Broadcom pricing overhaul spurs vast majority of VMware clients toward alternatives
A survey of 300 VMware users has found that 90 per cent are exploring alternatives to the virtualisation platform, primarily driven by Broadcom's dramatic price increases since acquiring VMware. The exodus reflects widespread customer frustration over licensing costs that have risen by 100 to 1,000 per cent, and the company's decision to end support for perpetual licences. This shift has become a watershed moment for enterprises reconsidering their reliance on a single vendor.
The survey, conducted by Rimini Street and research firm Unisphere Research, identified significant obstacles to migration: operational complexity (40 per cent), multi-vendor management challenges (38 per cent), security concerns (37 per cent), and team skills gaps (37 per cent). Meanwhile, 60 per cent of surveyed organisations are considering a multi-hypervisor strategy, and 47 per cent are exploring hybrid IT environments combining hypervisors and containers. Industry analysts predict that 55 per cent of enterprises will test alternative distributed hybrid infrastructure by 2029, up from 25 per cent currently.
- 90% of VMware users exploring alternatives due to Broadcom price hikes
- Operational complexity and multi-vendor management top migration barriers
- 60% considering multi-hypervisor strategies for vendor diversification
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VMware is software that allows companies to create virtual computers within their physical servers, letting them run multiple systems more efficiently on fewer machines. It has been the industry standard for this type of technology for many years, and most large organisations depend on it for their core computing infrastructure.
Broadcom, a semiconductor company, bought VMware in 2023 and has since increased prices significantly and stopped offering perpetual licences—meaning customers can no longer buy the software once and use it indefinitely. Instead, they must now pay ongoing subscription fees, with some customers seeing their costs rise by between 100 and 1,000 per cent.
This price shock has prompted many enterprises to explore other options and to consider spreading their infrastructure across multiple vendors instead of being locked into Broadcom's products. The situation represents a potential turning point in the industry, as customers signal they may no longer tolerate dramatic price increases from a single dominant supplier.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Broadcom paid a substantial sum for VMware and must justify that investment to shareholders whilst funding ongoing research and development. The transition to subscription-based licensing, whilst uncomfortable for legacy customers, reflects broader industry shifts toward recurring revenue models that software companies increasingly require. Whilst price increases are steep, VMware remains the market-leading enterprise hypervisor with unmatched reliability and features; some customers will accept higher costs for superior technology and support, and the survey itself reveals substantial barriers to migration that suggest not all customers will actually leave.
The case against
The pricing increases of 100 to 1,000 per cent represent a fundamental breach of trust with customers who relied on VMware's historical value proposition and business certainty. Ending perpetual licences removes customer choice and forces expensive subscription commitments regardless of actual business need. Such aggressive monetisation ignores the operational reality facing enterprises—which face genuine migration obstacles including technical complexity, security risks, and skills gaps—and suggests Broadcom is prioritising short-term revenue extraction over long-term customer retention and loyalty.
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Originally published by Ars Technica as “Licensing costs driving 90 percent of VMware users to explore options: Survey”.