Cost Effective Backup Solution
June 16, 2016

Cost Effective Backup Solution

Brett Williston | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Unitrends

Unitrends is the primary onsite backup appliance for most of our county offices. It provides timely backups and disaster recovery solutions to the majority of our county offices.
  • The backup reporting is easy to understand
  • Interface is relatively simple
  • Easy setup and installation
  • The backup wizards could be easier
  • The rack install was too complicated
  • Better compression = faster backups
  • Lets the IT Director sleep better at night
  • I believe for the price it is an average ROI
  • Restoration is quick
Unitrends is a cost effective and reliable solution for a mid size government organization. Don't know if this would work well in a large corporate environment but works perfectly for our 200 users.

Unitrends Feature Ratings

Universal recovery
9
Instant recovery
9
Recovery verification
9
Business application protection
9
Incremental backup identification
8
Deduplication and file compression
2

Using Unitrends

200 - backup and restoration for county assessor, 911 addressing, IT, and Planning Commission
1 - Basic understanding of networking and computers. Very simple to use. Person doesn't need to be Cisco Certified or Microsoft Certified.
  • Backup
  • Restoration
  • Reporting
  • Backup
  • Restoration
Cost effective solution for a midsize government organization. The customer support, thus far, has been extremely helpful.

Evaluating Unitrends and Competitors

Yes - Before unitrends we used tape backups that were physically located on each server. Some servers just used external hard drives for their backup solution. The Unitrends appliance has worked much better.
  • Price
  • Existing Relationship with the Vendor
As a government organization I am always looking for the most cost effective yet reliable solutions for our IT needs. As a public servant I feel it absolutely necessary to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. Unitrends fits both of these criteria. Unitrends was recommended by a trusted vendor and this helped tremendously with the decision.
If there were another appliance in this price range I may have spent more time comparing. Overall, I am extremely happy with Unitrends. I had heard horrible reviews about Barracuda but never took the time to personally review the product. All in all I am happy with my decision to go with Unitrends. So I have no regrets so far in not personally reviewing Barracuda or other solutions.

Unitrends Implementation

The Unitrends employees involved in the installation were very friendly and knowledgeable. A certain degree of hiccups can be expected during any installation but never shook my confidence because of the friendly and knowledgeable team that was assigned to my project.
  • Vendor implemented
A unitrends employee helped me with the installation. He was very friendly and easy to work with.
Yes - If I remember correctly we had a planning phase and an installation phase and then a setup of the various machines phase.
  • Registration of the machines was frustrating.
  • Retention rate very confusing.
  • Backup wizard had an extra step that was not intuitive. The unitrends employee had to let me in on the "trick".

Unitrends Support

Quick response to all my inquiries. Very helpful when I have had to call. Customer support has always been really friendly as well. Not much more that I could ask for in customer service.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Not Sure - We pay for an annual support contract. Did not know there was another level of support.
Was having a problem understanding my retention times. Called support and the gentleman was very friendly and explained the concept in a clear manner. I personally appreciate this very much. So many technical support personnel come off as arrogant and rude and that I should be grateful for their time. They seem to forget the I am the CUSTOMER. Have not had this problem with anyone at Unitrends.

Using Unitrends

Unitrends is simpler that most other appliances but I believe there is some room for improvement. The backup wizards could be simpler and retention rates need to be easier to understand. The registration of appliances with the appliance can be frustrating. Once the appliance is setup to backup the various machines it is a breeze to administer.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Network installation was a breeze.
  • Restoration of files is extremely easy.
  • Reports are very easy to understand.
  • Retention rates are difficult to understand.
  • Backup wizards can be a little confusing.
  • Registering machines with the appliance could be easier.
Not Sure - Don't know if they have one or not.