IT manager at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Easy to deploy and maintain, stable, and delivers as promised
"It is easy to use and stable. It delivers what has been promised. When it says it can do something, it can actually do it, as opposed to some of its competitors."
"Its dashboard could be improved to provide a summarized version of all the jobs instead of having to go through each one of them. We should easily be able to glance at all issues. If I had not gone with the on-premise version, I would have had regular reports with the cloud version. It would be an advantage if they increase the compression rate of the backup. I am keeping it on-prem, so I'll need more disks depending on the policies that I have in the retention period. Its price could also be lower. If a good solution can be cheaper, it is always an advantage."
I used it during a POC, and now, it is in production. We opted to go for the N minus one release and not the latest one.
We use it for the backup of servers. It is also used when users need to take a backup of their laptops or mail archiving.
It is easy to use and stable. It delivers what has been promised. When it says it can do something, it can actually do it, as opposed to some of its competitors.
Its dashboard could be improved to provide a summarized version of all the jobs instead of having to go through each one of them. We should easily be able to glance at all issues. If I had not gone with the on-premise version, I would have had regular reports with the cloud version.
It would be an advantage if they increase the compression rate of the backup. I am keeping it on-prem, so I'll need more disks depending on the policies that I have in the retention period.
Its price could also be lower. If a good solution can be cheaper, it is always an advantage.
I used this solution for six months.
It is stable. I haven't experienced any issues.
It is scalable. We have approximately 30 users, but we are also backing up the servers that everyone uses.
I have had one call with their technical support, and they were of great assistance. They were really approachable, and they were able to answer the questions.
We have been using NetBackup and Veeam. As compared to NetBackup, Commvault is an improvement. NetBackup licenses are expensive as compared to Commvault.
It was pretty straightforward. It took one day to do the installation and put all policies. It was really quick. I did the installation, deployed the agents, and started using it for testing. After successful tests, we decided to go with the solution.
I was accompanied by our business partner, but its implementation was pretty straightforward.
Its maintenance is really easy to do because you have everything in the console. It can be managed by one technical person. It doesn't require much. Because it is stable, there is not much to be done. You just need to enter the jobs that have been run and completed successfully. Every now and then, you might also do a restore.
It is cheaper than NetBackup, but its price can be lower. If a good solution can be cheaper, it is always an advantage. Its licensing is on a yearly basis.
I would definitely recommend this solution to others. We plan to keep using this solution.
I would rate Commvault a nine out of ten.
Kelly Page
Senior Database Administrator at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Automates backups, provides quick restores, and reduces our backup administration
"The most valuable feature is the ability it gives me to automate backups well and consistently, and to follow up on them as well. It also provides consistent recovery processes. Whenever we have needed to do a restore, it has worked quickly and efficiently."
"There are two ways to use it and I prefer the web-based one over the app. I wish they were a little bit more matched in what they offer because the features aren't as available in the web-based interface as they are in the app."
I use it for backing up the database of our Microsoft People server system.
Commvault has saved us time in managing our backup and restore processes, as well as backup management. It has definitely made our backup administration more efficient.
The most valuable feature is the ability it gives me to automate backups well and consistently, and to follow up on them as well. It also provides consistent recovery processes. Whenever we have needed to do a restore, it has worked quickly and efficiently.
The completeness of Commvault's coverage for databases is also pretty good. It covers all the bases with the major databases that we utilize within an enterprise.
I also like it because it's pretty easy to use and that it is pretty reliable. The user interface for managing it is good.
In addition, it auto-discovers the databases and that means lower maintenance on my side for individual database configuration.
There are two ways to use it and I prefer the web-based one over the app. I wish they were a little bit more matched in what they offer because the features aren't as available in the web-based interface as they are in the app.
I have been using the Commvault solution for about two years.
It's pretty stable.
It seems to be scalable. I'm not really involved in that side, being a user and not an administrator of it, but I know that they've had to add on and do upgrades to it. It seems to be working well. I haven't seen any disruption from that.
I use my internal company support team and they reach out to Commvault as necessary.
