the right person, they were resolved quickly, but it took a while to get to that person.

On a scale of one to 10, today I would rate their support at about a seven. If you had asked me two years ago, I would have rated it at three.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were an SRM customer and moved to Zerto. We had issues with SRM and I think we had some issues with Zerto initially. We've had it for three years and we've gone through several revisions. With every revision, it seems to get better. They keep adding feature sets.

SRM and Zerto are really the primary competitors. We like the fact that Zerto does VM-based replication instead of having to involve storage-based replication. You can just point to an instance of it and say, "Replicate to this DR data center," whereas SRM is a little bit more complex in that context.

The speed of recovery between Zerto and SRM is similar. With the later versions of Zerto, the recovery speed has become a little bit faster.

How was the initial setup?

It's very straightforward to set up. You just install the software and point it at your vCenter. There are not really a lot of overly complex parts to the installation. It installs relatively easily and quickly.

What about the implementation team?

We did it ourselves.

What was our ROI?

We haven't seen ROI because we've not ever had to recover anything. But in an instance where we would have to recover from a disaster, we would definitely see ROI. It's like paying for insurance. You don't really see any value in it until you need it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing is a little bit steep, but there is some value that you do get for it as well.

What other advice do I have?

In our usage, Zerto has not helped to reduce downtime or the number of staff involved in a data recovery situation. It also hasn't reduced our DR testing. We do a DR test regularly and that is about the same as it was.

I don't have any advice, but I would absolutely recommend it. The simplicity of how they have laid out the VPG structure, and being able to separate those out into groups, as opposed to SRM where you're replicating everything, seems like it's really well designed.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
D. Ngunyen - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Architect at State of California
Real User
Top 10
Helps reduce downtime and has a simple user interface
Pros and Cons
  • "When we use our VMware environment, sometimes the HP hardware is not compatible, and we start to lose data. I like that we can restore our whole application and public-facing system through Zerto."
  • "Zerto can improve the dashboard by making it even more simple. Right now, there's a lot on the dashboard, and it can be overwhelming. If you're an experienced user, then you'll find it easy to use, but if you're a beginner, it will take you some time."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use Zerto for disaster recovery and backups.

What is most valuable?

When we use our VMware environment, sometimes the HP hardware is not compatible, and we start to lose data. I like that we can restore our whole application and public-facing system through Zerto.

It's the easiest way to do disaster recovery. It's less complicated than VMware.

Compared to the ease of use of other DR or backup solutions, Zerto's dashboard is the easiest. The user interface is much simpler, and maybe, that's what makes it easier.

Zerto helped reduce downtime when our data is corrupted. We're able to restore it relatively fast. There may be downtime of about half an hour for us, but the users don't see it; it's transparent.

The speed of recovery with Zerto versus the speed of recovery with other DR solutions is about the same.

Zerto reduced the number of staff involved in DR situations. We went from ten people to two for the whole organization.

It also reduced our organization's DR testing by about 30%. We've actually been able to move a lot of our resources (people) to AWS Innovation.

What needs improvement?

Zerto can improve the dashboard by making it even more simple. Right now, there's a lot on the dashboard, and it can be overwhelming. If you're an experienced user, then you'll find it easy to use, but if you're a beginner, it will take you some time.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using it for seven years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Zertos' stability is very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's very easy to scale, but the only problem is that there are additional costs associated with it. 

How are customer service and support?

Zerto's technical support is excellent. When you open a ticket, they get back to you right away. If you mark it as a priority, then you have instantaneous access to support. I would give technical support a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have VMware products and tried to implement VMware Site Recovery Manager. However, it was just a little too difficult for our environment.

How was the initial setup?

At first, the initial deployment was complex, but now it's relatively easy. For someone experienced, it is not a problem.

We have five data centers, and we started with one and deployed it in phases. Because there are lots of firewalls and access, we picked one data center and then built the next one.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it ourselves, and it took about a year to deploy it across the whole system.

What was our ROI?

For a long time, we needed disaster recovery that was more than IBM's, which is in Colorado. We needed something on-premises that was instantaneous. That's what Zerto offers, and that's the ROI we have with Zerto.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The last time I looked at pricing, it was very good. It's much cheaper than VMware by far.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We looked at VMware Site Recovery Manager and IBM, but they didn't work well.

What other advice do I have?

The best way to look at it is from an ease-of-use standpoint because when you look at VMware's version, it's a little bit more complex even though it is native to where we use it. That's why we went with Zerto.

Considering what we use Zerto for, I'd give it a ten out of ten because it is our primary solution.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Jose Tomala - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Linux System Engineer at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Enables us to recover virtual machines to a specific point in time, and test recovery for more machines with less staff
Pros and Cons
  • "The replication and recovery features are the most valuable... On two occasions, other departments in our organization reported issues with specific virtual machines. We used the checkpoint feature of the Zerto to enable the recovery of those machines to a point that was a few minutes prior to the problem."
  • "We had some issues with replication, especially on Linux, but we have already resolved them."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for storage and replication. In our organization, our team is responsible for the disaster recovery process.

How has it helped my organization?

