VMware to Nutanix: Why Customers Are Migrating

The acquisition of VMware by Broadcom has led to significant changes, prompting many customers to seek alternative virtualization solutions. This article explores the reasons behind the migration from VMware to Nutanix, highlighting real-world examples and expert insights.

Customer Dissatisfaction with VMware Post-Broadcom Acquisition

Several factors have contributed to the growing dissatisfaction among VMware customers following the acquisition by Broadcom. These include:

• Licensing Changes: Significant price hikes and bundled offerings that don't align with customer needs.
• Reduced Support Quality: Concerns over declining service standards and responsiveness.
• Strategic Shifts: Discontinuation of certain services and features, impacting existing deployments.

Real-World Examples of VMware to Nutanix Migrations

Let's examine specific cases where organizations have migrated from VMware to Nutanix due to these issues.

Golding: Moving to Nutanix Due to Elasticity Concerns

Dominic Johnston, an IT manager at Australian civil construction and mining contractor Golding, initially used VMware Cloud on AWS for hosting workloads and disaster recovery. However, after the Broadcom acquisition, he observed a decline in support quality and the discontinuation of on-demand server capabilities in VMware Cloud on AWS.

"I started getting very nervous," Johnston said, emphasizing the importance of elasticity for their disaster recovery setup. Despite reassurances from VMware, Golding decided to migrate to Nutanix to ensure business continuity and avoid potential disruptions.

MSIG Insurance Asia: High Licensing Costs Prompted Migration

Yew Wei Kee, the assistant VP at MSIG Insurance Asia, expressed "disappointment" with VMware's new licensing model. MSIG, a long-time VMware user since 2007, faced a 300-400 percent price increase under the new VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) licensing.

MSIG didn't require the entire VCF suite but needed 24x7 support, which wasn't offered with the smaller server virtualization bundles. This led MSIG to migrate its entire fleet of 1,500 to 2,000 virtual machines to Nutanix.

Toshiba: A Tenfold Increase in Licensing Costs

Japanese giant Toshiba decided to move from VMware to Nutanix after Broadcom's licensing quote came in at ten times the previous cost. Toshiba was a VMware customer for 16 years.

Broadcom's renewal quote prompted Katsuhiro Nigorikawa, Chief Technology Officer & Fellow, IT Platform promotion division, Toshiba information systems, to decide to adopt a hybrid cloud/hyperconverged platform to address costs and modernize the company's application estate.

The outfit will commence migration in October, and expects to spend one to two years migrating 2,200 VMs that run diverse workloads for different business units in Japan.

Toshiba also plans to use Nutanix's packaged AI infrastructure to develop bespoke apps.

The Benefits of Migrating to Nutanix

Nutanix offers several advantages that make it an attractive alternative to VMware. These include:

• Cost Savings: More flexible licensing options and potentially lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Enhanced Support: Known for responsive and customer-focused support services.
• Simplified Management: Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) simplifies IT operations and management.
• Hybrid Cloud Capabilities: Seamless integration with public cloud platforms like AWS and Azure.
• Modernization: Nutanix is helping companies modernize their application estate.

Nutanix's Enhanced Migration Tools

Nutanix is actively courting VMware users with enhanced migration tools, including:

• Firewall Rule Replication: Ability to replicate firewall rules from VMware's NSX software-defined networking stack.
• Workload Migration Without Swing Hardware: Moving workloads without requiring "swing hardware" to host VMs during a move.

Nutanix's Support for External Storage

Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami told The Register that Nutanix was only able to win Moody's after deciding to change its tune and start supporting external storage.

Ramaswami said that Nutanix still believes software-defined storage is superior, but the move reflects the fact that users don’t quickly change their infrastructure architectures. For Nutanix to be relevant to more customers, including those disappointed or infuriated by VMware, it needed to address external storage.

The Broader Market Landscape

Nutanix is not the only player benefiting from the changes at VMware. Red Hat, HPE, Citrix, Scale Computing, XCP-NG and Proxmox are also seeing increased interest in their virtualization products.

VMware's Response

Broadcom continues to maintain that adoption of VCF quickly pays for itself, says most of its customers have adopted VCF, and that VMware revenue is growing fast, and that the forthcoming VCF version 9 will prove it by delivering many new features and enhancements.

Conclusion

The migration from VMware to Nutanix is driven by a combination of factors, including licensing changes, support concerns, and strategic shifts following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware. While VMware focuses on its VCF bundle, customers are looking at other options. Nutanix, with its flexible licensing, enhanced support, and hybrid cloud capabilities, presents a compelling alternative for organizations seeking to modernize their IT infrastructure and ensure business continuity.