The requirements that enterprises have regarding backup and recovery software often diverge heavily from the requirements of small or medium-sized businesses.
Besides requiring greater support for different environments and solutions, large businesses usually have stricter regulatory and compliance requirements.
OpenText Data Protector is a backup solution for enterprises that focuses on the special needs of large organizations.
Our review of OpenText Data Protector provides you with an overview of the service’s main features, unique selling points, potential shortcomings, and how it compares to major competitors in the vertical.
What is OpenText Data Protector?
Data Protector is a backup solution for enterprises that is divided into a regular backup and a cloud-specific service that supports enterprise cloud workloads, including Microsoft 365 backups.
The core product supports legacy and modern workloads, which can be backed up locally or remotely to disk, tape, or cloud storage. When the need arises, backups can be restored quickly to minimize losses, impact on business reputation, and downtime.
One key feature of OpenText is the ability to restore data granularly, including in Enterprise applications.
OpenText Data Protector for Cloud Workloads extends support to Microsoft 365 services such as Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, or Microsoft Teams, and hypervisors
OpenText Data Protector Main Features
OpenText maintains three core Data Protector plans: standard, premium, and Data Protector for Cloud Workloads.
- OpenText Data Protector Standard – The core Enterprise-grade backup solution that supports different operating systems, virtualization solutions and applications.
- OpenText Data Protector Premium – Extends the standard plan with enhanced reporting and wider support for virtual environments.
- Data Protector for Cloud Workloads (DP4CW) – the plan was introduced in 2022 to improve integration of cloud applications and workloads.
Here is the overview of the main features of the backup solution:
Multi-platform Backup Support
Data Protector supports a wide range of different environments. Besides different operating systems and virtual environments, it offers good support for enterprise applications such as SAP HANA, Oracle, Exchange, or Microsoft 365. Support for cloud-based products is limited though, and we recommend verifying that OpenText’s product supports all required environments.
Central Management Console
Administrators control all aspects of Data Protector from a unified console. Reporting, configuration, scheduling, and monitoring happens here. Data Protector supports granular controls and policies.
Wide Backup Destinations Support
Backups can be saved to one or multiple targets. Data Protector supports storing backups on disks, tapes, and cloud storage, as well as long-term retention to meet compliance requirements.
Flexible Restoration Options
Restoration is one of Data Protector’s strengths. Restore options are complemented with several useful features:
- Granular restore of Enterprise apps, e.g., database objects or individual emails in Exchange.
- Automated recovery options.
- Offline recovery via Enhanced Automatic Disaster Recovery.
Strong Security
The backup service uses AES-256 encryption to protect data at rest and in transit. Support for immutable backups and air-gapped backups is available. These protect against ransomware or other types of malware.
OpenText Data Protector Pricing
OpenText offers no pricing information for the different Data Protector plans on its website. Like many of its competitors, OpenText requests that prospective customers contact the company for a custom quote.
Several factors play a key role when determining the price of the service, including storage requirements, the number of servers, workloads and endpoints, and the selected plan.
Industry sources suggest that costs can range from several thousand Dollars to more, depending on the environment that needs to be protected.
A free OpenText Data Protector trial is available. It gives customers 90-days of access to OpenText Data Protector Premium.
Furthermore, an OpenText Data Protector for Cloud Workloads trial is also available that offers 90-days of free access to the service.
The trials give enterprises ample time to test the ins and outs of the backup service before making a commitment.
Security Features and Compliance
Data Protector supports compliance with several global and regional data privacy regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as HIPAA, CCPA, FINRA, and GoBD.
The backup service incorporates important security features to protect backup data. Data is protected using state of the art AES-256 encryption at rest and in transit.
Security features include the following:
- Immutable backups, which prevent tampering or deletions without authorization.
- Protect and restore critical data with ease.
- Air-gapped backups, which are stored offline or in isolated networks.
- Anomaly detection, to identify unusual behavior.
- Rapid recovery for quick pre-attack restorations.
- Enhanced Automatic Disaster Recovery, for wiping and recovering infected systems offline.
- Third-party malware scanning.
Data Protect Certifications include:
- ISO / IEC 15408
- ISO 27017 and 27018
- Soc 1 Type II
- Soc 2 Type II
OpenText’s backup solution lacks FedRAMP or CMMC support, which some of its competitors offer.
