Top 15 Backup Vendors and Companies in 2024

• Rubrik
• Veeam
• Cohesity
• IBM
• DELL Backup
• Vembu
• Veritas
• NetApp

Veeam Backup & Replication

Virtual environments of any size can be easily protected by Veeam Backup & Replication. It’s a fast, flexible and reliable way of recovering your data and apps. There’s a single solution that includes both backup and recovery, and also protects the data of your VMware VSphere and Hyper-V virtual environments. The solution itself is able to scale well and support everything up to entire virtual infrastructures with features like instant file-level recovery, built-in deduplication capabilities and such.

Veeam Backup & Replication as a software has several different editions – from the free community version to more complex enterprise and enterprise-plus editions. Of course, they are priced differently, and offer a different number of features. Veeam is  one of the most common backup and recovery system vendors on the market.

Customer ratings:

• Capterra – 4.8/5 stars based on 69 customer reviews
• TrustRadius – 8.8/10 stars based on 1,237 customer reviews
• G2 – 4.6/5 stars based on 387 customer reviews

Advantages:

• Backup and replication processes are simple and easy to set up
• General backup/recovery process management is fast and convenient
• Customer support is quick and efficient, and even the community forums can be a great help for many users

Shortcomings:

• Error troubleshooting can be far more challenging than it should be
• User interface as a whole looks and feels outdated, it stands out a lot when used in combination with more modern operating systems such as Windows 10 or Windows 11
• The pricing model that allows customers to pay for the solution “per VM” received a substantial update fairly recently and is now a lot higher than the market average
• Data Management and Cyber Resiliency perhaps need more development

Pricing (at the time of writing):

• Veeam’s pricing information is not publicly available on their official website and the only way to obtain such information is by contacting the company directly for a quote or a free trial.
• What Veeam does have is a pricing calculator page that lets users specify the number of different environments they want covered with Veeam’s solution, as well as the planned subscription period. All of that can be sent to Veeam in order to receive a personalized quote.

My personal opinion on Veeam:

Veeam reigns as a frontrunner in the realm of backup solutions, garnering immense popularity among diverse organizations. While its focus gravitates towards VM-centric backup capabilities, its versatility extends to encompass some physical, cloud, and application environments. Veeam’s reputation for speed and scalability makes it a compelling choice for clients ranging from fledgling startups to established enterprises as long as they are not so big. However, Veeam’s solution is far from perfect – its overall user interface is somewhat outdated, troubleshooting issues can be rather challenging, and the pricing structure of the solution can leave a lot of people rather confused. More seriously for some, security levels can be limited.

IBM Spectrum Storage Suite

IBM Spectrum Protect is designed to simplify data protection no matter the storage type – be it physical storage, virtual storage or cloud-based environments, and irrespective of system type, from virtual machines and file servers to databases, mainframes and desktops. It also provides multiple other capabilities – from backup and recovery to disaster recovery and bare metal recovery. Its base is an agentless, easy to use virtual environment with a low cost and automation capabilities, and it can be installed in both Hyper-V and VMware environments.

Licensing costs of this product are significantly lower than some other backup vendors since they charge per-backend-TB that is consumed no matter the data type or application type. The most popular Spectrum Protect use cases are VMware, Hyper-V, Oracle, SQL Server, Db2 and more.

Customer ratings:

• TrustRadius – 8.0/10 stars based on 22 customer reviews
• G2 – 3.9/5 stars based on 60 customer reviews

Advantages:

• Comprehensive data protection across multiple environments – cloud, on-premises and hybrid
• Outstanding logging and documentation capabilities
• Guaranteed data protection with regular backups, high-class data security, and more

Shortcomings:

• Problematic and time-consuming setup/configuration
• The solution itself is somewhat complex and takes a certain amount of time to get used to
• The price of the solution is considered higher than the market average

Pricing (at the time of writing):

• IBM Spectrum Protect’s pricing information only includes two pricing plans:
  • A monthly license that starts at $67.70 for either 1 Terabyte or 10 managed VMs
  • A perpetual license that starts at $2,160 per either 1 Terabyte or 10 managed VMs

