>His comments read as though using the agent and backing up to file are mutually exclusive, which is misleading. I've backed up to file using a maintenance plan or SQL Server Agent quite a bit. In fact, that's about the only way I've ever done it. As stated before, the backups are then copied to tape as part of the general server backup.

I didn't read it that way.

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>He didn't really address the value of software, such as Backup Exec, which can backup the live database files just as the SQL Server's internal backup does. I just don't see the value in having that since you already have that built in to SQL Server (which I think allows you to send it directly to tape as well, although I've never done it that way). Or is there some other angle to this that I am missing?

He does address agents, saying that people generally set them up wrong. The advantage of something like Backup Exec with an agent is that you can have a single backup mechanism for SQL Server and the rest of the files on the server.