As organizations face rising costs and evolving strategies in the wake of VMware’s transition under Broadcom, many are exploring alternatives for their virtualization and infrastructure needs. This journey presents both challenges and opportunities, and making an informed choice is critical. Here's a guide to the primary options available as you consider your migration strategy.
Understanding the Ecosystem Shift
The VMware landscape has changed significantly with licensing adjustments, price increases, and evolving support structures. Broadcom's acquisition has introduced concerns about cost escalations, innovation slowdowns, and limited flexibility. By 2028, it’s estimated that cost concerns will drive 70% of enterprise-scale VMware customers to migrate at least 50% of their virtual workloads.
Exploring Your Migration Options
When considering a VMware alternative, it’s essential to weigh each option against your organization's unique requirements, including cost, compatibility, functionality, and strategic objectives. Here are the top alternatives:
- Nutanix Cloud Platform
Nutanix offers a robust hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution, closely resembling VMware in user experience and functionality. Its strengths include an excellent suite of migration tools – ReadyWorks Ascend & Nutanix Move, a proven GUI, support for other hypervisors, and a world class storage platform. Updated pricing data suggest that Nutanix is capitalizing on the dissatisfaction with Broadcom and reducing pricing to capture new customers. The main consideration when evaluating Nutanix is that there is limited support for external storage. Nonetheless, Nutanix provides the most seamless upgrade path for those seeking a familiar, enterprise-grade, environment. - Public Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud offer scalable, proven infrastructures that enable either lift-and-shift migration or application modernization. They’re also a natural fit for your administrators who are likely already familiar with their respective suite of management tools. The big drawback is price. Traditionally, it’s more expensive run workloads in the cloud and, with the rapid adoption of AI, this cost barrier is likely to grow. - Microsoft Azure Local (Previously Azure Stack HCI)
For organizations aligned with Azure as a strategic partner, Azure Stack HCI offers on-premises infrastructure as a service. It integrates well with Azure’s ecosystem, including the Azure Hybrid Benefit for cost savings. However, it has limitations with external storage and a lack of enterprise customers using it at scale. - Microsoft Hyper-V
Hyper-V is a strong option for organizations that only need a hypervisor without a full-stack infrastructure. It supports external storage, has broad hardware compatibility, and is often already included in many IT environments. However, it requires additional management tools, such as MS Configuration Manager, and its future roadmap is uncertain. - Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization
Built on Kubernetes, OpenShift Virtualization enables hybrid and multicloud portability. Through KubeVirt, OpenShift Virtualization provides a unified environment where developers and operators can manage both containerized and traditional VM-based applications from a single platform. It's ideal for container-centric workloads but is relatively new and requires significant Kubernetes expertise.
Building Your Migration Strategy
- Assess Your Current Environment
Begin with a portfolio assessment to identify which applications can migrate as-is and which require re-engineering. Evaluate dependencies, incompatible software, and network constraints. - Compare Alternatives
Analyze the features, costs, and long-term viability of each option. Nutanix, for example, may offer a smoother transition for VMware-heavy environments, while public cloud solutions could support broader modernization goals. - Develop a Business Case
Present the costs, risks, and benefits of migration to stakeholders. Include considerations for staff retraining, hardware upgrades, and potential operational disruptions. - Leverage Tools Like Ascend
To streamline your migration process, consider tools like ReadyWorks’ Ascend solution. Ascend complements these alternatives by offering enhanced inventory analysis, risk assessment, wave planning, and end-to-end orchestration, ensuring a smoother, more efficient migration.
Final Thoughts
The decision to migrate away from VMware is complex, but it offers an opportunity to optimize costs, modernize infrastructure, and improve agility. Whether you choose Nutanix, public cloud IaaS, or another alternative, careful planning and the right tools can turn this challenge into a strategic advantage.
Are you ready to start your VMware migration journey? Explore your options and let Ascend guide you every step of the way.
