Manager - Storage & Backup at a pharma/biotech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 10
Aug 27, 2025
Technical support could be improved significantly. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
I used IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but IBM is now replacing it with IBM Data Protect, which is a giant product now in common development with a well-known company in backup solutions.
Senior System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Jan 21, 2025
With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible. IBM provides these through a third party, so enhancement is needed. There's significant room for improvement. They are not yet where I want them to be. It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling. These are areas IBM can improve.
The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.
1. Database log backup is too difficult for tracking and reporting. It uses cron to schedule the backup job. Sometimes the duplicate cron job was created by SPP.
2. NFS mounted filesystem need to be monitored by SPP server. Sometimes a restart of the SPP server makes the NFS-mounted filesystem on the database-protected server hang.
3. SLA duplication job cannot get a priority when we have multiple SLAs per VM. Then just one SLA complete running. And the other failed.
4. Compression & Deduplication ratio too small when compared with other products.
I think the graphical reports are a shortcoming of the tool since it fails to provide my company with what we want in terms of reporting. Due to the product's inability to take care of its reporting part, we have to use third-party software. In future releases of the product, I wish to see the tool offer better reporting features.
The solution only supports HyperV and VMware but doesn't support Nutanix. The solution can be improved by supporting open-source virtualization like KVM and Nutanix for compatibility.
The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots. We are now testing Veeam for virtual servers and snapshot backup but would prefer to use one solution.
I would like to see continuous data protection (CDP). If there is machine failure, you don't have to go to the backup copy that you took 12 hours ago. You can actually go back to the backup copy made half an hour ago. That is, it would be good to have certain-point-in-time recovery. I would like them to add global deduplication. With deduplicate backups, deduplication will work only with the data of a certain machine or a certain backup set. Usually, the data is repeated across the data of the backup sets. However, if IBM Spectrum Protect Plus provides a global deduplication option it will ultimately result in better storage savings.
Rooms for improvement in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are installation and configuration because those were difficult. They should try their best to improve those areas. In the next release of the product, better implementation and administration are what we're expecting.
We have to do a tech refresh, during the migration process and it doesn't allow a straightforward pathway. If I have to do a tech refresh of the server or the storage, the only option for me is to build a new server. I attach the new storage, create new policy, and then start migrating, slowly removing the old one. That is one area of improvement. When IBM will have NFSv4 available that is something we could use that solution.
It still needs to grow and add new features. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, I believe, requires time to become competitive due to a weakness in the other software products. It does not support replication appliances such as Data Domain, ExaGrid, or other DDOS targets. The only issue is the price. That application should be supported.
Owner at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Mar 16, 2021
We've had some problems getting a full backup done. It's very slow and can take a number of hours, specifically when we use the exchange database. Most time it's a problem with the agent for exchange. Sometimes you have to try to restore things multiple times. It can sometimes take a whole day just to get a recovery up and running. Working on the solution, even when it works, is quite difficult. You end up needing to do a lot of troubleshooting to get things to work effectively. It would be ideal if the solution allowed users to also pick up SharePoint, Teams, and Office 365 items. It should be able to do not just databases. That way, you can have everything, including software, both on-premises and in the cloud. At the moment, for Team, in particular, it's not possible to pick that up, potentially because it includes a lot of chats.
Replication feature is available for off site backup. New generation data backup technologies are constantly being developed for multi-cloud environments.
I don't think the solution is particularly user friendly, it requires expertise. Technical support could also be improved. Now that they're in the cloud I think they'll start enhancing with their backups. They weren't very good in the virtual world but they seem to be making more of an effort in the latest version and trying to align themselves with other backup solutions. IBM's an expensive solution so if you're enterprise you'll go with them, especially if you have other IBM products in the workplace.
Senior Services Engineer at KENAC COMPUTER SYSTEMS
Real User
Aug 29, 2019
One of the places where the product can improve is in the interface. It is a little cumbersome to interact with and not very user-friendly. If the interface could be more simple it would make using the product better. The only other improvement I can think of — and again this has something to do with the GUI interface — is to include other features for configuration and scheduling tasks to make using the product more simple.
System Admin at a sports company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Aug 18, 2019
The user experience is very bad and the interface needs to be improved. It is not user-friendly. This is not my complaint, alone, but everybody I know who has worked with this solution. In order to perform a backup, professionally, you need to use the command-line interface. By comparison, Veritas has a backup solution with a very nice user interface that is easy to use. This solution is difficult to troubleshoot when an error occurs. It gives you an error number that you can search for in the manual, or on the internet, to find an answer, but details are not given within the user interface. Again, it is just not user-friendly.
