VMware after Broadcom: when and how to migrate to Proxmox

Since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, completed in November 2023, virtualization has become an unpredictable cost line. Perpetual licenses are gone in favor of subscriptions, the range has been bundled into a few offers, and pricing is per core with purchase minimums. According to several industry analyses, the minimum went from 16 to 72 cores in April 2025, and SMEs report increases of several hundred percent — with large variations between contracts, to be taken as orders of magnitude (SoftwareSeni, Communicat). Gartner expects that by 2028 about 70% of VMware customers will migrate at least half of their workloads.

Should you migrate? Four questions to decide

• What is your real renewal cost, compared with an alternative with support? Run the numbers over three years, including migration time.
• Do you use VMware-ecosystem-specific features (advanced automation, software-defined networking, specific backup tools)? Those dependencies are the most expensive to replace.
• Is your estate SME-sized (a few hosts, tens of virtual machines)? Then migration is a matter of weeks, not years.
• Is your contract nearing expiry? The renewal window is the right moment to negotiate — or leave — without paying twice.

Why Proxmox is a credible option

Proxmox VE is an open source virtualization platform combining KVM for virtual machines and LXC for containers, with clustering, high availability, replicated storage and built-in backup (Proxmox Backup Server). The software is free; the vendor sells support subscriptions and access to stable repositories. Cost shifts from licenses to operations: you need skills, or a provider to supply them. It is one of the components of our own infrastructure stack, alongside Docker and Kubernetes.

A careful migration method

1. Inventory. Virtual machines, guest systems, network dependencies, performance and availability needs, acceptable downtime windows.

2. Build a target platform in parallel and validate backup before any cutover: a migration without a successfully restored backup is a gamble.

3. Start with low-criticality machines (test, development) to rehearse import tools, guest drivers and networking.

4. Switch over in waves, with a rollback plan for each, keeping the old environment until users sign off.

5. Document and monitor. Operating procedures, monitoring, recovery tests: the environment must be operable by someone other than the person who built it.

Pitfalls

• Forgetting guest operating system licenses (some vendors tie the license to hardware or hypervisor).
• Neglecting storage: performance and redundancy must be sized from the start.
• Underestimating skills transfer: an open source platform with nobody to run it isn’t cheaper, just less visible.

To compare on-premise and cloud before deciding, see our article on choosing between Trustiaboot and Trustinstance, and our analysis of open source IT costs.

Sources

• SoftwareSeni — Broadcom VMware pricing changes
• Communicat — Broadcom isn’t raising VMware prices, it’s pricing SMBs out
• Cloudmagazin — VMware cost trap 2026