BackupAssist vs Dell NetWorker comparison

Why PeerSpot?

BackupAssist and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the Backup and Recovery category. BackupAssist is ranked #59, while Dell Technologies is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.8. BackupAssist holds a 0.8% mindshare in BRS, compared to Dell Technologies’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BackupAssist users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

BackupAssist

Read 5 BackupAssist reviews

2,719 Views
2,610 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Dell NetWorker

Read 86 Dell NetWorker reviews

8,206 Views
7,550 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

BackupAssist

Dell NetWorker

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 11, 2024

Dell NetWorker and BackupAssist compete in the data backup solutions category. Dell NetWorker is seen as having the upper hand for complex environments due to its advanced features and comprehensive support.

Features: Dell NetWorker is praised for its scalability, integration capabilities, and robust data recovery options. Users highlight its ability to handle large amounts of data efficiently. BackupAssist stands out for its straightforward setup, ease of use, and effective backup scheduling.

Room for Improvement: Users of Dell NetWorker suggest enhancements in speed, a more intuitive configuration process, and better reporting tools. BackupAssist users recommend improved customer support response times, expanded cloud storage options, and better documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Dell NetWorker's deployment can be complicated and time-consuming due to its complex architecture. However, its customer service is praised for being responsive and helpful. BackupAssist receives positive feedback for its quick and straightforward deployment process, but its customer service needs improvement according to user feedback.

Pricing and ROI: Dell NetWorker is seen as a more expensive option, but users feel it offers good ROI due to its advanced features and reliability. BackupAssist is considered cost-effective with lower upfront costs, making it accessible for smaller businesses. Its limited features may impact long-term ROI for larger enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed BackupAssist vs. Dell NetWorker Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist vs. Dell NetWorker

September 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

BackupAssist

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

59th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

MSP Backup (12th)

Dell NetWorker

Ranking in Backup and Recovery

16th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Backup and Recovery category, the mindshare of BackupAssist is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell NetWorker is 1.2%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Backup and Recovery Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Dell NetWorker	1.2%
BackupAssist	0.8%
Other	98.0%

Backup and Recovery

Featured Reviews

RichardMukarakate

Director at Gemini Systems

Provides ransomware protection, does good reporting, and is close to perfect for our use case

The main challenge that I have had with it was no line of support, but I've anyway taken away the Linux machine that I was using. So, I don't need that anymore. I'm migrating my Exchange to the cloud. So, I probably will stop using the exchange backup side of it sometime next year, but the rest of the virtual machines that I have on-premises are very well covered by it. To be able to back up my online Exchange, I know there is a backup in the cloud, but I prefer to have something physical with something on my premises as well. It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it.

Read full review

RaedHassan

Senior Specialist Backup/Storage at National Bank of Kuwait

Has supported flexible multi-platform backups and improved over time

Regarding the effectiveness of Dell NetWorker in terms of role-based access controls, I have experience with it, but I find it somewhat lacking in flexibility as it offers limited features, and I would rate it around seven out of ten. It is not that there is something wrong with the role-based access controls in Dell NetWorker, but it lacks many permissions or roles to assign, providing options only for administrator or user. To improve Dell NetWorker for the next release, I recommend enhancing flexibility in the policy, allowing selection of multiple options within the same policy, and addressing issues like the DNS lookup dependency to make it more controllable from Dell NetWorker itself rather than relying on other applications. Looking forward, I would like to see improved policy features and a more enhanced GUI, as it is still slow.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"I get my reports. It is generally very reliable. Unless there is a major change, it doesn't stop backing up. I've got my server room set up with everything connected to the same power, and I never have power issues or failures of backups because a sub-site has gone off."

"We managed to have good backups which were easy to recover, and easy backup of MS Exchange and SQL databases."

"I have found that the backups are usually very successful."

"Now that we are using the solution, we get notified online when our backups are done."

"I find BackupAssist very convenient to work on and I really like its user interface."

