IBM Storage Protect vs. Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
IBM Storage Protect
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
IBM Storage Protect (formerly IBM Spectrum Protect, or Tivoli Storage Manager) provides data resilience for physical file servers, virtual environments, and applications. Organizations can scale up to manage billions of objects per backup server.N/A
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) is an enterprise backup and recovery system that contributes to BCDR strategy by facilitating the backup and recovery of enterprise data.N/A
Pricing
IBM Storage ProtectMicrosoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
IBM Storage ProtectMicrosoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
IBM Storage ProtectMicrosoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Features
IBM Storage ProtectMicrosoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Data Center Backup
Comparison of Data Center Backup features of Product A and Product B
IBM Storage Protect
7.9
Ratings
7% below category average
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
8.0
Ratings
6% below category average
Universal recovery8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Instant recovery8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Recovery verification8.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Business application protection8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Multiple backup destinations8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Incremental backup identification8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Backup to the cloud8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Deduplication and file compression8.00 Ratings9.90 Ratings
Snapshots8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Flexible deployment8.00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Management dashboard7.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Platform support7.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Retention options7.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Encryption9.00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
User Ratings
IBM Storage ProtectMicrosoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.1
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
IBM Storage ProtectMicrosoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Likelihood to Recommend
Tivoli does well running file-level backups, but Exchange is clunky and restores are really hard. With no SharePoint agent, if you use SharePoint you will need another product like AvePoint DocAve. The web-based GUI console is MUCH improved over earlier versions, but you will still need to be a command-line guru to make Tivoli do everything, and local (node) config files still rule. This product was originally ported from Unix and retains may of its 'nix roots.
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Well suited for domain disaster recovery. I would avoid considering it for remote or non-domain disaster recovery. While it claims to have the ability, and we have used it this way for years, it often loses it's connection to the DPM server for no apparent reason, and has to be reconfigured. It doesn't always seem to work
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Pros
  • Tight integration with Db2. As an IBM product, it works seamlessly with Db2. You can query what is stored in TSM via Db2 itself. You can also use DB scripts to maintain the items being stored there.
  • Like most of its competitors, Tivoli handles deduplication well.
  • Provides a GUI for browsing and maintaining items stored there. I rarely use this feature, due to the next item I will post:
  • Command-line interface directly from my Db2 database servers.
  • Both client and server-side deduplication, compression and encryption are available.
  • If the requirements are zLinux and DB2 support then it's the most solid solution.
  • Can be complex to implement, but once up and running, it is rock-solid and immensely scalable.
  • Scalability is huge. Can be added onto easily.
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  • Clustered Hyper-V VM backup and restore.
  • Easy to have multiple restore points.
  • Can back up different workloads with the same solution.
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Cons
  • Deployment and configuration is not easy for an unexperienced IBM Spectrum Protect administrator
  • Operations center uses a lot of data and needs a lot of storage for larger environments
  • Have not seen a redbook about it in the past 10 years
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  • Remote and non-domain backups could be simplified.
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Likelihood to Renew
Not required, company closed. TSM is not used in my current role at my current job.
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Usability
It is suitable for a huge part of our organisation, supports many operating systems (including Windows, Linux and IBM AIX), supports many databases - also for online backups (like Oracle, Db2 and SAP HANA), has an Operational Center for control, command-line and GUI for backup/restore. It just works well, once setup correctly.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
The few times we've called for support we eventually got an answer, but it's IBM and a very big company and getting to a support agent is hard.
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Alternatives Considered
We have been using TSM (former ADSM), rebranded Spectrum Protect and now rebranded Storage Protect a long time already. The product served us well. Last time we compared it to competitors we found they all had something lacking. And switching backup suites is no small task if there is data you need to keep 5, 7 or 10 years anyway. Commvault gets close, but doesn't match all features.
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Return on Investment
  • It can be used as a disaster recovery solution when you have the right configuration (either replication or tape copies in a safe location). This way it can be a lifesaver for any company.
  • It can bring back the information you need if you are hit by ransomeware.
  • It is also needed if you are accounting for user error, sometimes people delete the files they need by accident and without a backup solution they are out of luck
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  • Reduced recovery time
  • Fast backup
  • Complete interface
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ScreenShots