AvePoint vs Veritas: A Comprehensive Comparison for Enterprise Backup Solutions

In the rapidly evolving landscape of data protection and backup solutions, choosing the right platform for your organization’s needs has become increasingly complex. Two major players in this arena, AvePoint and Veritas, offer robust solutions with distinct capabilities, pricing models, and approaches to data security. This comprehensive comparison will delve deep into the technical aspects, performance metrics, use cases, and user experiences of these platforms to help cybersecurity professionals and IT decision-makers make informed choices about their backup infrastructure.

Data protection has never been more critical, with organizations facing increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, compliance requirements, and the need to manage hybrid cloud environments efficiently. As enterprises continue to expand their digital footprint across Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, and other cloud-based applications, the demand for specialized backup solutions that can handle diverse workloads while ensuring regulatory compliance has intensified.

Company Overviews and Market Positioning

Before diving into the technical specifics, it’s important to understand the history and market positioning of both companies as context for their solution architectures.

AvePoint: The Microsoft 365 Specialist

Founded in 2001, AvePoint has built its reputation primarily as a Microsoft-focused solutions provider. The company has consistently aligned its product development with Microsoft’s roadmap, making it a specialized player in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. AvePoint initially focused on SharePoint migration and management before expanding into a comprehensive cloud backup provider.

AvePoint’s flagship backup offering, AvePoint Cloud Backup, has been designed with deep Microsoft 365 integration in mind. This solution has expanded over time to include support for Dynamics 365, Salesforce, and Google Workspace, positioning the company as a multi-cloud backup specialist with particular strength in Microsoft environments.

With over 9 million cloud users and a presence in more than 40 countries, AvePoint has established itself as a reliable partner for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft technologies. The company went public in 2021, providing additional resources for expansion and development.

Veritas: The Enterprise Data Management Veteran

Veritas, by contrast, brings decades of experience in enterprise data management to the table. The company has a storied history dating back to 1983, though it’s been through several corporate changes including acquisition by Symantec in 2004 and later separation as an independent entity in 2016. This enterprise heritage is evident in Veritas’s product lineup, which includes the long-standing NetBackup platform as well as newer cloud-oriented solutions under the Veritas Alta brand.

Veritas has traditionally served large enterprises with complex on-premises infrastructure, but has evolved its offerings to address hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The company’s approach tends to be more platform-agnostic, with solutions designed to work across a wide variety of enterprise systems, databases, and cloud platforms.

With a customer base that includes 87% of Fortune Global 500 companies, Veritas positions itself as a comprehensive data management provider capable of handling the most demanding enterprise requirements for backup, archiving, and disaster recovery.

Core Backup Solutions Compared

Now let’s examine the flagship backup solutions from each vendor in detail, exploring their architectures, deployment options, and key technical capabilities.

AvePoint Cloud Backup: Architecture and Capabilities

AvePoint Cloud Backup operates as a true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, with its primary architecture designed for cloud-to-cloud backup. The platform’s core strength lies in its deep API integration with Microsoft 365 services, allowing for granular recovery options that many competitors struggle to match.

The architecture employs a stateless service model with distributed components handling different aspects of the backup workflow:

• Control Plane: Manages scheduling, authentication, and backup policy enforcement
• Data Plane: Handles the actual data movement and processing
• Storage Layer: Provides flexible options for backup storage destinations

One of the most significant architectural advantages of AvePoint’s solution is its agentless design for cloud workloads, eliminating the need for on-premises infrastructure for backing up cloud data. The platform operates using service principals and secure API connections rather than requiring proxy servers or gateway components.

For Microsoft 365 backups specifically, AvePoint provides exceptional granularity, supporting the following workloads:

• Exchange Online (including mail, calendar, contacts, and public folders)
• SharePoint Online (including sites, lists, libraries, and permissions)
• OneDrive for Business
• Microsoft Teams (including chats, channels, tabs, and files)
• Microsoft Groups
• Microsoft Planner
• Project Online

The storage architecture provides flexibility with several options:

• AvePoint-managed Azure storage (included in license)
• Customer-managed Azure storage
• AWS S3 storage
• Dropbox Business
• SFTP destinations

Backup frequency is configurable up to 4 times daily, which, while sufficient for many use cases, may not meet the requirements of organizations with more aggressive Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs). The platform includes a centralized management console that provides unified visibility across all protected workloads.

