Navigating VMware’s Licensing Changes and vSphere 7.0 End of Support 

In the ever-evolving landscape of IT infrastructure, VMware has long been a cornerstone for virtualization solutions. However, recent licensing changes introduced by Broadcom, following its acquisition of VMware in late 2023, are reshaping how businesses approach their virtualization strategies. Broadcom also announced vSphere 7.0 will no longer be supported after October 2, 2025. The licensing changes and version end of support present a good opportunity to evaluate your hypervisor and if VMware is still the best solution for your business.  

New Minimum Core Requirement and Penalty 

Broadcom has raised VMware’s minimum core licensing requirement to 72 cores per order. This means even small businesses with modest IT infrastructure will have to pay for significantly more cores than needed. Additionally, a 20% penalty will now apply for late license renewals, making VMware an increasingly expensive choice for some organizations.  

This is the latest in a string of licensing changes Broadcom has implemented over the past year and a half.  Broadcom’s constantly changing licensing and pricing has created a lot of uncertainty about their long-term plans. While Broadcom continues to prioritize large enterprises, mid-sized businesses and smaller operations may need to rethink their virtualization strategies. 

Is now the time to change? 

If your organization is questioning its long-term reliance on VMware, here are some steps to consider: 

1. Evaluate Your Needs: Does VMware still align with your cost, performance and scalability objectives? If licensing costs outweigh benefits, explore alternative platforms. If VMware is still the best solution, consider optimizing your hardware and committing to longer term licenses. 
2. Explore Other Cloud & Hybrid Cloud Solutions: Investigate whether other cloud and hybrid cloud solutions may better suit your needs. Nutanix and Hyper-V are great virtualization alternatives depending on your business needs. This may also be the perfect catalyst to move to RSM Cloud or a different public cloud provider. 
3. Strategic Migration Planning: Whether continuing with VMware or transitioning elsewhere, a well-defined strategy minimizes risk and ensures operational continuity. If you are looking to migrate to a new solution, plan ahead to minimize the licensing overlap from VMware to your new solution.   

If you’d like more details about how the license changes might impact your business, reach out to Samuel Kleiss (Samuel.Kleiss@rsmus.com) to discuss your current situation and needs. The RSM Cloud and Data Center team can provide assessment, architecture and design and implementation services around a wide range of hybrid cloud solutions including Nutanix, Hyper-V, RSM Cloud, Azure, and AWS as well as VMware. For more information on RSM cloud solutions, visit our website.  

Samuel Kleiss

Samuel Kleiss is a seasoned expert in cloud and data center, offering his invaluable services to middle market clients across a diverse range of industries. As a leader on the Cloud and Data Center team, Samuel is dedicated to enhancing client infrastructure through comprehensive assessments, meticulous designs and architecture, and thorough implementations. He also applies his technical prowess and extensive experience to empower clients to proactively plan and prepare for potential disaster and outages.

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