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More and more IT decision-makers and executives, especially in Switzerland, are looking for alternatives to VMware. No surprise: Since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, many customers have experienced drastic price increases. A survey of 1,000 VMware customers showed that more than half are considering switching. Many are already paying more than before the acquisition for the same services, and for 15% of respondents, costs have even increased tenfold. This price explosion has triggered a willingness to migrate, reflected in a growing interest in open-source solutions. Companies no longer want to accept skyrocketing prices without improved service. So the question is: How can you reduce licensing pressure and make your virtualization future-proof?
VMware in the cost trap: Why more customers are ready to switch
VMware has been the de facto standard in server virtualization for years: reliable, functionally mature, and equipped with powerful features such as vMotion for live migration. But these strengths come at a price. High licensing fees and complex licensing models are among the most common criticisms from customers. Under Broadcom, VMware has increasingly shifted to subscription models, massively raising costs especially for smaller customers. Many existing customers, including those in Switzerland, are now facing cost increases of 85% or more. A Dutch court recently described Broadcom’s licensing practices as aggressive and even required VMware to support affected customers with their migration for two years. The result: more and more companies are turning their backs on VMware.
In addition to costs, strategic direction also plays a major role. VMware’s proprietary solutions often lead to vendor lock-in, limiting flexibility and tying up budgets. Every franc that goes into rising VMware fees is missing from investments in innovation, such as cloud, containers, or AI. Moreover, traditional VMware environments don’t always integrate smoothly with the modern cloud-native world: classic VM workloads are difficult to combine with containerized applications, and the licensing model for modern platforms like Tanzu adds further complexity and costs.
In short: high ongoing expenses, licensing pressure, and the desire for technological progress are pushing many companies to consider alternatives.
Open source as a way out: flexibility and transparent pricing
Given these developments, it’s no surprise that open-source platforms are suddenly in high demand. According to the survey, 44.9% of VMware customers can imagine migrating to open-source solutions. The appeal is obvious: open code means no dependency on a single vendor and generally lower costs. However, pure community projects like Proxmox or standalone KVM-based solutions often come without guaranteed support. For companies, this is a valid concern around 23% cited missing SLAs as a risk.
This is where Red Hat comes into play. Red Hat offers the best of both worlds: open-source technology without restrictive licensing, combined with professional support and long-term updates. For years, Red Hat has been a major contributor to the development of the open-source KVM hypervisor and has extensive experience in enterprise virtualization. This allows companies to avoid vendor lock-in while still benefiting from the security and support of an enterprise solution.
In addition, Red Hat uses a transparent subscription model. Customers typically pay per node or socket for support and usage, ensuring predictable costs. Unexpected relicensing as many VMware customers recently experienced is eliminated.
In short: With Red Hat, open source provides greater flexibility, fair pricing, and a platform that grows with your needs.
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization: A modern alternative
OpenShift Virtualization integrates virtual machines into a Kubernetes platform. Red Hat’s KubeVirt technology makes it possible to run VMs (marked as “VM” in the diagram) and container workloads together on an OpenShift Kubernetes cluster. This allows traditional applications and cloud-native services to be managed in a unified way.
As an alternative to VMware, Red Hat has positioned OpenShift Virtualization a solution that integrates virtual machines directly into the OpenShift Kubernetes platform. Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization is based on the open-source project KubeVirt and enables running VMs and containers in a shared environment.
In practice, this means: if your company is already using Kubernetes or OpenShift, you can move existing VM workloads there instead of operating a separate VMware cluster. Management happens through the familiar OpenShift console, and both developers and admins benefit from consistent tooling.
OpenShift Virtualization provides a Kubernetes-native approach to virtualization. Cloud-native principles such as scalability, declarative management, and self-healing apply to virtual machines as well.
As an alternative to VMware, Red Hat has positioned OpenShift Virtualization in particular a solution that integrates virtual machines directly into the OpenShift Kubernetes platform. Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization is based on the open-source project KubeVirt and allows VMs and containers to run in a shared environment.
In practice, this means that if your company already uses Kubernetes or OpenShift, you can bring existing VM workloads there instead of operating a separate VMware cluster. Management takes place through the familiar OpenShift console, and both developers and administrators benefit from consistent tools.
OpenShift Virtualization thus provides a Kubernetes-native approach to virtualization. Cloud-native principles such as scalability, declarative management, and self-healing also apply to virtual machines.
Of course, switching to a Kubernetes-based platform also requires building new expertise. Introducing new concepts comes with a learning curve, and not every administrator is immediately a Kubernetes expert. However, Red Hat and its partner network offer extensive training, certifications, and support to ease the transition.
The investment pays off: in the end, you gain a future-proof platform that unifies traditional and cloud-native workloads under one roof with significantly lower ongoing costs compared to a pure VMware setup.
Migration made easy: moving VMware VMs without the chaos
A legitimate concern with any platform change is the migration of existing VMs. No one wants to risk production systems or accept long downtime. This is another area where Red Hat shines. With the Migration Toolkit for Virtualization (MTV), Red Hat provides a tool specifically designed for migrating VMs from VMware to OpenShift. This toolkit, included with OpenShift, automates many steps that would otherwise be manual and error-prone.