"The most valuable features of BackupAssist are ease of use, configure is simple, and more importantly, ease of recovery. If you needed to do a complete system recovery or another recovery it is straightforward."

"We can configure the notifications themselves so that the right people get the notifications. This is very helpful. It allows key stakeholders to know if backups have happened and to remind each other to check the backups if something is not right."

"I would definitely recommend this solution to others."

More BackupAssist pros

"The possibility of recovering up-to-the-moment data is very useful."

"The GUI is the best feature. It's very good and easy to use."

"I went for NetWorker because it's a good physical as well as virtual environment, and the best possible solution compared to the other products on the market."

"From my perspective, Dell EMC NetWorker is a good solution to make backups."

"Dell's technical support are quite helpful with straightforward issues."

"This solution might be a bit complex for an end-user but it's a great solution for a technical person."

"Taking backups is faster."

"If you need to backup multiple OS platforms, this is the product to purchase."

More Dell NetWorker pros

Cons

"It stopped doing my backups after I did the last update on it."

"Many solutions become stagnant over time. However, BackupAssist has been consistent in updates but they must continue to innovate and improve to avoid stagnation."

"In the future I would like to see more support for Linux."

"Has a few problems working with snapshots time-outs and failed backups."

"One issue I had with this program, was that I couldn't get it to back up my Linux virtual machines."

"The solution needs a dashboard or some form of central control from which you can manage all backups."

"NetWorker isn't scalable - you can't add more nodes to it, although you can add some data zones."

"Since the product is not on the front banner of Dell, the support may not be the best."

"They need to take off the tape and allow us to use different repositories in order to keep the data for five to 10 years."

"In my opinion, Networker is not a very good product; it's very complex compared to Veeam and other products."

"While upgrading to a new version, we encounter challenges related to specific algorithms or code regulations."

"I would like to see better support for the container systems, and we would like to see more support for image backups instead of pure file backups."

"I am not very satisfied with the support."

"The price of the license could be cheaper and it would be a benefit if they came up with a new pricing model."

More Dell NetWorker cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There's a yearly licensing cost. The costs might be around $2000 USD annually."

"The product pricing here in Zimbabwe is good, I cannot complain."

"It's on a yearly basis, but I'm not the one who does the licensing on that. I don't have any figures, but it's on a yearly basis, and I believe it's reasonable."

"The cost of the solution is reasonable and there are add-on options that can be purchased. I have used other solutions that are a lot more expensive that are not as good. The ability to get support is very simple and very reasonable from a cost standpoint."

"The tool is pricey."

"They are not cheap."

"The price of the license could be cheaper and it would be a benefit if they came up with a new pricing model. The competitors here in Oman sell universal licensing where a number of virtual machines are hosted at the customer place which can be licensed, or you can license the CPU sockets in those servers. However, NetWorker offers only CPU sockets or overall storage capacity to backup, but there is no universal licensing where you can provide a number of VMs. They should offer more options to stay competitive with other solutions, such as Veeam."

"We do need to purchase a license, but sometimes, it comes as a part of the Dell Data Protection Suite (DPS). It has a capacity-based licensing."

"Licensing is based on the number of terabytes, so you need to purchase packages."

"Dell NetWorker has two types of licensing models."

"The pricing of the solution is not the cheapest compared to other similar solutions. The Networker is available as a component of the Dell EMC Data Protection Suite package and it should have the ability to be purchased separately."

"The licensing model can be traditional licensing or capacity-based licensing."

More Dell NetWorker pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

28%

Comms Service Provider

18%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	33
Large Enterprise	38

Questions from the Community

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What's the difference between Dell EMC Avamar and Dell EMC NetWorker?

From the very beginning, Dell EMC NetWorker considers users and those who might potentially become users. In terms of both pricing and setup, this product offers an experience that is significantly...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell NetWorker?

Regarding the pricing of Dell NetWorker, it depends on the deal or negotiation we have with the vendor, making it reasonable, although I cannot make a definitive decision without knowing the specif...

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What needs improvement with Dell NetWorker?

