As backup software products evolve, the differences between those targeted at enterprises and small and midsized businesses (SMBs) start to blur. Adding to the confusion, vendors like BakBone Software Inc. and CommVault Inc. offer SMB versions of their enterprise products, while others like Computer Associates International Inc. have merged SMB and enterprise products into one product line. Here's how to distinguish between the two classes of products.
Sophisticated management options. Enterprise products will include more powerful ways to manage backup jobs, such as by department or site, and allow policies to be applied to those groups with different administrators getting various levels of control. SMB products generally display all servers on one panel and allow administrators to set policies on only one server at a time, with only one administrator role for all of the servers managed by the backup product.
Tape library and vaulting. SMB products generally provide only basic tape library management functions.
Ease of management. SMB products are easier to manage because they manage less. Backup software vendors recognize that the individuals who manage backup in small shops are usually IT generalists who don't need all of the advanced management functions required by enterprise users.
Platform support. Enterprise products offer a wider array of operating system, database, e-mail and application platform support than SMB products, which generally support only Windows and Linux operating systems and limit integration to Microsoft Corp. products like Exchange, SharePoint and SQL Server.
Expanded product suites. Enterprise backup software products are usually part of a suite of integrated products. Users shouldn't expect third-party integration with SMB backup products. | 
