The purchase of VMware by Broadcom for $61 billion was met with skepticism in much of the tech industry. Many analysts believed it was an excessive price for a company whose technology seemed overshadowed by the rise of public cloud, Kubernetes, and containers.
Two years later, the perspective is shifting. Broadcom didn’t just buy a leading virtualization platform; it acquired one of the most significant strategic assets in enterprise infrastructure: the enormous cost of abandoning VMware.
The key changes in VMware in 20 seconds
- Broadcom phased out perpetual licenses and forced migration to a subscription model.
- It simplified over 50 products into just four main families.
- Thousands of partners ceased to be part of the official channel.
- Many companies have reported renewal increases of several hundred percent.
- This has accelerated the search for alternatives like Proxmox VE, Nutanix, Hyper-V, or OpenShift Virtualization.
For more than twenty years, VMware built something far more valuable than a hypervisor. It became the foundation on which thousands of companies built their data centers, automation, backups, virtual networks, storage policies, and operational procedures. That integration is precisely what now complicates any migration.
Broadcom changed the business model from day one
As soon as the acquisition was complete, changes began.
Perpetual licenses virtually disappeared overnight. The new strategy focused on consolidating the product offering around VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and a few suites, replacing the previous catalog with a much simpler—and much more recurring revenue-oriented—model.
At the same time, Broadcom drastically reduced its commercial ecosystem, limiting authorized resellers and establishing a more direct relationship with large customers.
It also reorganized part of the portfolio. Carbon Black was removed from the core strategy, while Workspace ONE and Horizon were integrated into Omnissa following the sale of the end-user division.
All of this was accompanied by a change many companies have noticed in their renewals: increased license costs.
The real asset was never vSphere
From the outside, switching hypervisors may seem like just moving virtual machines.
But the reality is much more complex.
An organization that has been using VMware for ten or fifteen years usually has hundreds or thousands of virtual machines, automations, templates, virtual networks, storage policies, monitoring tools, internal procedures, and personnel fully trained on that platform.
Migrating that entire ecosystem involves much more than copying virtual disks.
It requires redesigning networks, adapting backups, refining automation tools, validating critical applications, training administrators, and maintaining both environments in parallel for months.
In large organizations, projects can last between two and four years.
That’s precisely where the value Broadcom acquired lies.
Not just the software.
But the difficulty of replacing it.
Is Broadcom leveraging this lock-in?
Many organizations believe so.
Various clients have reported significant increases in renewal costs, especially those using multiple products from VMware’s former catalog.
Although each contract is negotiated individually, and Broadcom negotiates with large accounts on a case-by-case basis, many infrastructure managers agree on one point: renewal costs remain high, but in many cases, they are still less than the immediate cost of a full migration.
This changes the negotiation dynamics between provider and customer entirely.
Market response is already underway
What’s most interesting is that Broadcom’s actions are accelerating a process that might have taken many more years.
For the first time since VMware became the industry standard, many organizations are seriously exploring alternatives.
Among them are several options:
- Proxmox VE, especially attractive for organizations seeking to reduce reliance on proprietary licenses and maintain an open platform based on KVM.
- Nutanix AHV, which has intensified its commercial strategy to attract customers coming from VMware.
- Microsoft Hyper-V and Azure Stack HCI, particularly for companies closely tied to the Microsoft ecosystem.
- Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, aimed at organizations already working with Kubernetes and looking to unify virtual machines and containers.
Each platform offers advantages and disadvantages, but they all share a common element: the interest in reducing dependency on a single provider.
Stackscale’s experience: change is already happening
According to David Carrero, co-founder of Stackscale (Aire), the shift in trend is evident.
In recent months, many of the inquiries received by the cloud provider relate to projects involving exit strategies from VMware or assessments of alternative platforms prior to upcoming renewals.
“Many companies aren’t migrating solely due to increased licensing costs,” Carrero notes. “They also aim to regain decision-making power over their infrastructure and reduce dependence on a single vendor.”
Stackscale also observes that projects are no longer just about changing hypervisors. Often, migrations serve as opportunities to review entire architectures: storage, backups, networking, automation, and hybrid cloud strategies.
The real learning goes far beyond VMware
The VMware story will likely be studied for years in business schools and tech departments alike.
Not because Broadcom has changed a licensing model.
But because it demonstrates how much vendor lock-in can become an invisible strategic risk.
Most companies chose VMware because it was the best solution available at the time.
Then came automation.
Followed by integrations.
Later, third-party tools.
And almost unknowingly, they built an infrastructure extremely difficult to replace.
The issue isn’t VMware itself.
Tomorrow, it might be any other provider—cloud services, databases, storage, AI, or cybersecurity.
That’s why more organizations are starting to ask themselves three critical questions before adopting a new technology:
- How much would it really cost to replace this provider?
- What part of our infrastructure depends on proprietary technologies?
- Are we buying a solution… or giving up our ability to choose in a few years?
Broadcom’s acquisition shows that in infrastructure, the greatest asset isn’t always the software. Sometimes, it’s how hard it is to stop using it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Broadcom eliminate VMware’s perpetual licenses?
Yes. After the acquisition, the company reorganized its product offerings and shifted its strategy toward subscription models.
Have all companies faced significant price hikes?
Not necessarily. Conditions vary per contract and negotiation, though many organizations have reported substantial increases over previous renewal costs.
What alternatives are companies evaluating?
Key options include Proxmox VE, Nutanix AHV, Microsoft Hyper-V, Azure Stack HCI, and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, depending on each organization’s needs.
Is migrating from VMware a straightforward process?
Usually not. In large, established infrastructures, it often involves complex projects affecting not only the hypervisor but also networking, storage, backups, automation, and operational procedures.