Customer Support and Help
OpenText Data Protector customers have several support options at their disposal. Some are available for free, others paid or included in custom plans.
Standard technical support is available via email and help desk, community forums, and phone support. The level of support varies depending on the selected plan. Guides, documentation, and access to the community forum is also included.
OpenText Premium Services is a professional support option that gives customers one-on-one access to technical and strategic experts that are specifically assigned and therefore familiar with the environment and challenges. The add-on guarantees fast-track issue resolution and business continuity.
OpenText Learning subscriptions are available. The two options, standard and premium, are available for regular, micro focus, and security editions. They differ in scope, with premium offering more certification vouchers and including live, public courses or classes.
Pricing starts at $5,000 for any of the standard courses and $6,800 to $7,500 for the premium learning subscriptions.
OpenText certifications are available as well. Like the learning subscriptions, they focus on wider OpenText products and services, and not Data Protect exclusively.
Pros of OpenText Data Protector
- Multi-platform backup support for on-premises, virtual, and cloud environments.
- Its data backup function creates copies of individual files, datasets and raw disk partitions in just a clic.
- Centralized management console for configuring, scheduling, and monitoring backup jobs.
- Flexible storage options, including hard disks, tape, and cloud storage.
- HPE Unix Server support.
- Its recovery options include granular restores to Enterprise apps.
- Unified architecture for centralized management and data protection across physical, virtual and cloud environments.
Cons of OpenText Data Protector
- It is complex to set up backups for advanced environments.
- Limited integration of cloud solutions.
- Support and related documentation lacks depths of some of the service’s competitors.
- Lack of a small or medium-size business backup plan.
- Reliance on third-party malware engines.
What we like most about OpenText Data Protector
Data Protector is a well-established backup service for enterprises that supports a wide range of environments and backup options. Security and certifications support is extensive, but while its efficiency is above the top, it is not the best in class regarding compliance.
Backup options leave little to be desired. Customers may back up data locally or remotely, and support for long-term storage is available to meet specific requirements in this regard.
Management is run from a central console and restoration options are very flexible. The granular recovery option for certain Enterprise applications needs to be mentioned in this regard.
OpenText Data Protector Limitations
Data Protector is priced for enterprises, which means that small and most medium-sized businesses looking for a reliably and cost-effectively solution may need to look elsewhere.
Support for different workloads and environments is good, but cloud-based service support is a bit lacking compared to the competition.
Also, adoption of new technologies, including AI features, seems to be a bit slower as well.
OpenText Data Protector Alternatives
OpenText faces competition from several established companies in the data protection market. Here are three of OpenText’s main competitors in the backup market and a quick overview of their products.
OpenText Data Protector vs. Veeam Data Platform
Veeam is a leading backup and recovery solution that supports on-premises, hybrid, and cloud setups. The service is available for different audiences, including small and medium-sized businesses.
Veeam focuses on user-friendliness and instant recovery capabilities, for instance via Instant VM Recovery. This is also reflected in extensive community support options.
Commvault Cloud vs. OpenText Data Protector
Commvault Cloud (formerly Metallic) is a comprehensive backup and recovery solution with a strong focus on advanced security features like air-gapped storage or threat detection. It supports a wide range of workloads, including on-premises, cloud, and applications.
Commvault offers a more robust hybrid solution by seamlessly integrating on-premises backups with cloud environments. Finally, AI-driven insights give customers predictive analytics to improve backup performance.
OpenText Data Protector vs. Rubrik
Rubrik offers a modern backup platform that supports on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments. It supports multi-cloud capabilities and offers strong security features, including advanced ransomware protection via its Data Threat Analytics feature. While OpenText offers ransomware protection itself, it relies to some degree on third-party solutions for that.
Final Thoughts
OpenText Data Protector is a well-established backup and recovery solution that excels in support for legacy systems and functionality such as granular recovery, which other services may not offer in this kind. In fact, global businesses such as FIS-ASP GmbH are relying in its data backup tools.
While OpenText supports cloud applications and services, it seems slower than some of its competitors when it comes to the integration of cloud solutions or new technologies such as AI-driven security or analytics.
Data Protector remains a relevant product, especially for enterprises with legacy systems, but some of its competitors may be a better fit if that is not a requirement.