Backup and recovery (B/R) applications do a good job of managing tasks such as job scheduling, tape management, library support, tracking backup data in catalogs and supporting a variety of backup media, including disks. But B/R applications fall short when it comes to advanced capacity reporting, predicting usage patterns, performance tuning, troubleshooting and cost management.

Because backup applications deliver some of these advanced features, especially reporting, storage managers often find it difficult to justify bringing in another product to overcome the limitations of their backup apps. Product choice is highly subjective and dependent on the storage and backup environment in place. Storage managers deploy data protection and recovery management (DPRM) products that best address the needs of their unique requirements and environments, such as increased visibility about backups, compliance requirements, reporting consolidation and a need to cover the entire backup cycle, including snapshots and replicas.