We use the product to manage the data workloads for small and medium businesses.

Veeam Data Platform’s most valuable feature is replication.

They could offer a hardware appliance as a comprehensive, full-stack solution. At present, we have independent software and hardware for data backup purposes. Instead, they could provide all the necessary components in one single box. Additionally, they should add new features for containers to align with the landscape of new technologies and cloud-native applications.

We have been using Veeam Data Platform for seven years.

I rate the platform’s stability a nine out of ten.

Veeam Data Platform provides better scalability than Backup Exec in terms of time. It works smoothly without any complexities for workflow or database management.

I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.

We use Veritas, Commvault, and NetBackup to manage workloads for enterprises.

The initial setup is simple. The installation process is swift. However, post-installation, the crucial aspect lies in the expertise of the implementing engineer to configure the tool effectively for scalability. We can deploy it on the cloud and on-premises as well.

The product is inexpensive. They offer customizable licensing models including perpetual and subscription-based licenses. However, I recommend using Backup Exec for customers using Microsoft products such as Windows Server as it offers more flexible pricing models.

The platform has a useful disaster recovery feature. Additionally, it has a good feature for instant recovery. However, a notable consideration arises when dealing with a scenario involving seventeen workloads, where customization may require the provision of two packs, each accommodating ten instances of Instant VM recovery. This setup could potentially result in having three VMs left unused. 

I rate it a nine out of ten.

We manage Veeam for our customers. We are involved as partners and implementers between customers. We are not directly engaged with the vendors, but we provide services to our customers. 

Therefore, the use cases vary. For hybrid cloud data, the use case depends on the client's specific requirements. It primarily revolves around Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR). 

We secure their data using Veeam backups stored offsite in the cloud or on-premises storage, leveraging the safest options available. 

We also enable redundancy features like RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) and implement encryption. For encryption, Veeam offers three levels with the option for customer-managed encryption at the host level. This approach gives customers granular control over their data security.

With native backups, I can perform a restore in under an hour, especially if it's the last backup. I can also directly mount the data on the server. But when it comes to service cases, I would choose Veeam Data Platform over Commvault because restoring from Commvault can be time-consuming due to filtering tasks. Veeam Data Platform, on the other hand, offers a much simpler and faster restore process without the need for a hot channel.

So, the usability of Veeam Data Platform has impacted our clients' IT teams' productivity.

With Azure backups, for example, I can only configure three policies and trigger them only three times a day. There's no such adaptive scheduling in Azure. Also, if I have multiple folders, I can't configure different policies for each one in Azure.

Commvault, on the other hand, allows for this kind of flexibility. So, Commvault's adaptive mode seems better suited for cloud-native environments compared to Veeam. Like, Commvault is more adaptive than Veeam Data Platform.

For the first thing, I would like to see the support for third-party data. Like, Oracle database. In Azure, you don't have release support for custom databases, like Oracle or other data. We cannot directly integrate with Azure Backup. There is only hardly any support for SQL and SAP HANA. That's a key area of improvement for Microsoft because we do manage all the databases, libraries, SAP libraries, and Oracle databases. And going with the latest features, So I feel Microsoft needs larger support there. 

The other thing is the retention policies. So I can configure the VM backup directly. However, if I wanted to configure the application-level backup, I could only do it on Windows, but not on Linux. But if I see Commvault, I can do it for any of the machines, even if the customer supports Commvault. But Azure has limited support, so even OS compatibility. It supports Windows and some flavors of Linux.

It's been more than two years.

It is a stable product. We didn't find any challenges with stability. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. 

If it went down, it should be the seasonal outage. That was the only problem. If the complete region goes down, that's when the Veeam Data Platform service goes down. And even there, there were options that we could configure on a high level based on the recovery point objective.

It is a truly scalable solution. I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten because there are only a few VMs and flavors of OS supported. 

We handle enterprise-level customers like the top ten banking customers in the Middle East. We maintain all of them.

The customer service and support were frequently available for calls, and I could discuss them openly and resolve the issues if I may. So there is no problem with technical support.

