VMware migrations are happening. What now?

Rising costs, restrictive licensing, and geopolitical pressure are forcing IT leaders to rethink infrastructure decisions they thought were settled. Strategic plans that seemed solid three years ago are now being disrupted by forces beyond technology itself. Rising costs, restrictive licensing, and geopolitical pressure are forcing IT leaders to rethink decisions they thought were settled. 

When Broadcom acquired VMware, they introduced a fundamentally different strategy. They identified their top 2,000 customers and chose to focus exclusively on them.

The impact was immediate: 

• License costs tripled almost overnight for organizations outside the top tier
• Multi-year migration strategies suddenly became financially unviable
• Plans to move workloads to containerized platforms or public cloud had to be reconsidered

Many waited, hoping market pressure would force a reversal. It didn’t. In some cases, prices moved in the opposite direction. A year passed. Then another. The disruption became permanent.

“Organizations still running VMware outside that top tier now face a choice: absorb the cost increase or find another path forward.”

Containerization represents the future for many workloads, but the velocity of that migration is slowing. Organizations are discovering that lifting and shifting applications into containers is more complex than anticipated. What seemed like a straightforward technical migration actually requires refactoring applications to be container-ready. That demands different skills, different infrastructure, and a different kind of organizational commitment.

The reality for most organizations:

• 40 to 50 percent of workloads will remain virtualized for the foreseeable future
• Full containerization requires application refactoring, not just migration
• The timeline they planned for needs to stretch, but VMware costs won’t wait
• Public cloud offers convenience but introduces new cost unpredictability

The question is no longer whether to keep some workloads on VM platforms. The question is which platform to choose and how to maintain flexibility while costs spiral. VMware worked brilliantly from a technical standpoint, but the business model shifted underneath existing customers.

This is where open source private cloud infrastructure provides a different foundation. Building on OpenStack, Kubernetes and Ceph creates the ability to run both virtualized and containerized workloads on a single platform. The architecture is transparent, operations stay under your control, and licensing costs shift to an operational model based on support rather than vendor dictates.

Organizations gain the ability to make technical choices based on their actual needs rather than vendor roadmaps. When a vendor relationship no longer serves you, the underlying technology remains stable. Your team retains access, visibility and control. This level of independence becomes increasingly valuable as geopolitical factors influence technology decisions in ways that seemed unthinkable a few years ago.

On sovereignty: Most major tech platforms are governed by US jurisdiction. Recent regulatory changes and political shifts demonstrate that external factors can impact infrastructure availability and compliance in ways organizations cannot predict or control. Open source infrastructure hosted within trusted jurisdictions removes dependency on vendors subject to external governance.

What open source private cloud delivers:

Freedom of choice
The underlying technology remains stable even when vendor relationships change. Your team retains access, visibility and control over the entire stack.

Operational sovereignty
Host infrastructure within trusted jurisdictions without dependency on vendors subject to external governance frameworks like the US CLOUD Act.

Cost predictability
No license fees. No surprise price increases. Operational costs based on the support model you choose, with the flexibility to adjust as needs change.

Technical flexibility
Run virtualized workloads today, containerized workloads tomorrow, or both simultaneously. The platform adapts to your timeline rather than forcing you onto a vendor roadmap.

Moving from proprietary virtualization to open source private cloud is not a simple swap. It requires recognizing the problem, identifying opportunities to add value during the transition, and finding a partner with the knowledge to execute properly. Organizations that approach this as a strategic opportunity rather than a forced reaction find ways to accelerate their roadmap, reduce dependency, and build resilience.

Case in point: Denmark’s Ministry of Education

They made this transition several years ago, migrating workloads from Oracle and VMware platforms to OpenStack and Ceph. The approach was methodical. They built a new datacenter on open source infrastructure and began systematic workload migration. Last year, they moved their entire infrastructure from one datacenter to another with zero downtime. That kind of operational flexibility comes from owning the platform rather than renting it from a vendor.

The migration process follows a proven pattern:

1. Analyze each workload for resource needs, network requirements, and application characteristics
2. Build on new infrastructure using automated pipelines that determine optimal placement
3. Validate performance and stability before cutover, with the ability to roll back if needed
4. Execute systematic migration following a structured approach that works for both VM and container workloads

Using proven tools and processes, workload migrations follow a pipeline approach. This applies whether moving from VMware to OpenStack or transitioning virtualized workloads to containerized environments. The knowledge of how to execute these migrations matters as much as the technology itself. Organizations that lack this expertise often find transitions taking longer and costing more than anticipated.

Three steps forward

Success requires putting the problem on the table first. Acknowledge that infrastructure strategy needs to adapt. Make it visible so teams understand what’s happening and why it matters. Second, identify the value this transition can create beyond cost reduction. Sovereignty, flexibility, operational independence, these benefits justify the effort and help position the change as strategic rather than reactive.

Third, find a partner who works collaboratively with your technical teams rather than replacing them. The most successful transitions happen when external expertise combines with internal knowledge. Teams learn the platform while building it, creating lasting capability inside the organization. This collaborative approach ensures the transition adds value and builds momentum rather than becoming a prolonged disruption.

The world will continue changing over the next two or three years. Market disruptions will grow larger, not smaller. Organizations that prepare for this reality build infrastructure that can adapt when circumstances shift. Open source private cloud provides that foundation, creating flexibility to respond to whatever comes next.

The world will continue changing over the next two or three years. Market disruptions will grow larger, not smaller. Organizations that prepare for this reality build infrastructure that can adapt when circumstances shift. Open source private cloud provides that foundation, creating flexibility to respond to whatever comes next. 

Waiting for VMware pricing to reverse course means losing time that could be spent building independence. The organizations moving now are the ones who will have options when the next disruption arrives. Every month spent on inflated license costs is investment that could go toward owning your infrastructure future. 

Fairbanks designs, migrates and manages open source private cloud environments built on OpenStack, Kubernetes and Ceph. We work with organizations across telecom, government, and enterprise sectors to build infrastructure that supports long-term strategy.

We help with:

• Strategic assessment of current infrastructure and migration options
• Design and implementation of open source private cloud platforms
• Workload migration from VMware, Oracle, and other proprietary platforms
• Managed services and 24/7 operational support
• Knowledge transfer and training for internal teams

Ready to explore alternatives to rising VMware costs? We can help you evaluate your options and build a path forward. Contact us to discuss how open source infrastructure can support your goals.