Since Broadcom took over VMware, the cost of the virtualization software has risen sharply. One customer reports increases of up to 1,000 percent, while others cite 100 to 300 percent. Accordingly, more and more customers are turning away: a survey by Rimini Street finds that 90 percent of respondents are looking at alternatives.
The press release says 90 percent of respondents are considering alternatives to VMware because of higher licensing costs. Another 54 percent name the end of support for perpetual licenses as an additional reason to look at other options.
A hybrid approach rather than a full exit
Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of the more than 300 VMware customers surveyed name excessive costs as their main reason for wanting to move away. A majority of 60 percent, however, doesn't plan to leave VMware entirely. Instead, they want a hybrid approach with several hypervisor vendors.
Switching is often not simple, since it's hard to pull off without temporary limits on business operations. One thing to keep in mind when reading the numbers: Rimini Street itself sells support solutions to VMware customers, so it naturally presents the results in a light that suits its own business. Still, the data matches the trends in other studies and general customer feedback. Stricter support contracts and sharply rising costs are making VMware an increasingly less attractive platform for virtual machines for many.