They will pitch in for us because we handle enterprise customers. That's another key point to evaluate for us. So the support was really good. So, even if there were any minor bugs in production, they would sort them out in a couple of days or a month. They will come back to us with the proper documentation and solution.

Positive

I've been working with Azure for more than four years. We actually prefer the native Microsoft Azure Backup service for file and folder backups. Cloud-native solutions are generally better suited for hybrid environments because we avoid the complexity of managing multiple components.

We start with Azure Arc servers to integrate Azure services on-premises, install and configure Arc to Azure, enable backups, and fully utilize Azure as a service.

For Commvault, we only need a plugin. It's a simple task whether it's an on-premises model or not. Now, we're adopting Commvault as a service, which offers more flexibility compared to cloud-native solutions, especially for hybrid environments.

In our case, even for hybrid environments with Hyper-V, VMware, or physical servers, Commvault works well. You simply install an agent, configure storage, and define backup configurations. 

Cloud-native solutions often require more steps, like connecting all servers and services to Azure before using native backup features.

As a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), we have a footprint in all major clouds, including Azure, AWS, GCP, Oracle Cloud, IBM, and middleware services.

We prefer using Commvault and Veeam Backup for all types of backups, including snapshot and file/folder levels.

We switch between different solutions based on our portfolio or our customers' needs.

Setting up for my case was completely different. There were some product-level bugs that caused a lot of challenges for Veeam Data Platform. So, it took a while, but we are up and running right now.

It was kind of difficult at first. But, once you contact support and get them involved, then there is no hard filing and maintaining it. It's easy to maintain and easy to rely on because it's cloud-native. So, no security questions will be raised.

Once all the communication is in place, it's hardly an hour's job. So, it's all about maintaining the prerequisites that match the current setup, and as per the documentation, I could configure it. It's just a two-step process. 

So, there is no hard challenge in configuring it. But it will take time because it has to register to the world and maintain security. You need to log in, integrate with the recovery services vault, and configure the policy. 

So it will take some time. It will take at least an hour, but you can bring up the service, and you can rely on it for the next few years.

We implement solutions for customers hosted in cloud platforms.

If you are going with the premium service with all the features, it can be a bit high. So I would go for four. Because when you compare it with third-party tools, like Commvault or Veeam itself, they are a bit cheaper, and we can rely on them for pricing. 

Commvault is a perpetual license service, so once you have the license, it's all about the storage that you use. 

But Veeam Data Platform, it's pay-as-you-go. So, the more options you choose, the more consumption you have in monthly billing.

So, it's too high for all the services that we get, at least from the backup standpoint.

I would rate the pricing model an eight out of ten, where zero is the cheapest and ten is the most expensive. 

We evaluated Azure and Commvault for our use cases. We ultimately chose Commvault because it offered more flexibility for data protection and manipulation.

My recommendation would depend on the business scenario. For example, if you are a banking client, I would prefer going for cloud-native because it all depends on the security and the compliance that the customer has to maintain. 

Going for third-party tools can be difficult and complex, making things more complicated. But going for cloud-native reduces the security effort, so it's easier to manage compliance. 

Using Veeam Data Platform, I manage data migration to the cloud, business recovery, and various configurations.

The most valuable data protection features in Veeam are encryption and error handling. Encryption safeguards sensitive information like credit card data, while robust error handling ensures data integrity.

Apart from security improvements, enhancing compatibility with various platforms and addressing limitations related to integration and verification would be beneficial. For instance, ensuring seamless integration with AWS and overcoming hardware-related constraints for incremental verification would enhance overall usability and reliability.

I have had a great experience with their support team. They are highly professional, knowledgeable, and always willing to help, providing valuable assistance in improving our product. I would rate the support at a nine out of ten.

Positive

Veeam's security might be weaker than Dell's, but in terms of performance and reliability, Veeam often matches or surpasses Dell. For tasks like isolating areas for maintenance, Veeam offers more automated solutions compared to Dell's manual processes.

The initial setup of Veeam is easy, typically requiring minimal personnel for maintenance.

The pricing for Veeam Data Platform varies based on functionality needs. While it can be costly for clients requiring application backup, it is generally considered reasonable considering the extensive features offered.