Before, we were able to test about 16 virtual machines in production. Now, we can do the same exercise with 180 virtual machines, in less time. And previously, we needed our whole team to execute the manual process with Hitachi. Now, we use half that number of personnel in this exercise.

The speed of recovery is definitely better with Zerto versus the previous mechanisms we had. It has helped to reduce downtime without a doubt. On two occasions when we used Zerto for recovery, we reduced the downtime by about 80 percent.

We had an issue with change configurations in a database and we couldn't roll back those changes. We used Zerto to recover the state of the virtual machines to 10 minutes before the changes.

It has also exceeded our expectations when it comes to RTO.

What is most valuable?

The replication and recovery features are the most valuable. We have been able to recover files with Zerto. First, we enable the virtual machines on the recovery site and then we navigate to find the file that we need. On two occasions, other departments in our organization reported issues with specific virtual machines. We used the checkpoint feature of the Zerto to enable the recovery of those machines to a point that was a few minutes prior to the problem.

It's an excellent tool for the replication of VMs.

What needs improvement?

We had some issues with replication, especially on Linux, but we have already resolved them.

I would like them to enable more backup configuration features. I'm not sure if Zerto can give us immutable files for ransomware protection. That could improve the backup.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Zerto for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability gets a high grade from me. I don't recall any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our principal site is located in one city and the recovery site is in another city. They are connected by an extended LAN.

In terms of scalability, it is good because, on the two occasions that we have done the upgrade process, they were "hot," meaning we didn't need to turn off our servers and that's very important for us. We always have our tools available.

How are customer service and support?

We have opened cases on several occasions for update processes and for issues that we had at a moment when we were doing an exercise and replicating a VM to the recovery site. Their response was immediate and they were very efficient in coming up with resolutions.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't have any previous backup solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is a little more expensive in comparison to other tools.

Knowing the backup options that Zerto has, we could be using it to back up our entire company's virtual machines, but we are just using its replication and backup for some virtual machines, but not all of them. That's because we are limited in terms of our license. We are only replicating about 30 percent of our virtual machines, those that have been identified as the most important for the organization.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We checked out Veritas Risk Advisor and Veeam.

What other advice do I have?

It is meeting our RPO expectations and we are happy with the RPO.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sr Director, Private Hosting at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Does not rely on a secondary backend product and is easier and more straightforward to use
Pros and Cons
  • "I found VM level replication and being able to group the VM levels to be valuable. I like not having to worry about whether a particular VM is in the right storage group; some of those sorts of things would trip us up previously."
  • "There's one feature that SRM had that Zerto doesn't have, and it's one that we've been asking for. With the orchestration part of the failover, with our DR and our primary sites, the IP addresses are almost identical. The only difference is one octet. With SRM, we could say during a failover change. With Zerto, we keep hearing that it's coming, but we haven't received it yet. It's a feature that would be very beneficial. It would reduce the time a little bit more."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use it for DR, that is, for VM replication between two data centers, using it not only for replication but also for orchestration.

How has it helped my organization?

Zerto provided better overall DR coverage and more consistency.

What is most valuable?

I found VM level replication and being able to group the VM levels to be valuable. I like not having to worry about whether a particular VM is in the right storage group; some of those sorts of things would trip us up previously. 

It's a lot easier and more straightforward for a VM administrator because he can know that this VM goes in this group or gets this tag, for example, and that it's now in a DR group and is taken care of. I don't have to worry about all the backend details. It's just simplified.

In terms of ease of use, the benefit of Zerto over SRM is the fact that it doesn't rely on a secondary backend product, with having to have the right storage groups with RecoverPoint or something else with multi-tier architecture.

It's still too early to compare the speed of recovery with Zerto versus the speed of recovery with other disaster recovery solutions. We've just started the DR tests to understand the time difference. However, from what I've seen so far, the speed of recovery is similar but more consistent with Zerto. We don't have situations where we've missed this or that.

Zerto reduced the staff involved in data recovery situations by a single person. Now, we don't have the backend storage person who has to keep an eye on it anymore. With a different solution, we would have needed two people.

What needs improvement?

There's one feature that SRM had that Zerto doesn't have, and it's one that we've been asking for. With the orchestration part of the failover, with our DR and our primary sites, the IP addresses are almost identical. The only difference is one octet. With SRM, we could say during a failover change. With Zerto, we keep hearing that it's coming, but we haven't received it yet. It's a feature that would be very beneficial. It would reduce the time a little bit more.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been working with Zerto for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability seems fine. I haven't seen any issues with it thus far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

For our organization, the scalability matched our needs. Between the data centers, we probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 VMs.

How are customer service and support?

From what I have seen, the technical support has been very good. They've been very responsive to my team.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used SRM. Zerto is a little bit more mature, has a better feature set, and is more aligned with the features and functionalities that we need.

What was our ROI?

We have seen an ROI from the perspective of a reduction in hardware and a reduction in the number of people trying to focus on the tool sets.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is less expensive than the full solution that we had previously, but at the same time, it's not an inexpensive product either.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Cohesity and other solutions.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, Zerto is a very good product for us, and I would rate it at nine on a scale from one to ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
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Updated: September 2023
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Zerto Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.