Systems, methods, apparatus and software can be implemented to discover third-party copy devices in a distributed computing environment, determine which of the third-party copy devices is best suited for a particular data moving application, and thereby better utilize network and computing system resources. Moreover, environment changes (e.g., device failure, network traffic changes, new device addition) can be dynamically incorporated into the information used for third-party copy device discovery and selection. These systems, methods, apparatus and software help to reduce human errors which can cause failures in critical data protection operations.