Veritas Backup Solutions: NetBackup and Veritas Alta

Veritas offers two primary backup solutions that cater to different deployment scenarios: NetBackup for traditional enterprise environments and Veritas Alta Data Protection for cloud and modern workloads.

NetBackup Architecture

NetBackup represents Veritas’s flagship enterprise backup platform, with an architecture designed for complex, heterogeneous environments. Its core components include:

• Master Servers: Central control points that manage policies, schedules, and catalog information
• Media Servers: Handle data movement between clients and storage devices
• Clients: Agents installed on protected systems to facilitate backups
• Storage Units: Destinations for backup data, including disk, tape, cloud, and deduplication pools

NetBackup’s architecture is highly scalable, supporting everything from small deployments to massive enterprises with thousands of protected systems. The platform’s design excels at handling traditional workloads like:

• Physical servers (Windows, Linux, Unix)
• Virtual machines (VMware, Hyper-V, KVM)
• Enterprise databases (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2)
• Enterprise applications (SAP, Exchange, SharePoint)
• NAS systems and file servers

For cloud workloads, NetBackup offers cloud connectors and support for backing up cloud-hosted VMs, but its architecture isn’t as natively suited for SaaS applications as AvePoint’s solution.

Veritas Alta Data Protection

To address the growing cloud and SaaS backup market, Veritas introduced Veritas Alta Data Protection, a cloud-native solution that builds on the company’s enterprise expertise while adopting a more modern architecture. Key aspects include:

• Cloud-native design with SaaS deployment options
• Support for Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Google Workspace
• Integration with major public cloud infrastructure
• Simplified management through a unified console

Veritas Alta Data Protection aims to bring the robust reliability Veritas is known for in the enterprise space to cloud workloads, with an emphasis on scalability and compliance. The platform supports continuous data protection for some workloads, potentially offering better RPOs than AvePoint’s solution for time-sensitive applications.

A significant aspect of Veritas’s approach is the retention of enterprise-grade features like:

• Strong encryption options (in-flight and at-rest)
• Immutable storage capabilities for ransomware protection
• Comprehensive audit logging for compliance purposes
• Automated compliance reporting

Technical Deep Dive: Protection Capabilities

Moving beyond the architectural differences, let’s examine the specific technical capabilities that differentiate these platforms in actual operation.

Backup Methodology and Performance

AvePoint Cloud Backup

AvePoint’s backup methodology employs incremental backups after an initial full backup, using API-based connections to retrieve data from source systems. For Microsoft 365 workloads, the platform uses the Microsoft Graph API and specialized service-specific APIs to access data efficiently.

The platform’s technical approach includes:

• Item-level tracking: Rather than simply taking snapshots, AvePoint tracks individual items and their version history
• Metadata preservation: Comprehensive capture of metadata including permissions, sharing information, and custom properties
• Incremental scan optimization: Efficient identification of changed data to minimize backup windows

Performance metrics for AvePoint Cloud Backup vary by workload, but customer reports and benchmark tests suggest the platform can process approximately:

• 2-4 TB of SharePoint data per day
• 5-7 TB of Exchange Online data per day
• 3-5 TB of OneDrive data per day

These figures depend significantly on API throttling limits imposed by Microsoft and the complexity of the environment being backed up.

A technical limitation worth noting is AvePoint’s reliance on Microsoft’s APIs, which can introduce performance bottlenecks during periods of high demand or when Microsoft implements throttling. The platform includes intelligent retry mechanisms to handle these scenarios, but they can still impact backup completion times.

Veritas Backup Solutions

Veritas NetBackup employs a more traditional agent-based approach for many workloads, combined with agentless options for virtualized environments. For cloud and SaaS data, Veritas Alta Data Protection uses API connections similar to AvePoint, but with architectural differences in how data is processed and stored.