We were using Dell EMC NetWorker. We switched due to bad support and because we were having lots of issues. They were also slow in keeping up with the technology.
In general, I would give Commvault a thumbs-up. Make sure your people are involved in the procurement process so that they understand what it offers, and be sure to do PoC testing. But that's generic to any implementation.
Because my work with Commvault isn't necessarily technical in nature, it's more process-oriented, people in a similar situation should work closely with their administrators to make sure the admins understand what they need to do. The problems that we have with it are mostly to do with internal workflow.
The Command Center for getting a view of your data is okay. We have some internal issues with the way that the people who manage the system display things to us and give us access to certain things. But otherwise, it's okay.
Lobna Alkomy
Backup & Recovery Section Head at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Scalable with a straightforward setup and good performance
"The solution is very stable and offers a good level of performance."
"The product could be more convenient in terms of working with different solutions and having more integration between the different products in the market."
I'm using the backup email feature with the hypervisor backup on VMware. I'm also working with different databases.
The initial setup is pretty straightforward.
The solution is very stable and offers a good level of performance.
The product can scale if a company needs it to.
We've noticed that technical support has recently gotten much better.
We've had issues with the solution not restoring certain environments. There also issues we find when we want to restore, for example, a cloud environment.
The product could be more convenient in terms of working with different solutions and having more integration between the different products in the market. It really should integrate better with, for example, VMware or Nutanix or Hyper-V. It would be really, really helpful if that were the case.
I've dealt with the solution for the last three years or so.
The product has been stable. There are no bugs or glitches. So far, it doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good.
The product can scale if a company needs it to. It does have the potential to expand as needed.
In our company, we have about 1,300 people using it.
When I started to work with Commvault product, it wasn't very good, however, there has been a huge development in service. Their support is now working fine. They're much more helpful and professional. They've come a long way. We're satisfied with the progress they've made.
I have also worked with other products, such as NetBackup and Veeam.
The pricing is a place where they all vary. While Commvault is cheaper than Veeam, it's more expensive than NetBackup.
The initial setup is not overly difficult or complex. It's simple. It's straightforward.
I'm unsure as to how many people are required to maintain the solution. It's not an aspect of the product that falls under my responsibility.
The solution isn't the cheapest. It's also not the most expensive. It's basically somewhere in the middle. However, it's a fine price. It's what you would expect to pay for a full solution. That said, for some environments, it could be considered a bit expensive.
We are resellers.
I would advise those considering the solution, that, if they use it in conjunction with Nutanix, there may be some limitations. You can't back up, for example, on Nutanix and restore things to Veeam or other environments.
That said, we're mostly satisfied with the solution. I'd rate the product at an eight out of ten.
System Administrator at a government with 501-1,000 employees
A seamless and efficient backup solution
"Commvault is both very stable and scalable."
"The initial setup is rather complex, especially when switching versions."
We use Commvault as our main backup solution.
Commvault is also a very reliable backup solution; this is one of our main use cases. There are several other use cases, but backup is the most dominant feature.
Our organization has between 500 to 1,000 employees. The IT department and a few admins use this solution.
Commvault has a very extensive report section, at least in the Java console and web console. There is a transition being made from Java to a web console currently, which offers a more sophisticated, more advanced, and more modern interface.
I have been using Commvault for over eight years.
Commvault is both very stable and scalable.
The technical support is very good. We don't get direct support from Commvault as our first line of support; there is an intermediate organization that is very capable, who are masters, the highest degree of admins — they provide us with support. If there's any problem or any advice that we need, they are always available to support us.
The initial setup is rather complex, especially when switching versions.
The price could always be lower. I do not have the exact pricing information but I know it's not cheap.
We would like to evaluate other options. Other products could be more suited to our needs, but currently, we don't have the time to evaluate other options.
Think about your backup strategy before you begin making a blueprint — that's very important. Do not deploy it and then try to change it. This will only lead to unnecessary difficulties. What are the needs of your organizations? RTO and RPO are also very important. If you want to switch versions or solutions once it has already been deployed, it's not impossible to do so, but it's going to take some serious time and effort.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of eight.
