Licensing costs driving 90 percent of VMware users to explore options: Survey

A recent survey reveals that 90 percent of VMware users are exploring alternatives due to rising licensing costs. Organizations are prioritizing risk reduction and avoiding unnecessary disruption during infrastructure changes. 60 percent of respondents are considering a multi-hypervisor strategy, indicating a growing interest in flexible, mixed environments. 47 percent are favoring a hybrid IT environment combining hypervisors and containers for optimal workload placement. Additionally, 48 percent have no plans to move assets to VMware's Cloud Foundation platform.

The trend signals increasing diversification in enterprise virtualization strategies, with a long-term transition toward bespoke, multi-platform environments. Gartner predicts 55 percent of enterprises will pursue proofs of concept for alternative distributed hybrid infrastructure by 2029 to replace VMware-based deployments. Enterprises aim to reduce dependency on single providers while maintaining continuity for mission-critical systems and modernizing at their own pace.

The shift combines on-premises infrastructure, private cloud, public cloud, and alternative hypervisors to support workload flexibility, operational efficiency, and better cost control.

A recent survey reveals that 90 percent of VMware users are exploring alternatives due to rising licensing costs. Organizations are prioritizing risk reduction and avoiding unnecessary disruption during infrastructure changes. 60 percent of respondents are considering a multi-hypervisor strategy, indicating a growing interest in flexible, mixed environments. 47 percent are favoring a hybrid IT environment combining hypervisors and containers for optimal workload placement. Additionally, 48 percent have no plans to move assets to VMware's Cloud Foundation platform.

The trend signals increasing diversification in enterprise virtualization strategies, with a long-term transition toward bespoke, multi-platform environments. Gartner predicts 55 percent of enterprises will pursue proofs of concept for alternative distributed hybrid infrastructure by 2029 to replace VMware-based deployments. Enterprises aim to reduce dependency on single providers while maintaining continuity for mission-critical systems and modernizing at their own pace.

The shift combines on-premises infrastructure, private cloud, public cloud, and alternative hypervisors to support workload flexibility, operational efficiency, and better cost control.