Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has changed how many organizations approach infrastructure planning. Rising licensing costs, bundled product requirements and uncertainty around long-term pricing models have forced IT teams to reassess whether traditional VMware environments still align with their operational and financial goals.
At the same time, businesses are under pressure to modernize infrastructure without introducing unnecessary disruption. Many still rely heavily on legacy virtual machines, business-critical applications, and tightly integrated networking environments that cannot be rebuilt overnight.
According to a recent study, 86% of North American enterprises are actively looking to reduce their VMware footprint, yet only 4% have fully migrated (CloudBolt).
For many organizations, the challenge is not whether to modernize, but how to do it without introducing unnecessary risk, disruption or expensive refactoring projects.
For organizations navigating this shift, OpenShift Virtualization is increasingly emerging as a practical migration pathway that supports both continuity and long-term modernization.
Why organizations are moving away from VMware
The challenges facing many enterprises extend further than cost alone. Virtualization platforms sit at the centre of infrastructure operations, influencing everything from performance and resilience to operational flexibility and future application strategy.
Many organizations are now looking for platforms that offer:
- Greater cost predictability
- Reduced vendor lock-in
- More operational flexibility
- Support for both traditional and cloud-native workloads
- A clearer route towards AI and automation initiatives
However, a full-scale application refactoring project is rarely realistic within short timeframes. Businesses need migration strategies that allow them to modernize incrementally while maintaining stability.
Running VMs and containers together
One of the key advantages of OpenShift Virtualization is the ability to run both virtual machines and containers within the same orchestration platform.
This removes the need for organizations to choose between maintaining existing workloads and pursuing modernization goals.
Instead, businesses can:
- Migrate existing VMs without immediate refactoring
- Continue operating legacy applications
- Introduce containers gradually
- Modernize infrastructure at a manageable pace
This phased approach helps reduce migration risk while creating a foundation for future transformation.
Avoiding another cycle of lock-in
Many organizations moving away from VMware are also reconsidering long-term dependency on proprietary platforms.
OpenShift’s open-source foundation provides greater flexibility and helps reduce reliance on vendor-controlled ecosystems. Rather than being tied to restrictive licensing models or closed infrastructure roadmaps, organizations retain greater control over how their environments evolve.
This becomes particularly important for businesses focused on:
- Long-term infrastructure flexibility
- Sovereignty and compliance requirements
- Transparent operational costs
- Multi-platform compatibility
OpenShift beyond containerization
Although OpenShift is widely associated with Kubernetes and containers, its role is evolving beyond cloud-native application hosting.
OpenShift Virtualization enables organizations to use OpenShift as a landing platform for existing VM estates while simultaneously supporting:
- Kubernetes orchestration
- CI/CD automation
- Security and policy management
- AI and machine learning workloads
- Hybrid operational models
This allows businesses to modernize without rebuilding their entire operational model from scratch.
The operational reality of migration
Infrastructure migration projects rarely fail because workloads cannot be moved. More often, the challenge lies in operational complexity surrounding the workloads themselves.
Some of the most common migration challenges include:
Network architecture
Recreating networking structures, dependencies and segmentation policies across platforms can become one of the most complex parts of any migration project. Existing environments are often deeply interconnected and require careful planning to replicate successfully.
Skills and platform expertise
Kubernetes and OpenShift introduce new operational models that many internal teams are still developing experience with. Platform adoption often requires additional support, knowledge transfer and operational guidance.
Application performance optimization
Traditional VMware environments allocate dedicated compute and memory resources directly to virtual machines. Kubernetes-based environments manage workloads differently using requests and limits, meaning workload optimization and testing become critical during migration planning.
A phased migration approach
Successful migration projects are rarely achieved through large-scale overnight transformations. Instead, organizations increasingly benefit from phased approaches that balance operational continuity with gradual modernization.
Our structured migration process at Hyve includes:
- Assessing workloads, dependencies and operational requirements
- Designing the target environment
- Migrating workloads incrementally
- Management of the infrastructure including ongoing management and support
This approach reduces disruption while allowing infrastructure teams to modernize strategically rather than reactively.
Building a future-ready platform
For organizations reassessing their VMware strategy, migration is an opportunity to build a platform that supports greater flexibility, operational resilience and long-term infrastructure growth.
With OpenShift Virtualization, businesses can continue running existing virtual machines while creating a clear path towards containers, automation and AI-ready infrastructure, without forced refactoring or unnecessary disruption.
Hyve delivers fully managed OpenShift environments tailored to your operational requirements, backed by direct-to-engineer support, proactive management and fixed monthly billing. From initial assessment through to migration and ongoing optimization, our team works as an extension of yours to simplify the transition away from VMware.
Whether you are looking to reduce licensing costs, modernise legacy infrastructure or build a more sovereign private cloud environment, Hyve can help you migrate with confidence.
Speak to our team to discuss your VMware migration strategy and explore how managed OpenShift can support your infrastructure goals.