In every product, there is always a balance between the features and how you use them. This solution provides many options; however, If you want to understand and use all of the features that are available, as there are so many, it's going to be quite difficult. I think that's quite common with every application: you use a specific set of features that you're used to and which are easy to use. There are almost too many features; it's almost too much for an admin to handle — It's just overkill.
A more simplified interface or front-end would be more preferable. This is not to say that the back-end should be easier, it can be complex. Moreover, it needs to be complex to satisfy demanding customers.
KobusRas
Infrastructure Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
A single platform where you can enable whatever you want to use
"Commvault software is a single platform where you can enable whatever you want to use, like endpoint protection. You can enable those licenses on a single platform screen. This is where I see the value ad. This is a single management tool."
"They don't market their products well. They don't do a lot of marketing to enable them to move forward."
We use it mostly for backup and sell it to our customers. We are moving more into data management. Our customers also use it for data classification, it's becoming a major role.
The previous version of Commvault was complex from a licensing point of view. Veeam is taking up the virtualization space.
It helps my customers recover data and to replicate the data as well.
Commvault software is a single platform where you can enable whatever you want to use, like endpoint protection. You can enable those licenses on a single platform screen. This is where I see the value ad. This is a single management tool.
With other products, you need to have different management tools.
They don't market their products well. They don't do a lot of marketing to enable them to move forward.
It's a very good product. It works. If their marketing was great, the product would sell itself. It's harder because their competitors have much better marketing. Everybody knows Veritas and Veeam because they market well. If a customer chooses Commvault, it would be the first time they've heard of it.
My company has been using it for the last five years.
Scalability is great. In the new license model, I can scale it on the virtual environment. We are going to increase our Commvault center in our data center. The maintenance will increase.
Their technical support is very good. I am very satisfied. I work with somebody who is connected to the development side as well so they make sure to implement changes if we encounter issues.
Commvault is an enterprise product set and Veeam only started the virtualization layer. Commvault is already at the front. Veritas has a lot of appliances and Commvault only started doing appliances a few years ago. Veritas marketed their appliances aggressively but Commvault didn't. I think Commvault is moving into data management.
It's not that easy to implement. It takes some time to implement and make it work. It was complex to implement and understand how to get everything correctly.
Commvault changed their model to make it easier for partners and customers to understand. Before there were 16 licenses for one area but now they've made it easier to work.
Understand the way it works in terms of sizing and configuration. As soon as that is correctly done, it's not so difficult to understand.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller.
HamadaFarag
Technical Consultant at Beta Information Technology
Saves administrators time due to minimal errors, and helps reduce infrastructure costs
"Commvault has support for backing up operating systems and servers."
"There is room for improvement in terms of data security."
We are a systems integrator and we sell Commvault to our customers.
One of our customers has Oracle Cloud and we needed to create a backup for that. Only two solutions can do that, Commvault and Veritas. Our customer compared Commvault and Veritas by doing a PoC of each. We displayed the features of each one and the customer chose Commvault.
We have another customer with a different environment. They have virtualization and they have a physical infrastructure and many operating systems and environments. They compared different backup solutions like Commvault, Veeam, and Veritas, and Commvault was the only solution that could cover all the operating systems and the whole virtual and physical environment.
Another customer is in the petroleum sector. They have different sites and they need replication between the sites and they also need to back up their main sites and their remote sites. Commvault is one of the best solutions for this scenario.
The number of errors or problems with Commvault, when dealing with backups, is very minimal compared to other backup solutions. It saves a lot of time for system administrators. An administrator using another backup solution will take one, two, or three hours per day just to check if the backup jobs have run. With Commvault, it takes about 10 to 30 minutes, maximum.
The solution saves on infrastructure and protects data. Compared to other solutions, using Commvault saves our customers around 15 to 20 percent. In addition, it reduces storage space because of the deduplication and compression during backup.
One of the big features is the 10-mega backup for endpoints. Not many backup solutions support that.
Commvault has support for backing up operating systems and servers.
The solution covers Oracle Cloud, on-prem, virtual, and physical.
The support for cloud is good.
There is room for improvement in terms of data security.
