Spurs boots VMware, cites 85% licensing saving
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Tottenham Hotspur has removed VMware entirely from its technology infrastructure as part of a wider datacentre and network overhaul at White Hart Lane, cutting licensing costs by more than 85 percent. Chief Technology Officer Rob Pickering said the switch, completed over the past three months, was driven partly by savings but also by dissatisfaction with Broadcom's handling of VMware since acquiring it in 2023, including bundled pricing and a focus on only its largest customers. The club frames the change as part of a broader move towards AI-driven "one pane of glass" operations rather than a simple vendor swap.
Spurs has shifted its servers, storage and networking entirely to HPE's GreenLake portfolio, using ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers, HPE Alletra MP storage and HPE VM Essentials as its VMware replacement, managed via OpsRamp and Morpheus under a hybrid cloud service run by HPE. The stadium, which holds almost 63,000 fans, is also getting a WiFi 7 and HPE Aruba Central network upgrade, running slightly behind schedule but due within a month, covering some 1,800 access points, hundreds of Bluetooth beacons and over 500 CCTV cameras. Pickering said replacing this equipment without disruption is especially hard given the venue operates year-round with no downtime window, and its glass-and-steel construction makes radio-frequency coverage physically challenging.
- Spurs dropped VMware, cutting licensing costs by over 85%
- Move driven by Broadcom's pricing changes and small tech team needs
- Switched to HPE GreenLake, ProLiant servers and Aruba WiFi 7 network
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Tottenham Hotspur has stripped out VMware, the software that let its computer servers run multiple virtual machines efficiently, replacing it entirely with hardware and software from HPE. The move is part of a bigger overhaul of the club's data systems and stadium network at its home ground, and the club says it will cut licensing costs by more than 85 percent.
The change follows Broadcom's takeover of VMware in 2023, after which many customers, including Spurs, grew unhappy with pricier bundled deals and a focus on the biggest clients. Rob Pickering, Tottenham's Chief Technology Officer, has overseen the switch, which touches everything from servers and storage to the Wi-Fi and CCTV systems that keep the 63,000-seat stadium running on matchdays.
The story matters because it reflects a wider trend of businesses reconsidering VMware following Broadcom's changes, and because a modern stadium relies heavily on this kind of technology for security, connectivity and fan experience, with tens of thousands of people needing reliable Wi-Fi and other services at once.
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