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.
Read full review Backup Exec works well generally in most environments or situations. The licensing can potentially be a nightmare, but manageable if you have a decent reseller. Backing up and restoring from physical tapes which is not all that common is not as reliable as when backing up and restoring from datastores that reside on hard drives or digital media. It does a good job with large or small backup jobs. Backing up and managing SQL backups requires additional licenses and be a bit clunky. If you are very careful (which you should be anyway) and document as you build these backups you will get better at managing them. Regarding a virtual environment, I have limited experience in that arena, but have done it. Backup Exec can backup VMware environments, but honestly we moved to Unitrends to backup our VM's and are much happier with the backup process. However, restoring a VM in Unitrends can be tedious compared to Backup Exec.
Read full review 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. Read full review Manage agent based backups - It is easy to schedule and monitor backups. Verifying backups is done for all jobs. Backup performance is excellent. Provide a wide ranging contingent of backup options - Despite providing a dizzying array of backup options, it is easy to schedule individual or recurring jobs. Integrates well with our Active Directory - Restoring even individual Active Directory objects is possible. Read full review 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 Read full review Could provide better license management from an inventory perspective. How many licenses do I have?.. etc. When Backup Exec backs up itself it should not select iSCSI backup targets by default. The result is recursive data backup ending in the loss of storage capacity. I'm struggling to come up with another con. Read full review Likelihood to Renew Not required, company closed. TSM is not used in my current role at my current job.
Read full review This software is a mess in my brutally honest opinion. I've spent more time babysitting this software while backing up 20 servers than I did with Veeam backing up 600+. I've had multiple jobs run fine for weeks at a time that just randomly fail out of the blue for seemingly no reason whatsoever. There's no intuitive way to chain jobs, so automation becomes somewhat more problematic if certain jobs depend on other jobs. The forever incremental feature feels tacked on since the merge operation merges all your incremental jobs into the most recent backup and doesn't have the option set a limit on how long to keep your point in time restores.
Read full review Usability In the present, a backup solution is a must-have, but then companies start using a solution for virtual machines, another solution for bare-metal servers, and another solution for their ERP. By using Spectrum Protect you can have all of that in a single pane of glass. This way you can have a simple recovery plan for all your information assets.
Read full review It can do a lot of things on paper and sounds terrific, but in practice it doesn't do any of them well. It can easily be sold to non-technical minds and C-levels, but of all the backup solutions I've used in the last 15 years of my career, Backup Exec is easily the least fault tolerant. Unless this software is a sunk cost and you're on a shoestring budget, I recommend almost anything else. Jobs fail often with obscure error codes and the KB articles in the Veritas support portal are a mess. Within 30 days of a fresh deployment I've logged more tickets with their support than I did in 3 years with Veeam.
Read full review Reliability and Availability The weekly error on save needs a manual reload from me. The SDR can't restore the virtual machine of hyperV during a test.
Read full review Performance No problem for this point it is in the average.
Read full review 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.
Read full review In the few instances of having to contact support, our overall outcome was always good. They would have received a better score if the wait time was less, but I attribute this to the timing of support calls - it was during the previous owner's time. We have not had to open a support ticket since Veritas Backup Exec took the product back over.
Read full review Implementation Rating It was pretty straightforward.
Read full review Alternatives Considered IBM Spectrum Protect is related to the other IBM Spectrum products listed because it is part of the suite and is also the main backup product for backup and restoration of information. With Veeam it is related as they present competence in different lines of technology, often the integration of both tools can be the best solution for clients looking for a successful backup strategy.
Read full review If your company is looking at changing solutions or currently does not have any, Veritas Backup Exec is the way to go. Do yourself a favor and try the 60 day trial, you won't be disappointed! Very simple to use and has a great GUI, much better than what the competition has to offer.
Read full review Contract Terms and Pricing Model Not at the moment, but it can leverage the billing outcomes as per the scales.
Read full review Scalability We only use it on the on-premise version on a single site.
Read full review Return on Investment Simple, care free backups, especially if you do not use tapes and do not have to manage those. Very fast restores as the libraries have everything available online. Ease of locating the necessary data to restore Read full review Backups by their very nature are difficult to quantify when it comes to ROI. Any monies spent should be seen more as insurance . If you never have to claim on it then that is the best outcome. Backup Exec gives you comfort that you can meet any downtime recovery targets set by your business and this is how to benchmark your solution. Conduct regular DR tests and your this will be your ROI. Read full review ScreenShots