My personal opinion on IBM Spectrum Storage Suite:

IBM Spectrum is an often overlooked backup solution from a renowned technology company. Despite IBM’s reputation as a hardware powerhouse, Spectrum emerges as a robust backup and recovery software solution for large enterprises. Its support for diverse storage types combined with a rich feature set and agentless architecture makes it a presentable choice. Notably, Spectrum excels in an area often considered a weakness of enterprise backup solutions – reporting and logging capabilities. While initial configuration can be challenging, and the overall interface may be confusing, Spectrum’s individual elements are mostly well-integrated, providing a surprisingly cohesive experience (no pun intended!). Agentless functionaity can be limited, including with VMware, as well as limited tape functionality.

Vembu BDR Suite

Vembu BDR suite is a complex backup and recovery solution that specializes in data protection across both physical and virtual environments. Data protection for companies of many sizes can be handled by Vembu – from small businesses to some large enterprises and data centers. It also provides a number of features such as VMware backup, Hyper-V backup, Windows Image backup and basic file/application backup. There are also several data replication capabilities – you can store another copy of your data either within Vembu’s cloud (Cloud DR) or on Vembu’s offsite server (Offsite DR).

Vembu also takes pride in their easy configuration and overall responsiveness of the system as a whole.

Customer ratings:

• Capterra – 4.5/5 stars based on 17 customer reviews
• TrustRadius – 8.4/10 stars based on 88 customer reviews
• G2 – 4.2/5 stars based on 130 customer reviews

Advantages:

• Support for a number of different operating systems, including a fully-functional Linux version of the software
• User interface is helpful and easy to work with
• Customer support team receives a lot of praise from many customers

Shortcomings:

• Customer support’s knowledge is mostly based on Windows version of the solution, which may not be the same when attempting to help a Linux user
• The overall price of the solution is significantly higher than market average, after the last year’s sudden price increase for all pricing plans
• Vembu BDR Suite is a sophisticated solution that may take some time getting used to all of its features and unique qualities
• Some IT technologies and database are not supported

Pricing (at the time of writing):

• Vembu BDR Suite’s pricing varies quite a lot depending on the target data source:
  • VM Backup – from $18 per year per VM, with support for both Hyper-V and VMware deployments
  • Server Backup – from $60 per year per server, both Linux and Windows servers are supported
  • Application/DB Backup – from $60 per year per application/database, can work with SQL, MySQL, and Exchange
  • SaaS Backup – from $12 per year per user, works for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365
  • Cloud VM Backup – from $30 per year per AWS instance
  • Endpoint Backup – from $15 per year per endpoint, supports Windows and Mac devices
• It is also worth noting that most of the BDR Suite’s backup solutions are also available for free with most of the features and a strict limitation on the number of workstations/VMs/servers it can work with.
• A lot more details about Vembu BDR Suite’s pricing can be obtained at the official pricing page.

My personal opinion on Vembu BDR Suite:

Vembu distinguishes itself by dedicating its software development efforts exclusively to two solutions: BDR Suite and BDR Cloud. While BDR Cloud operates from the cloud, it essentially serves as a feature-limited version of BDR Suite, offering a similar functionality set. BDR Suite, on the other hand, stands as an exceptional enterprise data backup solution with an extensive array of features. It manages to seamlessly deliver impressive recovery times and responsiveness while also supporting a wide range of storage types and diverse environments. However, its remarkable capabilities come at the cost of its complexity, making it one of the most intricate enterprise backup solutions on this list. Potential users should carefully consider the solution’s complexity, as well as other disadvantages of Vembu, before making a decision.

NetApp SnapCenter

If you’re looking for a prominent data backup and recovery vendor with more than 150 offices around the world – NetApp SnapCenter may be a solution for you. Most of the common backup and protection features one would expect are available for files, images, videos, etc. There’s also the ability to have constant access to your data either via laptop or using your own mobile phone. Specifically SnapCenter has a centralized interface to have all of your monitoring, backup scheduling, logging and other tasks performed and viewed in one convenient place. It applies to enterprise databases and applications, MS Exchange servers, virtual machines and more. Users also praise its support’s response time and overall system centralization.

