I asked the same question captured in the title to our customers who migrated from StorageCraft. The answer they gave was not surprising upon reflection. The main reason for them to switch to Vembu BDR is because they got a complete solution with additional features in one product at pricing that was more affordable than ShadowProtect.
Backup servers can be deployed either as a physical server or as a virtual appliance. IT administrators can backup an entire disk including applications, data, system registry and boot information which supports military grade encryption, auto scheduling, bandwidth throttling, and network error reconnection technique for continuous backups. Host level Hyper-V and VMWare backups are configured using the same client agent.
Restoring physical images to Virtual Images (P2V) instantly with persistent backup option, granular recovery of files/folders, exchange mails, SQL tables and image verification are done swiftly. Hyper-V and VMWare restores are done directly to the host server. Data is additionally protected by keeping a copy in the cloud and recoverable anywhere, anytime on any machine. Also, one can spin off VM’s in the cloud in no time.
When it comes to comparative pricing, customers only pay one fifth of the price for the Vembu solution with no additional 20% maintenance fees or support fees for the licenses. For each backup configuration on StorageCraft, customers have to purchase different edition for different price points. When it comes to Vembu BDR, all the backup options are available in agent and licenses are managed centrally. All the upgrades for the products are free with 24/7 free technical support and free installation assistance.
Below are some Pricing Information about StorageCraft:
| Backup Types | StorageCraft ShadowProtect | Vembu BDR |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop and Laptop Backups | $99.95 | Free |
| Server Backups | $1095.00 / machine | $240 / machine |
| Virtual Backups | $395 / VM | $240 /(unlimited VMs) |
Free Desktop & Laptop Backups:
Small business owners have to spend $10,000 to backup 100 laptops and desktops using StorageCraft. Using Vembu BDR, they save those dollars for their business. Yes, unlimited laptop and desktop backups are FREE. Laptops and desktops are protected through image backups with granular recovery of files, image verification, P2V with persistent backups.
Application Backups:
Using Vembu BDR, applications like Exchange, MSSQL, SharePoint, Oracle, MySQL and Pervasive SQL backups are backed up for $144/year. StorageCraft customers spend $499/year for Exchange backups.
Persistent Backups:
One of our customer’s server crashed and his business operations were stalled. Immediately he booted the machine virtually from the BDR server and started working on it. A new machine was purchased in a week and he got his machines reimaged along with the work he has done for past one week. After reimaging the machine, he continued his work from where it was left off last time.
4-Tier verification:
Image backups are verified automatically with mount test, boot test and integrity check. It gives our customers confidence that backed up images are valid.
Spin off VMs on the cloud:
Virtual machines replicated to Cloud DR can be spun off in no time.
With all that said, there is indeed little reason to wonder why customers are mass migrating to Vembu BDR!
