We compared Azure Backup and IBM Spectrum Protect based on user reviews in five categories. We reviewed all of the data and you can find the conclusion below.
Features: Azure Backup is commended for its scalability, comprehensive security options, and non-disruptive backup process. Users also like its seamless integration with various Azure services. IBM Spectrum Protect is highly regarded for its ability to integrate with tape libraries and its customization options. Users also praised Spectrum Protect for its compatibility with various products, scalability, and stability. Azure Backup needs to improve its backup and file-level restoration procedure. IBM Spectrum Protect could improve its integration with cloud services and make its interface more user-friendly.
Service and Support: Azure's customer service is generally considered helpful and proactive, but a few users have reported longer wait times and slow issue resolution. IBM’s customer service is described as high quality, friendly, knowledgeable, and responsive. At the same time, some said the support process can be lengthy.
Ease of Deployment: Azure Backup's setup is easy, quick, and can be completed with minimal user involvement. IBM Spectrum Protect's initial setup is challenging and demands skilled professionals to configure multiple parameters and features. This process can be time-consuming.
Pricing: Azure Backup is a cloud-based solution, so its pricing depends on factors like storage and data consumption. Azure offers competitive pricing and is considered more cost effective than many competing solutions. IBM Spectrum Protect is considered expensive. The pricing model is complex, taking into account factors like processor type and volume.
ROI: Azure Backup offers a solid return on investment with its affordable pricing and low initial costs, particularly when upgrading solutions. Users have realized benefits from IBM Spectrum Protect’s data protection and retrieval. They appreciate its ability to reduce storage requirements with larger tape sizes.
Comparison Results: Azure Backup is an affordable, scalable solution that features an effortless deployment and native integration with Azure services. While reviews of Azure Backup’s features were generally positive, some users reported unsatisfactory experiences with Azure support. IBM Spectrum Protect is a reliable, customizable solution that allows smooth integration with tape libraries. At the same time, some say that the user interface could be more intuitive and Spectrum Protect could integrate better with the cloud.
"This solution allows me to restore either the VM or the data, depending on what is needed."
"The most valuable feature of Azure Backup is the native backup capabilities."
"The most valuable features of Azure Backup for us are its flexible retention options and the ability to recover to a second region with geo-replication and read access."
"It is easy to schedule backups."
"It's very simple to configure which is very useful. It's not complex to configure it."
"The product is cost-effective compared to other vendors."
"I like that it's a stable solution and their support is good. I think Microsoft's commercial force is superior."
"The storage backup is very efficient."
"Reliability: It has never had a problem with backups or restores. If you store something, it is there."
"The customization and the ability to backup across all platforms are the most valuable features."
"Our customers have come to trust IBM."
"We do not lose data. That is why we are using this product and have a backup in place."
"The most valuable feature for data recovery in IBM Spectrum Protect is its database protection capabilities."
"Every time we go and try to get a file, we can get it. Restores are quick and the data is always there."
"The most valuable features of Spectrum Protect would be the compression and the deduplication."
"The main thing is to keep the data safe and in files, keep it on tape ready for a request from a bank, and it is working perfectly with all our hardware."
"We faced some issues synchronizing the information in Azure when the storage was changed."
"Azure Backup must include features similar to enterprise solutions."
"I once tried restoring a Linux environment, and the size of the Linux VM or the data disk was really huge. It took a really long time to restore the environment and send the data from the storage to the disk. It took around 25 to 30 minutes, which was much longer than I anticipated. They can improve the duration of such restore operations. In the next release, it would also be good if they could reduce the duration for transferring the data from their storage to the actual storage while creating a virtual machine. They can reduce the duration or increase the data transfer rate."
"There is a limitation of 99 files restores per day which means that we can't complete a huge file restore. We would like Azure to increase the number of the possible file restorations."
"The Azure Backup support for on-premises service is limited."
"On-prem can be complex to set up but the cloud is simple."
"In the next release, I would like to see the ability to back up to different cloud providers."
"Technical support is in need of improvement."
"This product should be more user-friendly for newcomers."
"The solution's initial setup process wasn't easy...The solution is overly complicated in terms of architecture, especially compared to other tools in the market."
"It needs agents that take into account more databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)."
"Restoring massive files is a very time-consuming process."
"Our customers would like to see metadata replication, tearing to tape, and more cloud capabilities."
"This solution does not have good support for virtualization and a hyper-converged environment."
"The Hyper-V and SQL Server backup could be improved. In the 2016 version there was a significant improvement, but I think IBM has a big challenge with these technologies."
"They need to reduce the complexity and make the learning curve easier."
Azure Backup is ranked 7th in Backup and Recovery with 50 reviews while IBM Spectrum Protect is ranked 17th in Backup and Recovery with 146 reviews. Azure Backup is rated 7.8, while IBM Spectrum Protect is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Azure Backup writes "Straightforward to set up and manage and allows us to monitor all backups in one place". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM Spectrum Protect writes "Performance and recoveries are better, and customers are happier with performance". Azure Backup is most compared with Veeam Backup & Replication, Rubrik, Commvault Cloud, Acronis Cyber Protect and Veritas NetBackup, whereas IBM Spectrum Protect is most compared with IBM Spectrum Protect Plus, Veeam Backup & Replication, Commvault Cloud, Cohesity DataProtect and NAKIVO Backup & Replication. See our Azure Backup vs. IBM Spectrum Protect report.
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We monitor all Backup and Recovery reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.