Customer ratings:

• Capterra – 4.5/5 stars based on 8 customer reviews
• TrustRadius – 9.2/10 stars based on 2 customer reviews
• G2 – 3.8/5 stars based on 2 customer reviews

Advantages:

• NetApp is a user-friendly solution with intuitive navigation and little to no complex menus or settings
• Its remote backup capabilities are varied and versatile
• A lot of emphasis on automation, a good example of that is the majority of cloning process being automated

Shortcomings:

• Limited Linux functionality, such as the inability to restore Linux-based servers remotely
• An uncomfortably high number of glitches and bugs for a finished enterprise-level solution
• Customer support is quite limited in its capabilities and is not always helpful to end users

Pricing (at the time of writing):

• NetApp’s pricing information is not publicly available on their official website and the only way to obtain such information is by contacting the company directly for a free trial or a “test drive”.
• The unofficial information suggests that NetApp SnapCenter’s average subscription fee starts at $1,410 per year

My personal opinion on NetApp SnapCenter:

NetApp SnapCenter stands as an underappreciated gem in the realm of enterprise data backup solutions. Despite its relative obscurity, SnapCenter proves to be a competent backup solution, offering a comprehensive array of backup-centric features, diverse scheduling options, centralized backup management, and compatibility with a variety of storage types. Backups generated with SnapCenter can be seamlessly accessed from virtually any device equipped with a web browser, including laptops and mobile phones. However, it is worth noting that SnapCenter is not without its flaws – the solution is prone to bugs, and its Linux capabilities lag behind its Windows counterpart in terms of the overall feature set, and this may impact security.

Bacula Enterprise

Bacula Enterprise is a highly scalable, highly secure flexible backup and recovery software that allows for easy data backup, protection and recovery. It is a high grade enterprise solution for medium to large enterprises. As a backup solution, Bacula offers a vast number of different specialist features, such as an especially wide range of different backup storage types (including a high number of tape types and many Cloud storages), easy setup, low deployment costs and native SQL database support (MySQL, PostgreSQL and more). It also supports practically all of the popular Linux distributions, like Debian, Ubuntu, SUSE, RHEL etc., and backs up and recovers data from many other operating systems – such as Microsoft, MacOS X, Android and Solaris. It supports over 32 OS versions.  It also natively integrates with an unusually wide range of Hypervisors – such as VMware, Red Hat Virtualization, Xen, Proxmox, Nutanix, Azure VM, Hyper-V and KVM. The software’s overall performance and advanced deduplication and high ransomware protection levels are also something to consider. Its technical flexibility makes it a favorite with Laboratories, HPC and supercomputing centers

Security features are a special strength of Bacula: enterprise levels of security are available on every level and stage of operating with the data, and it is relied on by some of the largest military organizations in the West. The solution is well known for its robustness and stability. One of the prime points of Bacula’s service is the ability to escape data volume price traps. This is because Bacula does not charge by data volume, has no capacity-based licensing, and therefore frees up organizations not only to grow with much less restriction, but to also plan ahead financially with far more clarity.

Download free backup software trial of Bacula

Customer ratings:

• TrustRadius – 9.6/10 stars based on 53 customer reviews
• G2 – 4.7/5 stars based on 55 customer reviews

Advantages:

• Incredible versatility and functionality in the form of support for a variety of target storage locations, from servers and apps to VMs, databases, containers clusters, etc.
• Job scheduling as a feature is highly advanced with Bacula, offering a streamlined approach to data management and data security
• Bacula can act as a comprehensive framework for both backup and disaster recovery tasks
• Especially high levels of security and dependability
• Comes in at a relatively low cast for users that have significant amounts of data.