A typical migration process looks like this: first, the source environment based on vSphere is connected and a migration plan is created. In this plan, you select one or more VMs, define the network and storage mappings for the target platform, and then start the process. The tool copies the VM data into the OpenShift cluster and transfers the configuration so that the VM boots up in OpenShift Virtualization.
During the migration, the original VM remains untouched until you cut over, keeping downtime to a minimum.
Once the migration is complete, your virtual machines run on OpenShift and behave as if they were native cloud workloads. Through the OpenShift console, you can view VM status, CPU and memory usage, networking, and other metrics — and even access the VM console directly.
In short: the migration tool removes much of the complexity and enables a gradual, controlled transition.
For larger projects, automation with Ansible is also an excellent option. The Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform makes it possible to script repeatable migration processes ideal when dozens or even hundreds of VMs need to be migrated. With Ansible playbooks, for example, you can migrate all VMs in a specific group step by step, including network and storage mappings, without anyone having to click through each step manually. This reduces errors and saves time.
Ansible can even inventory environments and generate reports showing which VMs have already been migrated and which ones are still pending.
Finally, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes helps you maintain full visibility. This tool, also part of the Red Hat portfolio, enables centralized monitoring and management across all clusters and virtual machines. Especially after migration, it helps track the health and performance of your VMs. Integrated Grafana-based dashboards display resource usage, and you can configure warnings and alerts for example, if a VM suddenly consumes an unusual amount of memory.
For administrators who are used to vCenter, Advanced Cluster Management serves as a powerful multi-cluster equivalent, with the added benefit that container workloads are managed alongside VMs. This gives you complete oversight and lets you centrally control your entire infrastructure — from the data center to the edge.
Benefits for your business: lower costs, higher innovation
Switching away from VMware to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization offers clear economic and technical advantages. First and foremost is cost reduction: you eliminate the often five- or six-figure annual VMware licensing bills. Red Hat’s subscription model is not only more affordable but also more predictable. Price shocks such as a sudden tenfold increase overnight are not something you have to worry about.
Some customers report that OpenShift Virtualization has significantly reduced their total operating costs, since no separate virtualization licenses are required anymore and operational overhead decreases. Additional expenses for VMware ecosystem products like vCenter or vRealize also disappear, because much of that functionality is already integrated into OpenShift or can be covered with open-source tools.
But it’s not just about savings. Flexibility and future-readiness are just as important. By adopting an open platform like OpenShift, you free yourself from vendor lock-in. Your company gains the freedom to shape its IT strategy independently — whether on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid solution. OpenShift runs on a wide range of infrastructures, from bare metal to VMware or other hypervisors, and even AWS or Azure. This allows you to place your workloads where it makes the most economic and strategic sense.
New technologies become easier to integrate: container platforms, CI/CD pipelines, GitOps, AI and ML workloads all of these fit seamlessly into the OpenShift environment. You’re investing in a platform that supports both traditional VMs and modern cloud technologies, rather than pouring money into a purely legacy system.
For your IT teams, the switch also represents a step forward. Developers and administrators work more closely together on a unified platform, making DevOps easier. Through automation and self-service for example, when developers can provision VMs or containers themselves using templates productivity increases. The initial learning curve pays off in the long term through more efficient processes.
OpenShift also brings security by design. Built-in security mechanisms such as SELinux and sVirt protect VMs and containers at a low level. And with Red Hat as your partner, you receive proactive support and regular updates, ensuring the stability and security of your environment.
Last but not least, IT leaders value the transparency and control that come with it. The source code is accessible, open standards prevent proprietary dead ends, and the community drives innovation. Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization is not an obscure niche solution it’s built on proven technology used productively in many companies worldwide, often as a core part of their hybrid cloud strategy.
You can rely on the fact that the solution is battle-tested and enterprise-ready.
Conclusion: From licensing traps to an innovative future with Red Hat
The developments of recent years have shown that blindly trusting proprietary vendors can become expensive. VMware customers, in Switzerland and worldwide, have faced massive fee increases that strain budgets and understandably cause frustration. But alternatives do exist.
With Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, a mature and open platform is available that not only helps reduce costs but also opens the door to modernization. It enables you to move existing VM workloads into a Kubernetes-based environment with minimal risk, where they can run alongside containerized applications.
For Swiss companies that value predictability, flexibility, and innovation, moving away from VMware can be the right step. Red Hat’s approach combines the best of both worlds open source and enterprise support and protects you from the pitfalls of proprietary licensing policies. With the migration tools and automation solutions provided, the transition is typically smooth and comes with minimal downtime.
Your IT team is empowered to manage a unified, future-proof infrastructure that supports both traditional and cloud-native applications.
In the end, the switch means one thing above all: less money spent on licensing fees and more room for innovation. Instead of pouring your budget into rising VMware costs, you can invest it in the further development of your IT landscape. OpenShift Virtualization gives you the freedom to define your own virtualization strategy backed by the expertise of a globally experienced partner.
Now is the right time to set a new course: away from the VMware cost trap and toward an open future with Red Hat. Your company will benefit from it.
Sources
- heise.de
- rackn.com
- itworks-ag.de
- redhat.com