We use Veeam for backup and disaster recovery because of its ease of use and our team's expertise. However, we are exploring other options, like daily security solutions, to ensure we provide the best fit for our clients' needs, rather than sticking to just one tool.

Veeam works best in Azure environments, but it might not be ideal for security-focused solutions like ADAP. However, it excels in hyper-converged infrastructure setups, making it a strong choice for those environments.

Veeam's scalability and flexibility benefit our organization by seamlessly integrating into existing environments, especially with popular hypervisors. This ease of integration simplifies management and allows for efficient testing, making it straightforward to use and manage.

Overall, I would rate Veeam Data Platform as an eight out of ten.

Most of the features and capabilities we implemented for our clients using the Veeam backup solution revolve around enhancing their backup processes. These include functionalities such as backup encryption, immutable storage, integration with various object cloud storage platforms like AWS Cloud, and ensuring compatibility with multiple object cloud platforms.

The backup and disaster recovery process within the Data Platform is exceptionally user-friendly. Whether you're performing a backup or restoring data, the graphical user interface makes it straightforward. All capabilities can be accessed with ease, thanks to the intuitive design of the interface.

The reliability of the Veeam Data Platform has been consistently satisfactory in our deployments. We have encountered no issues, and all of our clients have expressed satisfaction with its performance.

We are particularly pleased with the DIP, especially given our focus on the Nutanix platform. DIP with Nutanix virtualization has been especially valuable to us.

The inclusion of important functions and capabilities, such as ransomware protection and scanning, was crucial. It's noteworthy that these features are already available in version twelve, which is a significant enhancement.

When utilizing Veeam to manage RTO and RPO objectives, the primary focus lies in minimizing recovery time (RTO) and ensuring effective project or object management. Branches, especially those with high IO and ITO demands, such as those in SANX deployments, prioritize data visibility before backup and archiving. Typically, lower RPOs are managed by the recovery features of the virtualization layer. Our primary aim is usually to achieve the shortest RPO feasible within the specified parameters. However, in our deployments, the shortest configured RPO is based on the specific requirements of our clients.

Managing multiple cloud environments with the Veeam Data Platform is highly effective. The platform offers robust support for major cloud providers like AWS. I've personally tested its integration with AWS and iOS and found it to be extremely straightforward and user-friendly.

Veeam Data Platform offers features specifically designed for ransomware defense. This includes the ability to integrate with immutable repositories, safeguarding your data against ransomware attacks. Additionally, the platform provides integrated anti-malware detection capabilities, and it allows seamless integration with third-party endpoint security solutions to further enhance data security.

I think there's an opportunity for improvement in terms of the supported operating systems for the Veeam Data Platform. Currently, it's limited to the Windows operating system, excluding Linux environments. Expanding its compatibility to include Linux would represent a significant advancement. 

I have been working with it for approximately six years.

I would rate its stability abilities eight out of ten.

Its scalability capabilities are eight out of ten. The maximum supported capacity of the current version of Windows determines the capacity limitations for the Veeam Data Platform, as it is dependent on the operating system. This serves as a constraint for the platform. It is suitable for businesses of varying sizes, including small, medium, and enterprise-level organizations.

I would rate its customer service and support nine out of ten.

Positive

Setting up the system initially is straightforward.

It's quite flexible—you can begin with a single license that supports ten instances and scale up based on your specific requirements. I would rate the pricing six out of ten when compared to other competitors.

Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

For most of our company's customers, we use it for the backup process or to create a copy of the backup outside in an off-site or cloud location. Only for a few of our company's customers do we use the replication part of the tool, or if they have a secondary site where they want to have a copy of the VM in production.

Veeam Backup & Replication is definitely very useful and simple to learn, and the restoring processes are very straightforward, making it a very solid product.

Veeam Backup & Replication can be installed on a platform like Windows only. Veeam has more components but is always installed on Windows VMs. For some of the roles like proxy, Veeam could deploy and develop a solution that does not need to use Windows VMs because of its cost in terms of licenses and scalability. The solution works only on Windows but should be able to work on platforms like Linux in the future.

