Item: Commvault Complete Data Protection
Rating: 10
Author: David Lester

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I like to refer to Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery as a Swiss Army knife. The healthcare industry encompasses a vast array of hardware and software solutions. Providing data protection to all of these architectures is paramount to the safety of our patients. Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery allows us the flexibility to customize our support model so that it fits the institutional vision.

Pros and Cons

Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery provides complete auditing. Having worked with many products in the past, most fell short on reporting. In particular reporting on restores. Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery provides detailed information on operations that were performed, the account performing the operation and where was the data placed.
The flexibility of the product allows it to be more of a framework than a rigid application. By leveraging vendor specific API's, such as NetApp SnapVault/SnapMirror access, stronger integration and a more reliable service is produced. The workflow functionality and ability to utilize personal scripts helps administrators perform developer functions.
Support for aging technologies is a challenge for any large institution. Maintaining the ability to support old solutions, even in a limited capacity, is more desirable than bringing in a secondary solution or not support it at all.

Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery has developed the concept of plans that work great in smaller institutions but can hamstring large enterprises by the limited flexibility. There are situations where plans appear to be forced into decisions. Ideally, providing the ability to disable plans would be beneficial.
The security model is granular in respects to permissions and ability to implement it for a single object (client, user, job). Implementing the correct collection of permissions can sometimes feel like opening a padlock. This appears to be a great place to implement a wizard for guiding administrators through desired behaviors and building the appropriate security role.

Return on Investment

Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery has allowed us to sunset several specialized products that are no longer needed. These application-specific backup solutions were necessary for certification. Now that Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery provides the same protection, consolidation was an easy decision.
Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery was able to provide like-kind replacements for in-house solutions. Custom backup solution functionality could be mirrored in Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery while gaining the management layer for auditing, reporting, monitoring and trending.

Alternatives Considered

Veritas NetBackup, Veeam Backup & Replication, Tivoli Storage Manager, Arcserve Backup, Dell EMC Networker and NetApp SnapCenter Backup Management

In the past it has been necessary to leverage multiple products to provide a complete data protection solution. Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery has been able to mirror the functions of competitive products while increasing functionality and management. Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery works cleanly in disparate environments that leverage dissimilar technologies and products.

Support Rating

The extensive logging and process analysis allows for definitive root-cause identification. Support teams are easy to work with and fully understand the scenario. Case registration leverages AI technology to intelligently evaluate case classification. Support case registration ensures that I am connected to the correct support group the first time. The support teams quickly follow up with responses and provide periodic updates to ensure you stay informed.

Key Insights

Do you think Commvault Complete Data Protection delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Commvault Complete Data Protection's feature set?

Yes

Did Commvault Complete Data Protection live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Commvault Complete Data Protection go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Commvault Complete Data Protection again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Other backup products have a tendency to be rigid in design. Many times it is necessary to choose a backup solution that best fits the environment and sacrifice features for functionality. Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery is centered on adaptability. The product framework provides infinite flexibility while also providing backward capability to previous configurations. Utilizing vendor APIs allows for less product development time, more reliable operations and better support. The integrated auditing and logging mechanisms provide extensive analysis of processes.

Commvault - The Swiss Army knife for Data Protection.

Overall Satisfaction with Commvault Complete Backup & Recovery