Principal Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Aug 12, 2019
The only thing that I would like to see improved is the actual schedule that you get on the policies. It does not allow for being flexible, like for weekly, just day one to five, and leave day six and seven. Especially if we're running multiple policies, like if we want to do a basic weekly incremental and then later do a monthly. In the next release, I want to see updates on the scheduling so that we can have more options on how you schedule stuff, like allowing you to use your everyday requirement.
Digital Transformation Manager at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Aug 12, 2019
The administration is not user-friendly and needs to be improved. It is more suited to a technical person. Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface. The reporting should be improved. This solution would benefit from reports that included more aggregated data from the databases. We had an incident where we were unable to recover our data, and it was very bad. The solution was already implemented, but for technical reasons and a misunderstanding, we were not able to recover our data. This detracts from their credibility.
Administrator Systems at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Real User
Aug 12, 2019
The virtual tape library needs to be improved. We have trouble with the administration of this solution. We need to update the volumes in the tape, but it first has to be transferred from tape to disk. The administration needs to be improved and made simpler to use. The time required for backup should be optimized. The verification process needs to be performed daily, so this should be more automated. The volume of the database grows every day. In the next release of this solution, I would like support for replication between the primary and secondary data centers. The duplicate backup date should be automatically eliminated.
Principal Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Aug 8, 2019
The new functionality with the retention policy, where you can push it down from H2 Plus down to the Normal Spectrum Protect needs improvement. There is an individual file-level restore. I would like integration into where the VMware guys can do their own restores.
IBM Spectrum Protect Expert at a non-tech company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Aug 8, 2019
It's difficult to discuss improvements in Spectrum Protect Plus itself because it has been implemented in Spectrum Protect, and I'm using both. It could possibly use more reporting features. Their first level of support can be improved. Often they are too junior to understand the issues we are having, and it takes too much time to get from them to the next level of support, which is what we actually need.
System Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
Aug 5, 2019
The backup support for IBM Power Virtualization needs to be added. This would be a pretty good plus for this solution because no product at this moment, as I know, offers this feature.
Manager - IT Infrastructure at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Aug 1, 2019
An area that needs improvement is data validation. We currently use another product that gives us immediate validation, information about when the last backup was, and no risk of corruption happening. TSM in IBM Spectrum is not mature so that you can validate on the spot.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus is a data protection and availability solution for virtual environments that can be deployed in minutes and protect your environment within an hour. It simplifies data protection, whether data is hosted in physical, virtual, software-defined or cloud environments. It can be implemented as a stand-alone solution or integrate with your IBM Spectrum Protect environment to off-load copies for long term storage and data governance with scale and efficiency.
Technical support could be improved significantly. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could be made more lightweight and user-friendly in terms of GUI features to make it closer to a perfect score.
I used IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, but IBM is now replacing it with IBM Data Protect, which is a giant product now in common development with a well-known company in backup solutions.
With ransomware protection and cyber protection, more improvement is possible. IBM provides these through a third party, so enhancement is needed. There's significant room for improvement. They are not yet where I want them to be. It does not offer horizontal and vertical scaling. These are areas IBM can improve.
The security must be improved. We face a lot of cyber threats like ransomware. It impacts data availability and protection. The tool must provide a mechanism to make resilient backups. The tool must ensure that the recent backups have no ransomware. The backup must be immutable. They must be cyber-resilient backups. Finding a good resource person for IBM Spectrum in Pakistan is difficult. We have to rely on the support team. Resource availability is a challenge.
1. Database log backup is too difficult for tracking and reporting. It uses cron to schedule the backup job. Sometimes the duplicate cron job was created by SPP.
2. NFS mounted filesystem need to be monitored by SPP server. Sometimes a restart of the SPP server makes the NFS-mounted filesystem on the database-protected server hang.
3. SLA duplication job cannot get a priority when we have multiple SLAs per VM. Then just one SLA complete running. And the other failed.
4. Compression & Deduplication ratio too small when compared with other products.
I think the graphical reports are a shortcoming of the tool since it fails to provide my company with what we want in terms of reporting. Due to the product's inability to take care of its reporting part, we have to use third-party software. In future releases of the product, I wish to see the tool offer better reporting features.
The tool needs to increase the number of threats.
The solution requires much more automation features. Also, its reporting feature for the backup process needs improvement as well.
The solution only supports HyperV and VMware but doesn't support Nutanix. The solution can be improved by supporting open-source virtualization like KVM and Nutanix for compatibility.
The solution should allow for backup of iOS snapshots. We are now testing Veeam for virtual servers and snapshot backup but would prefer to use one solution.
I would like to see continuous data protection (CDP). If there is machine failure, you don't have to go to the backup copy that you took 12 hours ago. You can actually go back to the backup copy made half an hour ago. That is, it would be good to have certain-point-in-time recovery. I would like them to add global deduplication. With deduplicate backups, deduplication will work only with the data of a certain machine or a certain backup set. Usually, the data is repeated across the data of the backup sets. However, if IBM Spectrum Protect Plus provides a global deduplication option it will ultimately result in better storage savings.