The scalability of the product in large organizations is an area of concern where improvements are required.

I have been using Veeam Backup & Replication for twelve years. I use Veeam Backup & Replication V12. My company has a partnership with Veeam.

In my company, seven to eight people deliver deployment services related to Veeam Backup & Replication, along with support for some of our company's customers.

At times, our company needs to open a ticket with the technical team to troubleshoot some strange behavior or some difficulties in managing an upgrade in the product.

I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

Positive

The product's initial setup phase was not difficult. There were no difficult steps to install the product. With Veeam Backup & Replication, there is a need to have a license for Windows Server license, but it need not be considered a huge requirement.

In our company, we need to have at least one VM from Windows, along with one backup repository, after which it is possible to start with the deployment of Veeam Backup & Replication on a single VM. Depending on the complexity of the environment my company deals with, my company will need to install more VMs with many roles, like proxy. The straightforward deployment process takes two hours for a single VM, but it takes more time when there is a need to create more VMs.

The solution is deployed on an on-premises model.

For a simple environment, the initial deployment, and not the configuration, takes not more than two hours.

I work in Italy as a system integrator, so I install the product for our company's customers.

The money put into Veeam Backup & Replication is the right investment.

I would say that the product is fairly priced.

My company chose Veeam Backup & Replication over other products since it is quite simple to deploy and manage. My company delivers backup as a service for some of our customers using Veeam Backup & Replication. My company has implemented a legal infrastructure in our data center, and we use it to remotely manage the backup recovery process for some of our customers.

I would tell those who plan to buy the solution that it is important to do a PoC to understand how simple it is to implement the product and use it on a daily basis for data protection.

I could split my rating for the evaluation of the product in a small environment and a huge environment. For small environments, I rate the tool a nine out of ten since it works as a very effective solution. For complex or huge environments, I rate the tool an eight out of ten since scalability is one of the areas of concern in the product, especially when users want more services from the product.

I rate the overall tool an eight and a half out of ten.

My focus is on the business continuity and disaster recovery planning aspects.

So, I am working on the consultation part. My customers used Veeam for backup and sometimes for replication.

Veeam Data Platform has simplified data management and protection strategies. Compared to other vendors, Veeam stands out for its simplicity, ease of use, and deployment. 

So that's the main distinction of Veeam because nowadays, nobody hires a dedicated backup administrator. Not many companies do that. So, usually, there is one guy managing everything or a couple of guys managing everything all together. So Veeam made it a lot simpler. 

Usually, with the other vendors, they are much more capable, but they require expertise, okay, such as dedicated expertise, not shared resources. 

So, most companies, especially small and medium-sized companies, don't have the privilege to have a dedicated backup administrator. So they will have a general IT administrator administering their systems, etc. And then Veeam for these kinds of guys is just the jackpot because it just gets going. It does the compliance, and it does the backup, etcetera, and it's easy to use.

The recovery point objective relies on how Veeam offers different transport modes. However, there are integrations with various storage providers that can help reduce the RPO drastically. They also released their new continuous data protection feature, which can reduce the RPO to seconds, if not minutes. 

For the RTO, since back in the day, Veeam has been famous for their instant Veeam recovery and their Veeam Explorers, which can help conduct the VM restore in minutes or conduct the application granular restore, etc. So, almost all the time, Veeam reduces the RTO drastically.

The most valuable feature is the immutable Linux repository. Before that, customers needed expensive storage appliances to protect their backups. Now, they can use a regular server with Linux for secure storage, maintaining immutability against accidental deletion or ransomware.

Moreover, Veeam Data Platform manages and protects data across multiple cloud environments amazingly. From the console, Veaam has an appliance integration with Microsoft Azure. They have integration with AWS. They have integration with Google Cloud, and I can back up workloads on-premise and restore them to the cloud. I can back up workloads on the cloud and restore them to the other clouds, etc. It's amazing.

Veeam has been rolling out a lot of integrations lately. But compared to the other backup vendors, they are a little bit behind on the application support. 

Veeam does image-based backups, whether it be of virtual machines or physical workloads, and they are able to back up general applications like Active Directory, SQL, Exchange, or SharePoint. Sometimes, even Oracle and SAP. 