We use Commvault's technical support at times. I would rate it at 10 out of 10. Their support is perfect.
For some customers we do the implementation on-premise, and others use the cloud version. It's very easy and straightforward. The design, implementation, and documentation is very straightforward, especially the Commvault hybrid product.
The deployment time depends on the customer and it depends on the environment. It takes a minimum of two to three days, and the maximum is 10 days. It depends on the size of the environment.
We have straightforward procedures for the implementation. We have a manual. We have procedures for the automation of installation for HA environments, whether it's for a virtual or physical, and for different operating systems.
Commvault's licensing is very flexible.
Systems Administrator Team Leader at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Easy to use, good speed performance, and the technical support is strong
"The most valuable features are the ease of use, the graphical interface, and it's high speed."
"Persistent binding is a feature that I would like to see in the next release of Commvault."
We are using it for backing up all of these services in the full infrastructure.
The most valuable features are the ease of use, the graphical interface, and it's high speed.
The GUI is easy to use.
The compression and deduplication ratios are very good.
The price could be lower.
When I compare it with Dell EMC Networker, they have a feature called persistent binding, which means that the backup would be going through the fiber channels instead of the network. Commvault relies on the compression and deduplication ratio, although they could also utilize the fiber channels. Persistent binding is a feature that I would like to see in the next release of Commvault.
I have been using Commvault for more than one year.
I experienced instability only one time, but it was restored.
It's very stable.
It's scalable. That's why it's HyperScale.
We have four administrators in our company who are managing the infrastructure.
Technical support is very strong.
When we made a paradigm shift after moving from the EMC network to Commvault, there is a difference when using both of the products. The other one is powerful but it's more complicated. This one is easier.
It's a Commvault HyperScale model, which is easy to scale.
If you refer back to the manual system, it's straightforward and the architecture is very easy to understand. Implementation is easy.
It's based on a HyperScale with three different nodes running on a RedHat operating system.
The price is not cheap, but when you compare it to the other products they are all almost the same level in terms of price.
If we compare with other products we can recommend Veeam.
Veeam and Commvault are almost the same but Commvault made an announcement EMEA and Commvault now have a fully managed product and they have a backup as a service with unlimited storage.
We are also evaluating Barracuda.
At the moment we are evaluating the additional features in terms of Office 365, backup, and SharePoint to analyze the differences.
Overall, this is a unified solution and it's wonderful.
I would rate Commvault a ten out of ten.
System Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Almost completely automates our backup processes, saving us time
"What I find valuable is restoring the complete server. Restoring files is also valuable, but I like restoring the server because you don't have to rebuild a new one."
"We get an alarm if a lot of files are deleted, for example. That could look like ransomware, even if it is not."
We use it to back up some servers and to restore things.
Commvault helps our administrators to minimize the time they spend on the backup tasks and that gives them time for other projects. I don't know how much time it saves them because our Commvault environment was already in place. We don't have very many restore problems and, for backup, it's almost automated, so we don't spend any time at the console.
For me, it just restores and backs up applications, nothing more. But what I find valuable is restoring the complete server. Restoring files is also valuable, but I like restoring the server because you don't have to rebuild a new one.
Also, we are able to manage our on-prem environment from one server, the whole environment from one place, which is great. There is only one place to search.
We get an alarm if a lot of files are deleted, for example. That could look like ransomware, even if it is not.
I have been using Commvault for one-and-a-half years, which is the time I have been working in this company.
It is fairly stable. We have never had trouble with Commvault itself. And if we do have trouble, we can call our Commvault partner and they will solve it.
The scalability is good, although we don't have plans to increase our usage of it.
Commvault's technical support is very good.
I used Avamar a long time ago.
I don't know much about the pricing and licensing, but I do know it is very expensive.
I would recommend Commvault. We have not had many difficulties with it and I think it is a good product.
We don't use Command Center, only the CommCell Console. In our department, only five people are doing the backups and the restores. We are all system specialists, and we work together to maintain Commvault.
I would rate it at eight out of 10. A 10 is too high and would mean it is super-good. For me, an eight is very high.