Migration Engineering

The VMware math changed. Your plan should too.

Q: Should we just move to Proxmox?

Maybe. Proxmox is a viable hypervisor but the migration cost is not zero. Retraining, retooling, and rebuilding automation takes time and money. I model the actual TCO across all options so you make the decision with real numbers, not frustration.

Q: Can we negotiate with Broadcom?

Leverage depends on your footprint size. Large enterprises with multi-year commitments have some room. Mid-market organizations with under 100 sockets typically do not. The licensing audit tells you exactly where you stand before you pick up the phone.

Q: How long does the assessment take?

Two to three weeks for a single-site environment. Multi-site or multi-cluster adds a week per additional location. The roadmap and cost model are included in the same engagement.

Q: What if we decide to stay on VMware?

Then you have a documented licensing position, a clean workload inventory, and a cost model that proves the decision was intentional. That is still worth having.

I audit your current licensing exposure, inventory every workload, evaluate target platforms, and hand you a migration roadmap with costs and rollback options before you commit to anything.

Scope a project.

What Broadcom Changed

Perpetual licenses are gone. Subscription bundles are mandatory. Partners are being cut. The decision to stay or leave is no longer optional.

The pattern across every VMware environment I assess is the same.

Forced bundling: You cannot license the hypervisor alone. VCF and VVF bundles include components you do not need and cannot opt out of. Per-core pricing with 16-core minimums replaced the per-socket model.
Unpredictable renewals: Customers report 8x to 15x price increases. Late renewals carry a 20% retroactive penalty. Budget planning is impossible without a current licensing audit.
Partner ecosystem collapse: The VCSP program closed in January 2026. Invite-only partnerships mean your existing reseller channel may not survive. 86% of organizations are actively reducing their VMware footprint.

I start with the licensing audit. Everything else follows from the numbers.

Deliverables

Licensing Cost Analysis

Current spend, projected renewal cost under Broadcom terms, and break-even analysis for migration vs. optimization vs. staying. Real numbers, not vendor marketing.

Workload Inventory

Every VM, its resource consumption, dependencies, and migration complexity score. RVTools export plus manual validation of anything the tooling misses.

Target Platform Evaluation

Side-by-side comparison of Azure VMware Solution, Nutanix, Proxmox, and Hyper-V against your workload profile. Includes licensing, operational complexity, and team skill gaps.

Phased Migration Roadmap

Wave-based migration plan with rollback gates at each stage. Workloads prioritized by risk, complexity, and business impact. Nothing moves without a tested reversal path.

Cost Model

Three-year TCO comparison across stay, optimize, and exit scenarios. Includes licensing, compute, storage, labor, and retraining costs.

What affects scope.

Complexity Factors

Number of Hosts and VMs↑ Increases

Multi-Site or Multi-Cluster Environments↑ Increases

Legacy VMs with Undocumented Dependencies↑ Increases

Compliance Requirements (HIPAA, SOC 2)↑ Increases

Clean RVTools Export Available↓ Decreases

Single-Site, Standard Hardware↓ Decreases

Field Evidence

From the Field

Real VMware assessment and migration work from previous engagements.

The Broadcom Bill Just Landed. Now What?: When VMware licensing changed overnight, organizations needed a decision framework. This post walks through the actual costs of leaving vs. staying, updated March 2026 with VCSP closure and EU antitrust developments.
Migration Readiness: The Pre-Flight Checklist: The dependency mapping and risk gate process I run before any migration begins, covering rollback planning, network readiness, and go/no-go criteria.
RVTools Analyzer: Edge Cases: When automated tooling misses things. The edge cases in RVTools exports that require manual validation before you trust the inventory numbers.

Common Questions

What People Ask

Should we just move to Proxmox?+

Can we negotiate with Broadcom?+

How long does the assessment take?+

What if we decide to stay on VMware?+

Start with the licensing audit.

I review your VMware footprint, model the renewal cost, and send a fixed-price proposal within 48 hours.

Get in touch.

The pattern across every VMware environment I assess is the same.

Forced bundling: You cannot license the hypervisor alone. VCF and VVF bundles include components you do not need and cannot opt out of. Per-core pricing with 16-core minimums replaced the per-socket model.
Unpredictable renewals: Customers report 8x to 15x price increases. Late renewals carry a 20% retroactive penalty. Budget planning is impossible without a current licensing audit.
Partner ecosystem collapse: The VCSP program closed in January 2026. Invite-only partnerships mean your existing reseller channel may not survive. 86% of organizations are actively reducing their VMware footprint.

I start with the licensing audit. Everything else follows from the numbers.