Rooms for improvement in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus are installation and configuration because those were difficult. They should try their best to improve those areas. In the next release of the product, better implementation and administration are what we're expecting.
We have to do a tech refresh, during the migration process and it doesn't allow a straightforward pathway. If I have to do a tech refresh of the server or the storage, the only option for me is to build a new server. I attach the new storage, create new policy, and then start migrating, slowly removing the old one. That is one area of improvement. When IBM will have NFSv4 available that is something we could use that solution.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve security.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus could improve by adding SAP Rena.
It still needs to grow and add new features. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, I believe, requires time to become competitive due to a weakness in the other software products. It does not support replication appliances such as Data Domain, ExaGrid, or other DDOS targets. The only issue is the price. That application should be supported.
There could be better integration with Spectrum Protect and Spectrum Protect Plus, it should be one solution.
We've had some problems getting a full backup done. It's very slow and can take a number of hours, specifically when we use the exchange database. Most time it's a problem with the agent for exchange. Sometimes you have to try to restore things multiple times. It can sometimes take a whole day just to get a recovery up and running. Working on the solution, even when it works, is quite difficult. You end up needing to do a lot of troubleshooting to get things to work effectively. It would be ideal if the solution allowed users to also pick up SharePoint, Teams, and Office 365 items. It should be able to do not just databases. That way, you can have everything, including software, both on-premises and in the cloud. At the moment, for Team, in particular, it's not possible to pick that up, potentially because it includes a lot of chats.
Replication feature is available for off site backup. New generation data backup technologies are constantly being developed for multi-cloud environments.
I don't think the solution is particularly user friendly, it requires expertise. Technical support could also be improved. Now that they're in the cloud I think they'll start enhancing with their backups. They weren't very good in the virtual world but they seem to be making more of an effort in the latest version and trying to align themselves with other backup solutions. IBM's an expensive solution so if you're enterprise you'll go with them, especially if you have other IBM products in the workplace.
One of the places where the product can improve is in the interface. It is a little cumbersome to interact with and not very user-friendly. If the interface could be more simple it would make using the product better. The only other improvement I can think of — and again this has something to do with the GUI interface — is to include other features for configuration and scheduling tasks to make using the product more simple.
The user experience is very bad and the interface needs to be improved. It is not user-friendly. This is not my complaint, alone, but everybody I know who has worked with this solution. In order to perform a backup, professionally, you need to use the command-line interface. By comparison, Veritas has a backup solution with a very nice user interface that is easy to use. This solution is difficult to troubleshoot when an error occurs. It gives you an error number that you can search for in the manual, or on the internet, to find an answer, but details are not given within the user interface. Again, it is just not user-friendly.
The only thing that I would like to see improved is the actual schedule that you get on the policies. It does not allow for being flexible, like for weekly, just day one to five, and leave day six and seven. Especially if we're running multiple policies, like if we want to do a basic weekly incremental and then later do a monthly. In the next release, I want to see updates on the scheduling so that we can have more options on how you schedule stuff, like allowing you to use your everyday requirement.
The administration is not user-friendly and needs to be improved. It is more suited to a technical person. Instead of using the command prompt for troubleshooting and administering the backup, there should be an easy-to-use graphical user interface. The reporting should be improved. This solution would benefit from reports that included more aggregated data from the databases. We had an incident where we were unable to recover our data, and it was very bad. The solution was already implemented, but for technical reasons and a misunderstanding, we were not able to recover our data. This detracts from their credibility.
The virtual tape library needs to be improved. We have trouble with the administration of this solution. We need to update the volumes in the tape, but it first has to be transferred from tape to disk. The administration needs to be improved and made simpler to use. The time required for backup should be optimized. The verification process needs to be performed daily, so this should be more automated. The volume of the database grows every day. In the next release of this solution, I would like support for replication between the primary and secondary data centers. The duplicate backup date should be automatically eliminated.
The new functionality with the retention policy, where you can push it down from H2 Plus down to the Normal Spectrum Protect needs improvement. There is an individual file-level restore. I would like integration into where the VMware guys can do their own restores.
It's difficult to discuss improvements in Spectrum Protect Plus itself because it has been implemented in Spectrum Protect, and I'm using both. It could possibly use more reporting features. Their first level of support can be improved. Often they are too junior to understand the issues we are having, and it takes too much time to get from them to the next level of support, which is what we actually need.
The backup support for IBM Power Virtualization needs to be added. This would be a pretty good plus for this solution because no product at this moment, as I know, offers this feature.
An area that needs improvement is data validation. We currently use another product that gives us immediate validation, information about when the last backup was, and no risk of corruption happening. TSM in IBM Spectrum is not mature so that you can validate on the spot.