Shortcomings:

• Initial setup and subsequent configuration is a process that is neither short nor simple
• There are two possible ways to interact with the solution – the command line and the web-based GUI, that may take some time getting used to. However, both can be used simultaneously
• Plugins that are not included in the subscription usually have an additional cost

Pricing (at the time of writing):

• Bacula Enterprise’s pricing is based on an annual subscription, although perpetual licensing is also possible.
  • BSBE – Bacula Small Business Edition, it can cover no more than 20 agents and 2 contracts, offering features such as web support and BWeb management suite
  • Standard – can cover up to 50 agents and 2 contracts, adds support answer deadlines (from 1 to 4 business days)
  • Bronze – can cover up to 200 agents and 2 contracts, offers phone support and shorter deadlines for customer support (from 6 hours to 4 days)
  • Silver – can cover up to 500 agents and 3 contracts, introduces a deduplication plugin and a lower customer support answer deadline (from 4 hours to 2 days)
  • Gold – can cover up to 2000 agents and 5 contracts, drastically reduces customer support answer deadline (from 1 hour to 2 days)
  • Platinum – can cover up to 5000 agents and 5 contracts, has PostgreSQL catalog support and one training seat per year for Administrator courses
• Unofficial sources claim that Bacula Enterprise’s pricing starts at $500 per month

My personal opinion on Bacula Enterprise:

Bacula Enterprise emerges as a top contender in the backup and recovery market for large companies and enterprises, offering a versatile backup solution brimming with an extensive array of features and capabilities. Its modular architecture allows seamless integration of additional features through modules that extend its functionality. Bacula’s strengths lie in its unparalleled security levels that can be tailored to an organization’s unique security requirements, combined with a wide range of supported operating systems and impressive flexibility in supporting specific storage types/data formats. In today’s cybersecurity landscape, Bacula’s emphasis on security is an advantage that cannot be overstated. While the solution’s initial learning curve may be somewhat steep, and at least a decent Linux proficiency requirement, the wealth of features and breadth of compatibility it offers into complex IT environments far outweighs the initial learning investment.It is notable that its non capacity-based licensing will present impressive savings to organizations dealing with large volumes of data.

Druva

Emerging from the fusion of two former Druva projects, Phoenix and inSync, the Druva Data Resiliency Cloud stands as a comprehensive data security solution that seamlessly integrates information governance, data management, and data protection into a unified package. Delivered as a service through the Data Resiliency Cloud Platform, it enhances compliance, streamlines backup processes, optimizes device management, and accelerates archival procedures. At its core, the solution aims to safeguard end-user data efficiently, providing enhanced data visibility and ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements.

Customer ratings:

• Capterra – 4.7/5 points comprised of 17 customer reviews
• TrustRadius – 9.5/10 points comprised of 447 customer reviews
• G2 – 4.6/5 points comprised of 490 customer reviews

Advantages:

• Data security remains a paramount focus for Druva, evident in the incorporation of robust encryption and data immutability features that safeguard sensitive information.
• Users consistently praise the prompt and efficient responses provided by Druva’s customer support team, commending their rapid assistance in addressing queries and concerns.
• Druva’s user interface distinguishes itself for its intuitiveness, a welcome departure from the complexity often associated with similar solutions.

Shortcomings:

• Restoring data from cloud storage in Druva can be a time-consuming process.
• Druva’s Azure VM capabilities are somewhat limited.
• Certain features, such as SQL cluster backups and Windows snapshots, offer limited customization options, restricting users’ flexibility in configuring these functionalities.
• Despite Druva’s generally user-friendly interface, the initial setup process is often perceived as lengthy and complex.

Pricing (at time of writing):

