Azure Blob Storage vs. IBM Storage Protect

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Azure Blob Storage
Score 9.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's Blob Storage system on Azure is designed to make unstructured data available to customers anywhere through REST-based object storage.
$0.01
per GB/per month
IBM Storage Protect
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
IBM Storage Protect (formerly IBM Spectrum Protect, or Tivoli Storage Manager) provides data resilience for physical file servers, virtual environments, and applications. Organizations can scale up to manage billions of objects per backup server.N/A
Pricing
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Editions & Modules
Block Blobs
$0.0081
per GB/per month
Azure Data Lake Storage
$0.0081
per GB/per month
Files
$0.058
per GB/per month
Managed Discs
$1.54
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Considered Both Products
Azure Blob Storage
Chose Azure Blob Storage
Blob storage lets us control the file source/hosting and retain everything within our Microsoft ecosystem. Blob is less feature-rich than some of the other products. Still, we consider it as a value-added product included within our environment, and alternative products are not …
Chose Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage was used only because we were already using it for other projects, and it has a good reputation for being a reliable cloud provider. It also has widespread regional availability and allows for data replication. It can also be easily accessed via the API or by …
Chose Azure Blob Storage
We didn't actually evaluate anything but Azure Blob Storage since it worked so well for backups and Audit logs and the price point was good enough for us.
Chose Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob Storage is the best choice to store files when the app runs in Azure. It also has some advantages over S3, like Shared Access Signatures, that make it easy to control access to files directly via a URL. Azure Blob Storage is very fast and we have not had any major …
Chose Azure Blob Storage
S3 seemed to be just as functional as blob storage in our analysis. The only real difference is we already were on the Microsoft platform with 365, and it was an easy system to continue to learn. That was the only real deciding factor between the two that made any difference …
Chose Azure Blob Storage
Ease of use and availability to actual usage makes it my first choice. I feel like IBM Cloud is where azure was 5 years ago in terms of implementation and ease of use. AWS has some great functionality but it almost feels like you need to learn how to work under the hood of a …
Chose Azure Blob Storage
Azure Blob is the only major cloud object storage platform that we use today.
IBM Storage Protect
Chose IBM Storage Protect
At the time when we choose Storage Protect Veeam Data Platform was not an option on the market. Later we took the opportunity to evaluate it, but we kept Storage Protect because we already had in place the configuration for it.
Chose IBM Storage Protect
can manage backup and archive data across disk arrays, tape libraries or optical storage and can automatically move data
Chose IBM Storage Protect
Tivoli is the best software backup solution for medium and large-sized companies that need a backup and disaster recovery system that is customizable with a very high level of reliability. I really like the way we can customize the software according to the environment. It …
Chose IBM Storage Protect
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.
Chose IBM Storage Protect
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 …
Chose IBM Storage Protect
Tivoli sits right in the middle of these two products, all things considered. Each has its own strengths (Cohesity has bells and whistles, CommVault works well with Microsoft). Tivoli is a nice blend and rock-solid once implemented.
Chose IBM Storage Protect
We are an IBM shop. TSM was bundled into the mix when we purchased new IBM equipment for new ERP project.
Chose IBM Storage Protect
We have been using TSM (former ADSM), rebranded Spectrum Protect and now rebranded Storage Protect a long time already. The product served us well.
Last time we compared it to competitors we found they all had something lacking. And switching backup suites is no small task if …
Features
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Data Center Backup
Comparison of Data Center Backup features of Product A and Product B
Azure Blob Storage
-
Ratings
IBM Storage Protect
7.9
Ratings
7% below category average
Universal recovery00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Instant recovery00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Recovery verification00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Business application protection00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Multiple backup destinations00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Incremental backup identification00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Backup to the cloud00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Deduplication and file compression00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Snapshots00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Flexible deployment00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Management dashboard00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Platform support00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Retention options00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Encryption00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Small Businesses
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
Score 9.6 out of 10
Cove Data Protection
Cove Data Protection
Score 9.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Score 9.9 out of 10
Bacula Enterprise
Bacula Enterprise
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Score 9.9 out of 10
Bacula Enterprise
Bacula Enterprise
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
7.2
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Azure Blob StorageIBM Storage Protect
Likelihood to Recommend
Azure Blob Storage is well suited for cases where you are working with different data formats and looking for cost-effective storage solutions based on access frequency. Another area of strength is the encryption of data at rest, and encryption can be managed on your own. However, it may not be appropriate for transferring large data very fast.
Read full review
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.
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Pros
  • Reduced cost. We were able to reduce our storage infrastructure by several hundred terabytes by consolidating redundant copies and dedupe/compression on files.
  • Extremely high level of redundancy. We can replicate data in a variety of ways that we would never have been capable of on our own hardware.
Read full review
  • 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
Cons
  • If we are transferring huge amount of data (outbound), it can get quite expensive.
  • With new features being added constantly, although a good thing, at times it becomes difficult to keep up with the changes. Documentation needs to keep UpToDate and should include best practices.
  • Performance can be improved especially when it comes to cold storage.
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  • 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
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
Not required, company closed. TSM is not used in my current role at my current job.
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Usability
Blob storage is fairly simple, with several different options/settings that can be configured. The file explorer has enhanced its usability. Some areas could be improved, such as providing more details or stats on how many times a file has been accessed. It is an obvious choice if you're already using Azure/Entra.
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It is suitable for a huge part of our organisation, supports many operating systems (including Windows, Linux and IBM AIX), supports many databases - also for online backups (like Oracle, Db2 and SAP HANA), has an Operational Center for control, command-line and GUI for backup/restore. It just works well, once setup correctly.
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Support Rating
Documentation sometimes appears to be out of date or not fully documented properly with new releases. It is like documentation comes out for a specific version and is quickly out of date. Another issue is documentation is scarce on new releases and only seems to get properly updated (and sometimes is still wrong) once enough people hit the forums to complain.
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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.
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Alternatives Considered
Blob storage lets us control the file source/hosting and retain everything within our Microsoft ecosystem. Blob is less feature-rich than some of the other products. Still, we consider it as a value-added product included within our environment, and alternative products are not needed for our requirements. Keeping the hosting within our tenant locale is vital to us.
Read full review
We have been using TSM (former ADSM), rebranded Spectrum Protect and now rebranded Storage Protect a long time already. The product served us well. Last time we compared it to competitors we found they all had something lacking. And switching backup suites is no small task if there is data you need to keep 5, 7 or 10 years anyway. Commvault gets close, but doesn't match all features.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Made it easy for organization to move to cloud from on-premise based solution.
  • We were able to centralize all our documents.
  • Cost savings compared to on-premise based solutions.
Read full review
  • It can be used as a disaster recovery solution when you have the right configuration (either replication or tape copies in a safe location). This way it can be a lifesaver for any company.
  • It can bring back the information you need if you are hit by ransomeware.
  • It is also needed if you are accounting for user error, sometimes people delete the files they need by accident and without a backup solution they are out of luck
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ScreenShots