But still, there are many customers using other types of databases that Veeam does not natively support. For example, in the Linux area, MySQL and PostgreSQL are supported, but with many limitations. Like, if a customer is running a Postgres cluster, Veeam does not support that. 

If a customer is running a MySQL cluster, Veeam does not support that. But they support customers who have standalone instances of such workloads. So, I'd really like to see Veeam start to focus on supporting as many applications and scenarios as possible because that is the major difference between them and the other backup vendors.

So, supporting more applications and cluster scenarios is key. Especially cluster scenarios. 

I've been working with the Veeam Data Platform since 2018, so about six years now.

Veeam Data Platform is stable if you're using the latest release what I mean by the latest minor release, not the major release. But whenever there is a new version of the software, just like any other software, it comes with its baggage of bugs. 

So, with the latest minor release of Veeam, it's pretty stable.  

I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. 

Scalability depends. It depends on the environment. For example, in VMware environment, then Veeam is extremely scalable. However, for Nutanix environments, it's not as scalable.

For Nutanix, there's a component called the backup proxy that enhances backup performance. In VMware, I can deploy as many backup proxies as needed, bare node or bare cluster. 

However, on Nutanix, I'm limited to one proxy per cluster. The architecture there is scalable within the cluster by adding CPU and RAM to the proxy, but there's no way to add multiple proxies in Nutanix.  

I only deal with enterprise-level customers. But I have also worked with small and medium-sized businesses in the past. 

The customer service and support are very good. It's one of Veeam's key distinguishing points.

So long as you communicate the issues properly and you follow up with them, then you will have an amazing support experience. Even if you have a bad support experience, they have an option for you to talk to a manager so that you can escalate things.  

I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, with ten being easy. It's a very easy to deploy. 

Anybody can download Veeam Data Platform and install it on the same day. Then, integrating it with the environment will depend on the environment. 

Some environments are hard. Some environments are easy. Some environments are well-designed, so that's a different story. But in general, compared Veeam to other backup solutions, Veeam is the easiest to deploy.

The time taken for deployment depends on the customer's environment. For example, if all the prerequisites are intact and the customer environment is fit enough, one week is enough to deploy Veeam anywhere.

So, it depends on customers. They are PIA when it comes to their environment, their details, etcetera. Maybe an implementation can take one year. But for others, it could get done in a couple of days. It depends. But from Veeam's point of view, it's easy. It's easy to configure. It's easy to work with, etc.

From a distributor background, I've seen Veeam raise prices three times a year. With each new edition, they increase the price, making it hard to justify to customers. 

Their licensing model is simple and per-machine based, which is better than that of other vendors. However, they recently added a capacity-based backup for five shares. 

In general, my experience is that with every new feature or addition, there's a new price increase. In fact, last year, before I left the distributor, we increased prices a couple of times within the same quarter.

We have to justify it by mentioning added features and enhancements. Some customers accept it, while others complain about the rising price every year.

So, while Veeam's pricing isn't terrible even after the spikes, it's not stable.

It keeps increasing. Compared to other vendors, Veeam's pricing is good. But compared to the past five years, it's constantly increasing.

From my experience, all backup vendors should use capacity licenses, which control costs better. Veeam went for per-machine licensing to gain market share, and they succeeded. But that means they need to increase costs as they expand and add features. So, they have no choice but to keep raising prices.

Thoroughly check compatibility. Veeam is amazing, but it has limitations. Even if someone says it works with your environment, double-check everything. Verify application versions and cluster support. This is the biggest challenge customers face. They buy Veeam and then discover unsupported cluster scenarios later because they didn't ask about specific versions or configurations. 

For example, a customer would buy Veeam, and then later on, the customer would discover that "I have a Postgres SQL database, but it is a cluster. Then, Veeam will not support its cluster." 

But during the initial phase,  the customer didn't check that point. 

I recommend all potential customers to carefully check compatibility with their existing systems, with all the details.

Based on my experience, it's been very solid. Moreover, Veeam is making many changes and improvements. I'd give rate it a nine out of ten.