• Druva’s pricing structure is rather sophisticated, offering a variety of plans tailored to specific workloads and applications.
• For Hybrid workloads:
  • Hybrid Business: Starting at $210 per month per terabyte of data (after deduplication), this plan can offer basic data protection features, including VM file-level recovery, global deduplication, and NAS storage support.
  • Hybrid Enterprise: Starting at $240 per month per Terabyte of data (after deduplication), extending the last offering with cloud cache, long-term retention (LTR) features, and storage insights/recommendations.
  • Hybrid Elite: $300 per month per Terabyte of data (after deduplication), with the inclusion of cloud disaster recovery to create a comprehensive solution for data management and disaster recovery.
• Druva also provides standalone features for separate purchase, such as security posture & observability, accelerated ransomware recovery, cloud disaster recovery (accessible to Hybrid Elite users), and deployment for U.S. government cloud.
• For SaaS applications:
  • Business: Starting at $2.5 per month per user, offers Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace (priced per single app), 5 storage regions, 10 GB of storage per user, and basic data protection.
  • Enterprise: Starting at $4 per month per user, can offer coverage for either Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, as well as additional elements like public folders, groups, and Salesforce.com coverage for $3.5 per month per user.
  • Elite: Starting at $7 per month per user for Microsoft 365/Google Workspace and $5.25 for Salesforce, offers federated search, GDPR compliance checks, GCC High support, eDiscovery enablement, and various other advanced features.
• Separately purchasable features include GovCloud support (Microsoft 365), Sensitive data governance (Google Workspace & Microsoft 365) Sandbox seeding (Salesforce), etc.
• For Endpoints:
  • Enterprise: Available at $8 per month per user, can offer DLP support, SSO support, CloudCache, data protection per data source, and 50 GB of storage per user with delegated administration.
  • Elite: Priced at $10 per month per user, builds upon the Enterprise features by adding federated search, additional data collection, defensible deletion, advanced deployment capabilities, and more.
• Separately purchasable features include advanced deployment capabilities (available in the Elite subscription tier), sensitive data governance, GovCloud support, and ransomware recovery/response.
• For AWS workloads:
  • Freemium: A free offering from Druva for AWS workloads, the Freemium plan covers up to 20 AWS resources (2 accounts or less), includes features such as cross-region and cross-account disaster recovery, VPC cloning, AWS Organizations integration, file-level recovery, and API access.
  • Enterprise: Starting at $7 per month per resource (20+ resources), this plan offers features such as file-level search, the ability to import existing backups, data lock, and 24/7 support with a 4-hour response time.
  • Elite: Starting at $9 per month per resource, this plan comes with unlimited resources/accounts. It includes AWS account coverage, GovCloud support, auto-protection by VPC, and a commitment to a support response time of less than 1 hour, as guaranteed by the SLA.
• Enterprise and Elite plans also have the capability to store air-gapped EC2 backups in Druva Cloud.
• Granted, this pricing scheme can be rather complex for newcomers. Luckily, Druva has a separate website page that can calculate a company’s TCO in just a few minutes.

My personal opinion about Druva:

Druva’s cloud backup platform is specifically designed to address the challenge of managing a diverse array of devices within a unified system. Consequently, this solution is primarily geared towards enterprises or large-scale organizations. Delivered through a SaaS model, Druva’s protection extends to VMs, databases, endpoints, physical storage, and more, offering comprehensive SaaS application coverage. At the same time, Druva’s solution tends to encounter performance issues when handling large data volumes, and its pricing structure can be somewhat complex for newcomers.

NAKIVO

NAKIVO offers a comprehensive suite of software solutions tailored for diverse applications. NAKIVO Backup & Replication stands out as a lightning-fast, feature-rich backup solution compatible with both physical and virtual environments. Delivering unwaveringly exceptional overall performance, a user-friendly interface, a reliable data protection, and multiple backup types, NAKIVO seamlessly caters to multiple enterprise-level backup needs simultaneously. The automated backup processes and adaptable recovery options offered by NAKIVO streamline the restoration process, minimizing the need for extensive administrative intervention. Additionally, its adaptable pricing structure renders it a viable choice for even the most budget-conscious organizations.

Customer ratings:

• Capterra – 4.8/5 points comprised of 354 customer reviews
• TrustRadius – 9.4/10 points comprised of 165 customer reviews
• G2 – 4.7/5 points comprised of 204 customer reviews

Advantages:

• NAKIVO’s customer support has consistently received positive feedback, reflecting its effectiveness and dedication to user satisfaction.
• The intuitive interface provides a clear overview of company-wide backup processes and seamless access to essential features, enabling users to easily navigate and manage their data protection needs.
• NAKIVO’s user-friendly interface and straightforward setup process make it an accessible solution for individuals with varying levels of technical expertise.