Key technical aspects of Veritas’s approach include:

• Parallel processing architecture: The ability to distribute backup workloads across multiple media servers
• Block-level deduplication: Efficient storage utilization through identification and elimination of redundant data
• Automated resource management: Dynamic allocation of processing resources based on backup window requirements

Performance metrics for Veritas solutions are generally stronger for traditional workloads, with NetBackup capable of handling:

• 10+ TB per hour for large-scale virtual environments
• Advanced storage integration for snapshot-based backups of enterprise storage systems
• High-speed database backups using specialized agents and integration points

For cloud workloads, Veritas Alta Data Protection’s performance appears comparable to AvePoint’s, though with potentially more flexibility in scheduling options, including continuous data protection for critical workloads.

A technical advantage of Veritas’s approach is the consistency in handling both traditional and cloud workloads through a unified management framework, though this comes at the cost of increased complexity compared to AvePoint’s more focused solution.

Recovery Capabilities and Granularity

When evaluating backup solutions, recovery capabilities often prove more critical than backup performance. Let’s examine how these platforms handle the restoration process.

AvePoint Cloud Backup Recovery Features

AvePoint has invested heavily in providing granular recovery options for Microsoft 365 data, offering what may be the most comprehensive item-level recovery capabilities in the market. Key technical recovery features include:

• Point-in-time restoration: The ability to restore to any available backup point
• Granular item recovery: Restore individual emails, files, list items, or Teams messages without full site or mailbox restoration
• Out-of-place restoration: The ability to restore content to alternate locations
• Permission-aware recovery: Maintaining or optionally modifying permission structures during restoration
• Metadata fidelity: Preserving version histories, custom metadata, and associated properties

For Microsoft Teams specifically, AvePoint offers truly comprehensive recovery options, including:

“`html

Teams Component	Backup Support	Recovery Options
Teams Structure	Yes	Full team or channel-level recovery
Channel Messages	Yes	Individual message or conversation thread recovery
Private Chats	Yes	Chat thread or individual message recovery
Files	Yes	In-place or out-of-place file recovery
Wiki Content	Yes	Full or partial wiki recovery
Tabs & Extensions	Yes	Tab configuration recovery

“`

The recovery process is facilitated through AvePoint’s intuitive web interface, which provides both administrative recovery options and end-user self-service recovery for some content types. The platform also supports automated restore operations through its API endpoints, enabling integration with IT service management platforms like ServiceNow.

One technical consideration is AvePoint’s approach to handling large restores. Instead of attempting to process massive restore jobs in a single operation, the platform uses a distributed restore architecture that breaks large jobs into manageable chunks, reducing the risk of API throttling and providing better visibility into restore progress.

Here’s an example of AvePoint’s restore API usage for programmatic recovery:

POST https://api.avepoint.com/cloud/backup/v1/restores
{
  "sourceSiteUrl": "https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/marketing",
  "restoreOptions": {
    "restoreType": "InPlace",
    "backupTime": "2023-05-15T08:30:00Z",
    "conflictResolution": "Overwrite",
    "preserveSettings": {
      "preservePermissions": true,
      "preserveVersionHistory": true
    }
  },
  "items": [
    {
      "itemType": "Document",
      "path": "/Shared Documents/Proposals/Client A/Proposal.docx"
    }
  ]
}

Veritas Recovery Capabilities

Veritas offers a different approach to recovery, with strengths in handling complex enterprise recovery scenarios. NetBackup provides:

• Instant access recovery: For VM workloads, providing immediate access to backed-up data without waiting for full restoration
• Automated recovery orchestration: Through integration with Veritas Resiliency Platform
• Cross-platform recovery: The ability to restore across different operating systems or virtualization platforms
• Batch restoration: Tools for handling large-scale recovery operations efficiently

For cloud workloads, Veritas Alta Data Protection offers granular recovery options, though perhaps not with the same depth of Microsoft 365 integration that AvePoint provides. The platform excels in:

• Compliance-driven recovery: Finding and restoring content based on compliance requirements
• Cross-user restoration: Moving content between users during reorganizations or personnel changes
• Disaster recovery scenarios: Full tenant recovery options for major outages

Veritas provides multiple interfaces for recovery, including web-based management consoles, command-line tools for scripting, and integration APIs. For enterprise customers, a significant advantage is the unified recovery approach across different data types and platforms, allowing standardized procedures regardless of where the data resides.