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist

October 2026

Download BackupAssist product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell NetWorker

October 2026

Download Dell NetWorker product report

Also Known As

No data available

NetWorker

Overview

BackupAssist is a versatile backup software offering tape and drive backups, customizable alerts, Exchange and SQL backups with options for network and cloud data storage, including AWS and Wasabi, ensuring data safety and ease of recovery.

BackupAssist provides reliable backup solutions for businesses with its intuitive interface and straightforward recovery process. It supports a range of storage media and offers cloud storage solutions. While consistently updated, it faces compatibility issues with Linux virtual machines and iSCSI connectivity. There's room for improvement in its marketing and a centralized dashboard is needed. Its Exchange backup processes require attention, and it lacks a dedicated support line, impacting user experience. Deployment covers a variety of servers including file and active directory, demonstrating flexibility in server management and backup processes.

What are the important features of BackupAssist?

Versatile Backup Options: Supports tape, drive, and cloud storage solutions including AWS and Wasabi.
Customizable Alerts: Keeps stakeholders informed with adjustable notifications.
Exchange and SQL Support: Provides dedicated support for critical applications.
Ransomware Protection: Incorporates ransomware checks to enhance security.
User-Friendly: Features an easy-to-navigate interface simplifying backup management.

What benefits should users expect in reviews?

Easy Recovery: Ensures straightforward data restoration processes.
Comprehensive Support: Knowledgebase resources aid in troubleshooting and feature evolution.
Reliable Updates: Regular updates promise continuous improvement.
Flexible Cloud Integration: Options for AWS and Wasabi cater to diverse requirements.
Stability During Power Outages: Maintains data integrity when power issues occur.

In industries, BackupAssist is implemented extensively for server backups, particularly in managing Hyper-V hosts to iSCSI devices, covering vast data volumes and supporting numerous virtual machines. It plays a crucial role in backing up essentials like Exchange, databases, payroll systems, and active directory across multiple sectors by providing on-premise and offsite data retention solutions.

BackupAssist

Dell NetWorker offers an intuitive interface, broad compatibility, and strong deduplication capabilities. It's designed for backup and recovery in VMware environments, providing seamless integration with Data Domain and support for large databases.

Focusing on efficient backup and recovery, Dell NetWorker supports physical and virtual servers, ensuring data protection and continuity. It features Client Direct for efficient data handling, automates and centralizes backup tasks, and is known for its robust performance. Some areas of improvement include enhancing deduplication, documentation, reporting, cloud vendor integrations, and third-party storage solutions compatibility. With complex configuration and scaling challenges, it requires skilled personnel for optimal use. Enhanced VMware, Hyper-V, and Microsoft Exchange support is needed, as is improved technical support and stability.

What are Dell NetWorker's key features?

User-friendly interface simplifies management.
Broad compatibility with diverse environments.
Strong deduplication for efficient storage use.
Seamless Data Domain integration.
Client Direct for direct data transfers.
Automated and centralized backup tasks.
Highly scalable to accommodate growing needs.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Improved data protection and continuity.
Streamlined backup and recovery processes.
Efficient handling of large data volumes.
Long-term data retention capabilities.
Integration with VMware and Data Domain.
Secure and reliable data management.

Dell NetWorker is implemented across industries like telecommunications, astronomy, and banking, primarily for backup and recovery across physical and virtual servers. Companies utilize it for secure data storage, safeguarding critical systems, and managing sizable databases. Many integrate it with VMware, leveraging its capabilities for data restoration to ensure business continuity.

Dell Technologies

Sample Customers

Monash University, NASA, NYU, Pfizer, RAF Association, Rockwell Colins, University of Arizona, US Department of State, Volvo

Republic Bank, Westgate Resorts, Macquire Cloud Services, Shriners, Panatonni, Qatar Islamic Bank, Eurosport

Buyer's Guide

BackupAssist vs. Dell NetWorker

September 2026

Free Report: BackupAssist vs. Dell NetWorker

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