Shortcomings:

• NAKIVO lacks native support for backing up SaaS applications like Salesforce or Google Workspace, which may be essential for certain organizations.
• Its functionality for supporting servers running Linux is significantly restricted, presenting challenges for organizations with Linux-based infrastructures.
• The affordability of NAKIVO may be a concern for small to medium-sized businesses due to its relatively high pricing structure compared to some competing solutions.
• NAKIVO’s error logging feature has been identified as a weak point, offering limited assistance in pinpointing the root cause of errors when additional information is needed.

Pricing (at time of writing):

• NAKIVO can provide a variety of different pricing offers based on what specific feature sets a client may need.
• Subscription-based Licenses:
  • Pro Essentials: Starting from $1.95 per month per workload, facilitates basic backup features like instant granular recovery, storage immutability, and virtual/cloud replication.
  • Enterprise Essentials: Beginning at $2.60 per month per workload, it extends Pro Essentials with additional capabilities such as deduplication appliance integration, native backup to tape, and more.
  • Enterprise Plus: This tier, with undisclosed pricing, includes advanced features like Oracle backup, RBAC support, HTTP API integration, and backup from snapshots.
• Subscription Add-ons:
  • Microsoft 365 Coverage: Priced at $0.80 per month per user (annual billing), covers SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, MS Teams, and more.
  • VMware Monitoring: Available in Pro Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Plus editions, with varying features and pricing.
• Perpetual Licenses:
• Virtual Environments:
  • Pro Essentials: Priced at $229 per socket, covering Nutanix AHV, Hyper-V, VMware, and offering features like cross-platform recovery and instant granular recovery.
  • Enterprise Essentials: At $329 per socket, it adds features like 2FA, backup to cloud, deduplication, native backup to tape, and AD integration.
  • Enterprise Plus: This tier, with undisclosed pricing, includes advanced features such as HTTP API integration, RBAC, and backup from storage snapshots.
• Servers:
  • Pro Essentials: Priced at $58 per server for Windows and Linux, featuring immutable storage and instant P2V recovery.
  • Enterprise Essentials: At $329 per server, it adds capabilities like backup to the cloud, deduplication, native backup to tape, 2FA, and AD integration.
  • Enterprise Plus: This tier, with undisclosed pricing, includes advanced features like RBAC and HTTP API integration.
• Workstations:
  • Pro Essentials: Priced at $19 per workstation for Windows and Linux, offering features like immutable storage and instant P2V recovery.
  • Enterprise Essentials: At $25 per workstation, it adds capabilities like deduplication, 2FA, native backup to tape, backup to cloud, and AD integration.
  • Enterprise Plus: This tier, with undisclosed pricing, includes advanced features like RBAC and HTTP API integration.
• NAS:
  • Pro Essentials: Priced at $149 per one Terabyte of data, offering backup for SMB shares, NFS shares, and folders with file-level recovery.
  • Enterprise Essentials: At $199 per one Terabyte of data, it adds features like 2FA support, calendar, AD integration, and multi-tenant deployment.
  • Enterprise Plus: This tier, with undisclosed pricing, includes advanced features like RBAC and HTTP API integration.
• Oracle DB:
  • Enterprise Plus: The only option for Oracle database backups via RMAN, featuring advanced scheduling, centralized management, etc.
• VMware Monitoring:
  • Available in Pro Essentials, Enterprise Essentials, and Enterprise Plus editions, with varying features and pricing.

My personal opinion about NAKIVO:

NAKIVO Backup & Replication is a comprehensive data protection software that offers a wide range of integrations and functionalities. It boasts a user-friendly interface and a straightforward initial configuration process, a rare advantage among large-scale data protection software solutions. While it provides exceptional data protection capabilities, there are a few areas where NAKIVO could improve – its Linux capabilities are somewhat limited and its SaaS backup coverage is relatively narrow, lacking native support for popular SaaS applications like Salesforce or Google Workspace. Finally, its pricing structure can be complex to navigate and may be considered high compared to some competing solutions. Despite these limitations, NAKIVO remains a well-established and reputable backup solution that is more than adequate for a large number of companies handling diverse data types, including those with specific SaaS data requirements. There are some SaaS and Cloud backup limitations that should be addressed.