Asigra vs. Datto SIRIS vs. Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk

If implemented as a Cloud Service provider (Public Cloud), In House Solution (Private Cloud) or a mixture of both (Hybrid Cloud):

• The Agentless Architecture means there are less support burdens.
• Encryption at Source gives the customer confidence their data is secure.
• WAN Optimisation (Compression & Block Level Incremential Forever and De-deupe of Data), enables a large amount of Data to be protected offsite.
• One step Backup to both Local and Offsite storage enables LAN speed restores with offsite peace of mind.
• Asigra Replication from DS-System to DS-System enables another geographically separate copy of the data.

Datto is a fantastic option for smaller businesses who don't have as large of a budget. It might work well for larger businesses as well, but the features are not exactly on par with more prevalent backup solutions. So, that should be kept in mind while determining a good fit for a company. But if selling a backup solution is met with push back, this can be a great option to give a good working backup solution. It offers the main features solutions should have, so it's definitely not a compromise. Just keep in mind the features it does not offer.

Incentivized

It's a great helpdesk solution - we currently have five years of data within it, roughly 25,000 tickets. The older edition is a great inventory and software license tracking tool. It is easy for users to use the interface and submit tickets and requests on the web, and its email integration is solid. The new version is a below-average system monitoring tool, only giving up/down status and a few other metrics.

Incentivized

• Provides capability of local backups while maintaining remote copies on cloud to ensure faster recoveries of recent data and remote protection of all data.
• Helps reduce cost of long term retention by leveraging the BLM functionality.
• It does not need specialized hardware for it to work. Customers and Service Providers can choose their own infrastructure and do not need to rely on any OS or storage based replication even for deploying replication of backups.
• Supports wide range of environments including virtual environments with remarkable features like remote VDR with incremental restores.

• Simple agent setup for new machines to be protected. A new machine can be setup on the server in under a minute whether it be a Linux or Windows based machine.
• Local virtualization on the Datto is quick to start up. After a physical problem with a server I had the machine locally virtualized on the Datto before users had a chance to report service issues to me.
• Nothing to do on my end to get backups shifted to offsite data center. Schedules are setup for each machine or group of machines and I sleep well knowing all our backups are safely stored offsite.

Incentivized

• It helps to multitask, even on the go with the mobile App.
• We can customize to meet your needs with automated responses, notifications, and templates.
• Detailed reports allow managers to keep track [of] and analyze data.
• Allows for a database to store notes helpful for future tickets.

Incentivized

• We would like to see Asigra come out with a Replication Model for quick Recovery of systems upon Disaster. We can have quicker recovery, DR, with Virtual Machines but we would like to have Physical Machine recovery in less than 2 hours. Replication can accomplish this...
• We would like to see Geolocation and remote wipe for endpoint devices
• We would like to see the solution provide easy "roll back" after a disaster.

• Initial backup sync: The downside to the cloud backup is that, if you have a lot of data, you need an external hard drive to seed to the cloud. And you usually have to request this after you've already got everything else working.
• Unsyncing: We have pretty decent bandwidth, but with 8TB of data, we'd get syncing issues with the cloud servers every 3 months or so. The only way to address it was to request another external drive and resync it, but that also meant losing the older data.
• Availability and support: Datto only operates through MSPs and VARs, and will not help you directly without putting in a ticket with your provider. This causes delays, and extra epenses, and if you grow beyond the need for an MSP, you have to keep them around for at least that piece.

Incentivized

• I have always wanted a way to redirect a support request into another IS bin, such as a development task.
• It's possible to extract the data from the Spiceworks database, but it would be helpful if the process to do so were easier.
• Improved ability to customize the system generated emails to improve the formatting and company branding.

Incentivized

• Asigra is a great entry way into the cloud.

• Compliance is a tricky thing. Jumping backup software means having to deal with previous copies somehow. Asigra is built for the long haul.
• Asigra is continuing to increase their feature stack. They have made huge steps in the VM backup in the last 3 years and continue to implement features there.
• As far as cloud backup software goes, there are many that can do it, but none that do it as well as Asigra.

Incentivized

I trust the product and service and am satisfied with the direction of the company

Incentivized

Spiceworks is a free tool, so there would be no hesitation if we are required to upgrade it. We have installed Spiceworks on a dedicated server with more than enough resources to get the most from this tool, so we will have this running in our department for years to come.