For automated disaster recovery testing, Veritas provides capabilities like:

# Example NetBackup CLI command for automated recovery verification
nbverify -client webserver01 -backupid WebServer01_1558066751 -priority 100

Security and Compliance Capabilities

In today’s regulatory environment, security and compliance capabilities are critical factors in selecting a backup solution. Let’s compare how AvePoint and Veritas address these concerns.

AvePoint’s Security and Compliance Framework

AvePoint has built its security model around the needs of regulated industries and enterprises with strict data sovereignty requirements. Key security features include:

• Data Encryption: AES-256 encryption for data at rest, with TLS 1.2+ for data in transit
• Key Management: Options for customer-managed keys when using customer storage
• Access Controls: Role-based access control with granular permission settings
• Multi-Factor Authentication: Integration with identity providers for secure access

From a compliance perspective, AvePoint offers:

• Geographic data residency options: Control over where backup data is stored
• Compliance search capabilities: Finding content across backups based on compliance criteria
• Audit logging: Comprehensive logging of all backup and restore operations
• GDPR compliance tools: Including the ability to handle right-to-be-forgotten requests

AvePoint maintains several important certifications:

• ISO 27001
• SOC 1 Type II and SOC 2 Type II
• FedRAMP Authorization (for government deployments)
• HIPAA compliance capabilities

A key architectural security advantage is AvePoint’s zero-knowledge encryption option, which ensures that encryption keys are never stored in the same location as the encrypted data, providing an additional layer of protection against unauthorized access.

Veritas Security and Compliance Capabilities

Drawing on its enterprise heritage, Veritas offers robust security features across its backup platforms:

• Immutable Storage Support: Integration with WORM (Write Once, Read Many) storage to prevent tampering
• Advanced Access Controls: Role-based authentication with separation of duties
• Encryption Options: Multiple encryption algorithms with flexible key management
• Secure Replication: Encrypted data transfer between backup locations

Veritas’s compliance features are particularly strong, including:

• Veritas Information Classifier integration: Content-aware classification of backup data
• Legal hold management: Preserving data for legal proceedings regardless of retention policies
• Compliance reporting: Automated report generation for regulatory requirements
• Chain of custody documentation: Tracking data handling throughout its lifecycle

Veritas maintains an impressive array of certifications:

• ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018
• SOC 1, 2, and 3 compliance
• FIPS 140-2 validation for cryptographic modules
• Common Criteria certification for government deployments

A distinctive security advantage in Veritas’s approach is its native integration of anomaly detection and machine learning to identify potential ransomware activity, with the ability to automatically isolate backup copies that may have been affected by malware before it was detected.

Integration Capabilities and Ecosystem

Modern backup solutions must integrate effectively with existing IT operations tools and processes. Let’s examine how these platforms approach integration.

AvePoint Integration Capabilities

AvePoint’s integration strategy focuses heavily on Microsoft’s ecosystem while providing essential connections to broader IT management tools. Key integration points include:

• Microsoft 365 Admin Center integration: Simplified deployment and management
• Azure Active Directory integration: For authentication and access control
• Microsoft Teams integration: In-app notifications and reporting
• REST API: Comprehensive API for custom integration development

For enterprise IT operations, AvePoint offers:

• ServiceNow integration: Automated ticketing for backup and restore operations
• PowerShell module: Scripting and automation capabilities
• Monitoring system integration: SNMP traps and syslog support

AvePoint’s developer-friendly approach includes well-documented APIs with examples like:

# PowerShell example for AvePoint Cloud Backup automation
Connect-APCB -Username admin@contoso.com -Password "SecurePassword" -Region "NorthAmerica"

# Get backup status for all SharePoint sites
Get-APCBBackupJob -PlanType "SharePoint" -Status "Finished" -StartTime (Get-Date).AddDays(-1)

# Trigger an on-demand backup
Start-APCBBackupJob -PlanId "742e9cda-ff29-4812-a7a9-25b5c4f82d68"

The ecosystem around AvePoint primarily consists of Microsoft partners and specialized cloud service providers who leverage AvePoint’s technology as part of broader managed service offerings. This creates a focused but relatively narrow ecosystem compared to Veritas’s more expansive partner network.

