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Pricey for the feature set, but solid at what it does.
December 12, 2019

Pricey for the feature set, but solid at what it does.

Scott Reese | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Tivoli Storage Manager

We use it for file-level backups for all Windows and Linux server (275+), and Exchange mailbox-level backups. We have a 3-year recovery SLA for deleted files, and Tivoli makes retention policy configuration pretty easy.
  • File-level backups on all servers.
  • Granular retention policy. Some files we keep 3 years, others 30 days.
  • Exchange agent is a bolt-on that is not manageable from the console. You have to use an MMC plug-in on the Exchange server.
  • No SharePoint agent (anymore... there used to be one).
  • Tivoli is not cheap. If you need it, spend the cash, but know there are less expensive alternatives.
Tivoli no longer has a SharePoint agent, others do. We are looking at a product that is agentless (runs in VMWare) to relieve our staff from installing and maintaining agents on 300 servers.

Do you think IBM Storage Protect delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with IBM Storage Protect's feature set?

No

Did IBM Storage Protect live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of IBM Storage Protect go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy IBM Storage Protect again?

No

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.

IBM Storage Protect Feature Ratings

Data Center Backup
8.3
Instant recovery
9
Business application protection
3
Multiple backup destinations
10
Incremental backup identification
Not Rated
Backup to the cloud
Not Rated
Deduplication and file compression
10
Snapshots
Not Rated
Flexible deployment
Not Rated
Management dashboard
8
Platform support
6
Retention options
10
Encryption
10

Tivoli Storage Manager Support

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.