Incentivized

It is a bit rough around the edges and the GUI feels like a wrap around of a CLI but it is simple to use. The problem comes in when there is an error code you are usually chasing down the error code in the specific vendor's forums rather than Asigra's

Incentivized

Usability is great. The web interface is simple and easy to use. While various options are available for client backups, it is very easy to re-use settings of the existing client, so adding new clients is a very fast process. Configuration of the agent on the client-side cannot be easier as well. Datto dashboard provides an overview of the client status, and email notifications can be configured for various events.

Incentivized

Spiceworks is user friendly and easy to set up. It can be customized to suit your needs. If there are any problems, you can go to the community forums for support and be in contact with many IT Pros, as well as the Spiceworks support staff and development teams who are always happy to help users out

Incentivized

Over 6 consecutive years our Asigra Backend had 99.99% uptime and provided 7x24 data restore availability.
Software is robust in operations, provides N+1 node architecture to protect against failure of half of the nodes (majority of the nodes still up) and software based replication to protect against data loss across two geographically independent datacenter locations. Why not 10 points? Some major upgrades still require short downtime within a planned maintenance windows.

We use it both locally on our own server so up time is decided by us and we also use the hosted help desk. We have never had an outage of that.

Incentivized

They respond quickly on your request. They ask for details at the time of logging the support request itself ensuring the first response is not for collecting the basic details only. They refund you the support request if they find it as a functionality issue. They follow up on you to ensure you are satisfied and happy with the response and resolution that they have provided.

My specific example or reason for this rating goes back to a need for support after a client on this platform has a fire. In a nutshell, Datto had no idea how to BMR the image back to the server correctly, and as a result, the RAID on the server was lost, due to the Datto BDR environment not being able to see the RAID card, and the support technician knowing how to inject drivers.

Incentivized

Spiceworks has been working out of the box, and some of the basic customizations have been successful with just our internal staff handling. We don't have any other issues with the tool. It provides us with the inventory information we want in a quick and concise report in a variety of formats for our team.

Incentivized

Anything training past level 1 and level 2 is a waste of time. They do not offer training, just an exam and require you to read 2500 pages of their documentation as their training. They are selling you something which you already have. Training exams are far fetched and cover topics hidden within the documentation. A lot of their documentation does not match across itself. They don't even follow the standard versions Major.Minor.ServicePack.Hotfix. They use the MAJOR.MAJOR.MAJOR.Hotfix method, which doesn't match their documentation. They require you to take training in order to keep your engaged hybrid partnership. If you ask me personally, their training is a scam to make more money.

Quick to install, easy to create jobs, schedules and retention policies. No large cycles of setting up backup volumes or trash volumes. Retention job itself configures the BLM functionality so you don't need an expertise to handle the BLM module separately.

If you can spin up a VM to run it on, you'll thank yourself later. If you have remote sites, set up a local server (or dedicated computer) at each site and set them up as remote collectors for the main site. You'll save time and bandwidth

Incentivized

I would say that it has the same functionality as the three mentioned above in their respective fields (might have a bit less than some of them) but Asigra offers all of this and more so if you are looking for a single backup solution across the entire firm then Asigra is the much better choice

Incentivized

Datto seemed to be better than other vendors I trialed, and I inherited an Alto device, so it was easy to stay with them. I also assumed the backups had been working with the previous contractor, but it turns out they had been failing for months and no one knew it.

EGroupware UI is clunky and hard to use, Jira is great but the pricing is expensive in comparison with spice works that has a free version and you can test it out properly before buying and make a correct decision based on your business plan and company objectives with the right software.

Incentivized

• Our entire Asigra environment can be easily monitored through one plane of glass thanks to their DS-Operator and Asigra Management Console.
• It's quite simple to use and navigate.
• Never has restoration fallen short.
• Data from several generations can be saved and retrieved.
• After a hardware failure, an edge server can be easily and quickly rebuilt.

Incentivized

• In most cases, Datto will provide the appliance free of charge with a 3-5 year contract which results in a modest monthly fee instead of a large initial outlay and monthly fees.
• The contract's warranty is top-notch. Failed drives or issues with the appliances are replaced/corrected with free replacements and shipping.

Incentivized

• Positive - Allow organizations to implement structured Help Desk procedures.
• Positive - IT can begin to quantify their tickets and uncover needs within the organization.
• Positive - IT can develop a solid roadmap with [the] management of future needs, equipment refresh schedules, etc.
• Positive - IT can pinpoint employees who may need extra training or updated equipment based on historical ticketing data.

Incentivized