Veritas Integration and Ecosystem

Veritas approaches integration from a broader enterprise perspective, with connectivity options designed for complex, heterogeneous environments:

• Infrastructure integration: Native support for storage arrays, hypervisors, and enterprise applications
• ITSM platform support: Integration with ServiceNow, BMC Remedy, and other ITSM tools
• Orchestration platforms: APIs and connectors for automation tools like Ansible and Puppet
• Security tool integration: Connections to SIEM platforms for unified security monitoring

Veritas’s API capabilities include:

• RESTful API suite: Comprehensive API coverage for all major functions
• NetBackup CLI: Powerful command-line interface for scripting
• SDK options: Programming libraries for multiple languages

Example of Veritas NetBackup REST API usage:

# Authenticate and get token
curl -k -X POST "https://masterserver:1556/netbackup/login" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"userName": "admin", "password": "password"}'

# Use token to list jobs
curl -k -X GET "https://masterserver:1556/netbackup/admin/jobs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

Veritas’s ecosystem is notably larger and more diverse than AvePoint’s, including:

• Global system integrators who build data management practices around Veritas
• Hardware vendors with certified compatibility programs
• Technology alliance partners providing complementary solutions
• Cloud service providers offering Veritas-based managed services

This extensive ecosystem provides customers with more options for implementation support, but can also introduce complexity in navigating the various partnership options and integration possibilities.

Deployment Models and Scalability

How a backup solution can be deployed and its ability to scale with growing data volumes are critical considerations for enterprise customers.

AvePoint Deployment Flexibility

AvePoint Cloud Backup is primarily delivered as a SaaS solution, but offers some flexibility in deployment options:

• Full SaaS model: AvePoint-managed service with included Azure storage
• Hybrid model: SaaS control plane with customer-managed storage
• Private cloud options: For customers with specific compliance requirements

For on-premises workloads, AvePoint offers separate products rather than extending Cloud Backup’s capabilities, creating a potential management silo for organizations with hybrid environments.

From a scalability perspective, AvePoint Cloud Backup has been validated in environments with:

• 10,000+ user Microsoft 365 tenants
• Petabyte-scale SharePoint Online deployments
• Multi-terabyte mailbox environments

The platform’s architecture scales horizontally, with the ability to add processing capacity as demands increase. However, because it operates primarily through published APIs, its ultimate scalability is somewhat constrained by the limitations Microsoft and other cloud providers place on their API endpoints.

A notable technical aspect of AvePoint’s scaling approach is its use of dynamic loading and workload distribution based on tenant activity patterns, allowing it to optimize processing resources by targeting high-change areas while spending less compute time on static content.

Veritas Deployment Options

Veritas offers significantly more deployment flexibility across its portfolio:

• Traditional on-premises deployment: Complete customer control of infrastructure
• Appliance-based deployment: Integrated hardware/software solutions
• Cloud-hosted options: NetBackup deployments in public cloud infrastructure
• SaaS delivery model: Through Veritas Alta for cloud workloads
• Hybrid architectures: Unified management across deployment models

This flexibility is particularly valuable for organizations undergoing cloud transformation, as it allows for a gradual migration without creating management silos or requiring multiple backup solutions.

Veritas solutions have demonstrated extreme scalability:

• Single NetBackup domains managing 100,000+ clients
• Exabyte-scale deployments at large enterprises
• Performance scaling through media server load balancing
• Automatic resource management to handle peak workloads

Veritas achieves this scale through a distributed architecture that separates control functions (master servers) from data movement (media servers), allowing independent scaling of each tier. This approach is particularly effective for organizations with widely distributed infrastructure or massive data volumes.

Licensing Models and Total Cost of Ownership

Understanding the financial implications of backup solutions requires examining both upfront costs and long-term total cost of ownership (TCO).

AvePoint Licensing Approach

AvePoint offers multiple licensing options for Cloud Backup:

• Per-user licensing: Priced per protected user, regardless of data volume
• Storage-based licensing: Based on the total amount of protected data
• Workload-specific options: Ability to license only specific services (e.g., just SharePoint or just Exchange)

The pricing model includes several important components:

• Base license costs for the backup software
• Optional storage costs (if not using included storage)
• Premium support options

A typical mid-size deployment of 1,000 users might cost approximately $15,000-30,000 annually, depending on specific options and negotiated discounts. This pricing tends to be competitive for organizations primarily focused on Microsoft 365 protection.

