The acquisition of VMware by Broadcom in November 2023 sent veritable shockwaves through the technology industry amid concerns about price rises for critical services.
VMware has become so embedded in organisations, with its virtualisation and hyperconverged infrastructure services, that many companies are reluctant to move off the platform.
However, it is now critical that tech leaders contemplate an alternative, cloud-native future – and choose the best partners to help them move towards it.
Navigating turbulence
Broadcom’s 2023 deal upended the entire VMware ecosystem. The deal has seen some products spun off, while others have been repackaged as bundles.
In addition to higher costs, it also means frontline tech workers are fearful that their VMware expertise is in danger of becoming a legacy skillset if their employers adopt other platforms.
Forrester analyst Naveen Chhabra suggested that 20% of organisations will take steps to migrate off VMware in 2024, although he cautioned against ‘rash’ decisions.1
This is all happening as forward-thinking enterprises grapple with critical industry-wide challenges such as digital transformation and AI.
The case for cloud native
It’s therefore imperative that companies think seriously about migrating off VMware and adopting cloud-native tooling. Moving from VMware platforms to the cloud offers virtually unlimited scalability as well as cost visibility and predictability.
But migrating to AWS Cloud means enterprises benefit from cloud-native tooling that enables teams to manage underlying infrastructure and develop applications more effectively as they extricate themselves from complex VMware-bound on-premises infrastructure.
They also gain access to the full gamut of cutting-edge data and AI technologies. That includes AWS’ own offerings as well as applications from other vendors and open-source projects.
And they gain from AWS’ resilience and enterprise-grade security – which is critical given how central data is to generative AI.
Yet it can be difficult to know where to start and what to expect.
AWS partner Nordcloud does know. The company has extensive VMware expertise and can help unpick existing installations.
Its deep AWS knowledge means it can guide enterprises on precisely how they can benefit from shrugging off their legacy setup and exploiting the full range of cloud-native applications and technologies on AWS.
Migrate, rapidly
This is delivered under a $0 migration programme, meaning enterprises don’t have to find the funds for justifying, planning and executing the transition themselves.
This covers an assessment of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their existing setup, and what that figure will be when they move across to AWS. That includes the benefits of moving away from expensive legacy tools such as Oracle or SAP, as well as VMware.
“Our experience is that what they’re paying after the migration will be 20% to 40% less,” says Nordcloud’s VP for partners, Peter Bakker.
This entire process is highly automated, he explains, using Nordcloud’s own tooling and third-party technology, in collaboration with AWS.
That high degree of automation also creates more space for training and certification, for existing frontline tech workers and leaders.
How long does this take? Bakker cites the example of Finnair. Nordcloud began discussing migrating the global airline’s systems in March and, he explains, “They closed their data centre in December.”
The VMware world has changed beyond all recognition over the last year.
But working with Nordcloud to move to AWS means what might seem like a painstaking migration becomes an opportunity to not just optimise existing systems and cut costs – but to reposition the entire organisation for the future.
To learn more how Nordcloud can help you maximise value on AWS, click here.
1Network Work, Broadcom moves roil VMware customer base, January 2024 , https://www.networkworld.com/article/1293388/broadcom-moves-roil-vmware-customer-base.html