Alternatives to VMWare: More Virtualization Options Following the Loss of Perpetual Licensing

With the acquisition of VMWare by tech giant Broadcom, the industry of virtualization has seen a massive shift in the reseller market. As of early February, the change of power has seen heavy adjustments go through the company and how it interacts with both resellers and end users, including the push from perpetual licensing to more expensive subscription-only models for the same software. The latest changes have included the cancellation of all reseller partnerships as the company reasses which resellers will or will not be able to continue offering solutions to their VMWare clients. With these cancellations, and the change of perpetual licensing, many users are considering alternatives to VMWare, and what other solutions may be on the market.

Adjusting to VMWare Partnership Cancellations

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware is resulting in a reshaping of the virtualization and cloud computing market. Companies that heavily rely on VMware’s technology may need to reassess their strategies and potentially look for alternative solutions, and many smaller solutions companies that built their client base on offering virtualization solutions for their users are now going to need to begin reassessing their ability to sell the product. Unfortunately, sources in the industry have suggested that reseller partners who generate less than $500,000 in revenue are at risk of losing their partner status.

This is potentially a move away from the SMB market as a whole, as that requirement eliminates many of the smaller partners from contending in the sales of VMWare.

End of VMWare Perpetual Licensing and Cost Increases

In December with the restructuring of the company’s support models, it was also announced that VMWare would no longer be offering perpetual license sales or renewals and that they would be discontinuing their Support and Subscription (SnS) models. This is a push to more subscription-based models offered by the company, though it also comes at an exponential price increase for some users. At cost, many users who relied on perpetual licensing on a yearly base for support are now looking at a potential double in cost for some existing services.

For some users, this will be an untenable and unreasonable cost increase for a service they’ve been using for years–which is why our former VMWare experts are more than happy to offer solutions to this approaching issue. Virtualization should not be a service that only larger enterprises can utilize, and small to medium businesses still have options.

Alternatives to VMWare and Support

While VMWare has offered a stable IT environment solution for many users for years, we want to assure you that it’s not the be-all, end-all solution for your virtualization. There are a few running contenders for replacing alternatives to VMWare and its virtualization services. Hyper-V, Microsoft’s hypervisor-based virtualization platform, can be a viable alternative to VMware for certain organizations based on their specific requirements, preferences, and IT infrastructure.

Fortunately, we have specialists on hand who are more than happy to help you migrate away from using VMWare in the wake of their business decisions amidst their restructuring. There may be more affordable or stable solutions on hand to support your needs.

For assistance with looking into these solutions, or for advice on how your business can move forward with or without VMWare, please give our experienced sales team a call, or email us at sales@10-100.com.