From a TCO perspective, AvePoint’s SaaS model eliminates several cost categories:

• No infrastructure costs for backup servers
• No operating system or database licensing for backup infrastructure
• Reduced administrative overhead for platform maintenance
• Automatic updates without deployment projects

Organizations report that the simplified management interface reduces the learning curve and ongoing administrative costs compared to more complex solutions, further improving TCO metrics.

Veritas Licensing and TCO

Veritas employs multiple licensing models across its portfolio:

• NetBackup capacity-based licensing: Based on front-end terabytes protected
• NetBackup traditional licensing: Server-based plus option licensing
• Veritas Alta subscription model: Per-user or capacity-based SaaS pricing
• Appliance-based pricing: Hardware plus software bundles

This variety allows customers to align licensing with their preferred consumption model, but can make cost comparisons complex, particularly for hybrid environments.

Enterprise deployments of NetBackup typically start in the $50,000+ range and can scale to millions for large organizations. Veritas Alta’s pricing is more comparable to AvePoint’s for cloud workloads, though still typically higher.

TCO considerations for Veritas solutions include:

• Infrastructure costs for on-premises components
• Administrative expertise requirements (typically higher than AvePoint)
• Professional services for implementation and upgrades
• Long-term value of unified data management

Organizations that already have Veritas expertise in-house or that need to protect diverse workloads may find that the TCO equation favors Veritas despite higher initial costs, as it eliminates the need for multiple point solutions.

Customer Experiences and Use Cases

Understanding how organizations are using these solutions in practice provides valuable insights beyond feature comparisons.

AvePoint Customer Experiences

Based on verified reviews and case studies, AvePoint Cloud Backup has found success in several key scenarios:

Mid-Size Business Microsoft 365 Protection

Organizations with 500-5,000 employees who have standardized on Microsoft 365 frequently select AvePoint for its deep Microsoft integration and simplified management. A common sentiment from these customers is that AvePoint “understands Microsoft better than Microsoft does,” particularly for SharePoint and Teams protection.

According to a verified review on Gartner Peer Insights from a CIO in the manufacturing sector: “AvePoint Cloud Backup has proven itself multiple times during accidental deletions and even a minor ransomware incident. The granular recovery options saved us countless hours of work recreating lost content.”

Educational Institutions

Schools and universities have emerged as a strong vertical for AvePoint, with the platform’s per-user licensing model and Microsoft 365 focus aligning well with educational licensing programs. These institutions particularly value:

• Self-service recovery options for faculty
• Comprehensive Teams backup for remote learning environments
• Simple administrative interface requiring minimal training

A university IT director noted in a G2 review: “The implementation was straightforward, and we were operational within days. The ability for our help desk to quickly restore lost files without escalation has reduced our ticket resolution time by 60%.”

Regulated Industries with Cloud Focus

Organizations in regulated industries who have adopted cloud-first strategies find that AvePoint provides the compliance capabilities they need without requiring on-premises infrastructure. Financial services firms particularly value the ability to maintain geographic control over backup data while leveraging cloud efficiency.

Veritas Customer Experiences

Veritas solutions tend to excel in different scenarios:

Large Enterprise Hybrid Environments

Fortune 500 companies with diverse infrastructure spanning on-premises, private cloud, and public cloud environments gravitate toward Veritas for its unified management capabilities. These organizations value the ability to maintain consistent data protection policies across all systems.

A global telecommunications company’s infrastructure director shared in a TrustRadius review: “NetBackup gives us a single pane of glass for our entire backup infrastructure, spanning 5 data centers and 3 cloud providers. The centralized reporting allows us to demonstrate compliance across all environments.”

Organizations with Complex Compliance Requirements

Highly regulated industries with specific retention, immutability, and audit requirements often select Veritas solutions for their comprehensive compliance capabilities. Healthcare organizations, for instance, appreciate the advanced data classification and retention management features.

