VMware Changes: Understanding New VMware Licensing and Products
- Written by: Anthony Hook and Ryan Mosher
The recently announced changes to VMware’s licensing model and product offering have left many customers with many questions. Broadcom’s decision to make these substantial changes has many users scrambling to understand what it means for their organization and reevaluating their virtualization efforts.
We hope this blog helps demystify the new VMware licensing model and Broadcom’s slimmed-down product slate. We will also include our recommended VMware solutions for customers choosing to stay with the virtualization provider.
The New VMware Licensing Model
One of the most notable VMware changes is the move away from perpetual licenses towards a subscription-based model.
Traditionally, customers purchased perpetual licenses for VMware products. Under the new model, customers must subscribe to access the software, aligning with the broader cloud-consumption industry trend toward subscription models.
The shift to a subscription-based model offers benefits like:
- Continuous innovation
- Faster time to value
- Predictable investments
The new VMware subscription approach has also moved to a core-based license rather than socket (CPU) licensing, which reflects VMware’s adaptation to modern hardware capabilities and configurations.
With this change, organizations need to carefully assess their core usage patterns to determine potential cost implications.
VMware Product Reductions
The second of the two major VMware changes is the weighty reduction of its product portfolio. This streamlining effort aims to simplify their product landscape and create a more user-friendly experience.
This consolidation also potentially means:
- Limited Feature Choice: Customers might no longer find an exact one-to-one replacement for their previously used VMware products.
- Feature Loss: Some features previously available in individual products might no longer be available in the new bundles, possibly requiring additional add-on services.
Two Primary VMware Product Offerings
Moving forward, VMware is focusing on two primary bundles: VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF). Both are designed to be comprehensive yet extendable, with the opportunity to enrich through various add-ons.
VCF - VMware Cloud Foundation
VMware Cloud Foundation targets hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, offering a combination of on-premises and cloud resources. VCF combined vSAN, NSX, and vRealize Suite into a single, easy-to-manage solution.
VCF is the best choice for an enterprise-grade, private cloud infrastructure.
VVF - VMware vSphere Foundation
VMware vSphere Foundation focuses on private cloud environments, providing a suite of tools for managing and automating on-premises virtualization infrastructure.
VVF is tailored for smaller environments but can be a stepping stone for businesses that may later scale to the more comprehensive VCF.
VMware’s William Lam has a more detailed look into what everything that both VVF and VCF offer, as well as additional information on possible add-ons.
For a complete list of discontinued VMware products, please see the table included below in this article.
HBS Recommended Next Steps
Understanding the impact of these substantial changes is the first step for every VMware user. Here are the next steps:
- Review Existing Licenses and Usage Patterns: Carefully evaluate your current licenses and the product(s) you use.
- Consult with Virtualization Experts: Seek the guidance from tried and true virtualization experts who can help navigate the new licensing options and recommend the best solutions that fit your specific needs.
- Consider an Alternative to VMware: Remaining with VMware might be the best choice for you, but there are other solutions out there (our primary recommendation is either Nutanix or Azure Stack HCI). There’s also a chance you may not need virtualization at all.
Navigating the VMware Changes
You have a lot to consider. If you’re wrestling with these changes, please allow HBS and our team of virtualization experts to answer your VMware questions. Informed decisions during this transition will be critical as you align your organization’s IT and business goal strategies.
Reach out to HBS to explore all of your virtualization possibilities.
VMware Products No Longer Available
| VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus | VMWare vSphere Essentials Plus Kit (excluding new subscription offering) |
| VMware vSphere+ | VMware vSphere Starter/Foundation |
| VMware vSphere Standard (excluding subscription) | VMware vSphere with Operations Management |
| VMware vSphere ROBO | VMware vSphere Basic |
| VMware vSphere Scale Out | VMware vSphere Advanced |
| VMware vSphere Desktop | VMware vSphere Storage Appliance |
| VMware vSphere Acceleration Kits | VMware vSphere Hypervisor |
| VMware vSphere Essentials Kit | VMware Cloud Foundation (excluding new VCF subscription offering) |
| VMware Cloud Foundation for VDI | VMware Aria Universal Suite (formerly vRealize Cloud Universal) |
| VMware Cloud Foundation for ROBO | vMware Aria Suite Term |
| VMware SDDC Manager | VMware Aria Operations for Networks (formerly vRealize Network Insight) |
| VMware vCenter Standard | VMWare Aria Operations for Networks Universal (formerly vRealize Network Insight Universal) |
| VMware vCenter Foundation | VMware vRealize Network Insight ROBO |
| VMware vSAN | VMWare Aria Operations for Logs (formerly vRealize Log Insight) |
| VMware vSAN ROBO | VMware vRealize Operations 8 Application Monitoring Add-On |
| VMware vSAN Desktop | VMware Aria Operations |
| VMware HCI Kit | VMware Aria Automation |
| VMware Site Recovery Manager | VMware Aria Automation for Secure Hosts add-on (formerly SaltStack SecOps) |
| VMware Cloud Editions/Cloud Packs | VMware vRealize Automation SaltStack SecOps add-on |
| VMware vCloud Suite | VMware Aria Operations for Integrations (formerly vRealize True Visibility Suite) |
| VMware Aria Suite (formerly vRealize Suite) | VMware Cloud Director |
| Cloud Director Service | VMware NSX Threat Prevention to Gateway Firewall |
| VMware NSX | VMware NSX Advanced Threat Prevention to Distributed Firewall |
| VMware NSX for Desktop | VMware NSX Advanced Threat Prevention to Gateway Firewall |
| VMware NSX ROBO | VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer (excluding Subscription, SaaS) |
| VMware NSX Distributed Firewall | VMware Container Networking Enterprise with Antrea |
| VMware NSX Gateway Firewall | VMware HCX |
| VMware NSX Threat Prevention to Distributed Firewall | VMware HCX+ |
HBS Is Here to Help
Whether you're choosing to stick with VMware and their new licensing and reduced product offerings or you're looking for a different virtualization solution, HBS wants to help.
Allow our team of experts assist in evaluating you current environment, considering possible alternatives, and even migrating if necessary. Contact us today to request a meeting.