High-Performance Workloads

Organizations with large databases, high-change-rate applications, or strict recovery time objectives frequently choose Veritas for its performance-optimized backup methods. Financial trading platforms and manufacturing systems with near-zero downtime tolerance benefit from Veritas’s instant access recovery capabilities.

According to a review from an enterprise architect in the energy sector: “NetBackup’s instant VM recovery capability has reduced our recovery time for critical systems from hours to minutes. During a recent infrastructure failure, we were able to run production workloads directly from backup while repairs were made.”

Future Roadmap and Strategic Direction

Understanding where these vendors are heading helps organizations make future-proof decisions aligned with their long-term strategies.

AvePoint’s Strategic Direction

AvePoint has been consistently expanding its cloud backup capabilities beyond Microsoft 365, with recent additions including:

• Enhanced Salesforce backup capabilities
• Google Workspace protection
• Dynamics 365 backup

The company’s roadmap appears focused on:

• AI-enhanced recovery: Using machine learning to improve recover suggestions and automation
• Expanded SaaS protection: Adding support for additional cloud platforms and services
• Data security integrations: Tighter coupling with security tools for ransomware detection and response
• Cross-platform governance: Extending backup capabilities into broader governance scenarios

AvePoint has also been investing in its underlying platform architecture, enhancing scalability and performance to support larger tenant sizes and more frequent backup operations. The company’s acquisition strategy has generally focused on complementary technologies that enhance its core Microsoft-centric value proposition.

Veritas’s Evolution

Veritas has been undergoing a significant transformation from traditional backup vendor to comprehensive data management provider. Key aspects of its strategic direction include:

• Cloud-native architecture: The development of Veritas Alta as a true cloud-native platform
• Autonomous operations: Increasing use of AI/ML for self-optimizing backup operations
• Integrated security focus: Enhanced ransomware detection and immutable storage options
• Data insights: Analytics capabilities that derive value from backup data

Veritas continues to maintain its enterprise focus while making its solutions more accessible to mid-market organizations through simplified deployment options and cloud-based management. The company has been integrating technologies from strategic acquisitions to enhance its autonomous data management capabilities.

A significant aspect of Veritas’s strategy is the unification of its product portfolio, creating more consistent experiences across NetBackup, Alta, and other offerings while preserving the enterprise-grade capabilities that distinguish its solutions.

Making the Decision: AvePoint vs. Veritas

Based on the detailed comparison above, several decision factors emerge to guide organizations in selecting between these platforms:

Choose AvePoint if:

• Your environment is primarily Microsoft 365-focused
• You prefer a true SaaS solution with minimal infrastructure requirements
• Ease of management and user experience are top priorities
• Granular recovery capabilities for Microsoft workloads are critical
• Your organization has limited IT resources for backup administration
• You want a purpose-built solution that excels at a specific set of workloads

Choose Veritas if:

• You need to protect diverse workloads across on-premises and cloud
• Enterprise-grade scalability and performance are essential
• Your compliance requirements demand advanced classification and retention
• You have complex recovery orchestration needs
• Your organization already has Veritas expertise in-house
• You prefer a single vendor approach to data management

Many organizations find that their specific requirements don’t fall neatly into either category. In such cases, consider:

1. Prioritizing your most critical workloads and matching them to the solution that handles them best
2. Evaluating whether a dual-vendor approach might provide the best protection for different environments
3. Requesting proof-of-concept deployments to test real-world performance in your environment
4. Consulting with peer organizations in your industry about their experiences

The backup and recovery space continues to evolve rapidly, with both vendors enhancing their offerings regularly. Organizations should establish clear evaluation criteria aligned with their specific needs, risk profile, and operational constraints when making this important decision.

Final Thoughts

The choice between AvePoint and Veritas ultimately reflects a broader decision about your organization’s approach to data protection. AvePoint represents the new generation of cloud-native, focused solutions that excel at specific workloads while simplifying management. Veritas embodies the comprehensive enterprise approach, providing unified protection across diverse environments with the depth and breadth that large organizations often require.

Rather than viewing this as simply a product selection, consider how each vendor’s philosophy and approach align with your own data protection strategy and organizational direction. The right choice will not only meet your technical requirements but will also support your long-term data management objectives.