Expensive to Retrieve

VMware’s Price Revolution: How Broadcom’s Changes Are Reshaping Mid-Market IT Strategy

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Feeling Renewal Pain

Bottom Line: Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has triggered dramatic price increases of 800-1,500% for many customers, forcing mid-market organizations to urgently evaluate alternatives like Microsoft Hyper-V to maintain cost-effective virtualization infrastructure.

Since Broadcom acquired VMware in November 2023, the virtualization landscape has undergone seismic shifts that are particularly devastating for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). What began as a strategic acquisition has evolved into a pricing revolution that’s forcing thousands of mid-market organizations to fundamentally reconsider their IT infrastructure strategies.

The Scale of the Price Shock

The numbers are staggering. Some customers report price increases ranging from 800% to 1,500%, while some organizations face even more dramatic hikes. AT&T claimed Broadcom offered them a 1,050% price increase, transforming their annual VMware costs from manageable to prohibitive overnight. For context, these aren’t modest adjustments—they represent a complete overhaul of the economic equation that made VMware attractive to mid-market clients.

The pricing transformation isn’t just about higher numbers. Broadcom has fundamentally restructured how VMware products are sold and licensed. The company eliminated approximately 8,000 individual product SKUs, consolidating them into just two primary bundled offerings: VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) and vSphere Foundation. This consolidation forces customers to purchase entire suites rather than selecting specific components they actually need.

The Mid-Market Squeeze

Mid-market organizations are caught in a particularly painful position. Unlike enterprise customers who might already use multiple VMware products and could potentially benefit from bundling, smaller companies typically relied on standalone solutions like vSphere Essentials Plus—which Broadcom has now discontinued. These organizations suddenly find themselves forced into enterprise-grade bundles that include features like NSX networking and vSAN storage they never requested or needed.

The new core minimums compound the problem. Starting April 2025, VMware enforces a minimum 72-core license subscription for products like vSphere Standard, up from the previous 16-core minimum. For organizations running smaller deployments or edge locations, this means paying for licenses that far exceed their actual needs. It’s like being forced to buy a truck when you only need a bicycle.

The transition from perpetual licenses to subscription-only models adds another layer of financial pressure. Many mid-market companies relied on the predictable, one-time costs of perpetual licenses that could be amortized over several years. The new subscription model transforms capital expenditures into ongoing operational costs, fundamentally altering budget planning and cash flow management.

We’ve actually run into instances where Broadcom is quoting OVER published list price for clients that they feel they can extort with a higher cost.

The Search for Alternatives

Faced with these dramatic changes, mid-market organizations are actively exploring alternatives, with Microsoft Hyper-V emerging as the most compelling option for many. The appeal is both strategic and economic.

Cost Advantages: Hyper-V is included with Windows Server licenses at no additional cost, providing immediate relief from VMware’s pricing pressure. For organizations already invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem, this represents enormous potential savings. While enterprises might need additional management tools like System Center Virtual Machine Manager, the base virtualization capabilities come without separate licensing fees.

Technical Maturity: Modern Hyper-V has evolved far beyond its early limitations. Windows Server 2025 includes significant enhancements to GPU partitioning for AI workloads and improved scalability that now supports up to 24TB of host memory—actually surpassing VMware in some specifications. Features like Live Migration, high availability clustering, and robust security through Shielded VMs provide enterprise-grade capabilities that match much of what VMware offers.

Integration Benefits: For organizations running Windows-centric environments, Hyper-V offers seamless integration with Active Directory, Group Policy, and Azure cloud services. This tight integration often translates to simplified management and reduced administrative overhead compared to managing separate VMware infrastructure alongside Microsoft systems.

Migration Feasibility: While migrating from VMware to any alternative requires careful planning, Hyper-V’s similarities in core virtualization concepts make the transition more approachable than some alternatives. Many organizations are discovering that their Windows-based workloads migrate relatively smoothly to Hyper-V environments.

Strategic Considerations for Mid-Market Leaders

The decision to migrate away from VMware shouldn’t be taken lightly, but the current pricing environment makes exploration essential. Organizations should conduct thorough assessments of their current VMware usage, identifying which features are truly necessary versus those that could be replaced with alternative solutions or eliminated entirely.

The migration window is critical. Existing VMware customers still operating under older support agreements have time to plan, but that window is closing. Organizations should begin testing alternatives immediately, even if they ultimately decide to remain with VMware under new terms.

For many mid-market companies, this crisis presents an unexpected opportunity to modernize their infrastructure approach. Some are discovering that moving workloads to public cloud platforms or adopting hybrid strategies provides better economics than either VMware or on-premises alternatives.

Looking Forward

Broadcom’s transformation of VMware reflects a deliberate strategy to focus on larger, more profitable customers while shedding smaller accounts. For mid-market organizations, this reality demands urgent action. The days of affordable, flexible VMware solutions for smaller deployments appear to be ending permanently.

The good news is that alternatives like Hyper-V have matured significantly and can now handle most workloads that previously required VMware. Combined with cloud-native solutions and modern infrastructure approaches, mid-market organizations have viable paths forward—but only if they act decisively.

The virtualization landscape is experiencing its most significant disruption in decades. Organizations that move quickly to evaluate and implement alternatives will be best positioned to maintain cost-effective, capable infrastructure. Those who delay risk being trapped in unsustainable licensing agreements that could constrain their growth and innovation for years to come.

The revolution is here. The question isn’t whether change is coming—it’s whether your organization will lead or follow in responding to it.

VDI infrastructure

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) adding security to your organization

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Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) has many benefits (among them):

  • A scalable infrastructure: Virtual desktops have become more appealing due to the cloud. By using adaptable infrastructure to provide resources as needed, the consolidation of the full VDI desktop infrastructure onto a host server lowers overall costs because businesses don’t have to purchase or maintain the necessary hardware.
  • Management structure: The virtual desktop infrastructure allows administrators to patch, maintain, and modify all virtualized desktops simultaneously. As a result, there is no need to repair and maintain the entire network of desktop computers on an individual basis. Moreover, in the event of a major disruption, the data center has all information backed up and supported.
  • Enhanced Security: VDI desktop services allow organizations to preserve and protect their sensitive information because the data isn’t stored on the users’ individual devices but within the data center. If the employee’s laptop, desktop, or other device is compromised, the hacker cannot access the organization’s data. Of course, the effectiveness of the security will depend upon the IT team’s vigilance regarding system management, and the authentication process for the remote users has to be rigid and scrupulously maintained.
  • Improved user experience. Employees are allowed to use the device of their choice in the manner of their choice, making the remote working experience easier and more convenient.
  • Lower cost. The overheads for maintaining legacy hardware will be lowered considerably due to the reduced need to upgrade and maintain in-office hardware.

Our team, in conjunction with our skilled engineers at GCSIT, can help your organization plan, procure, implement and support your VDI solution.

VMware code execution flaw CVE-2021-21972

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There is a newly disclosed code-execution vulnerability in VMware vCenter.  VMware was quick to release a patch (within a day) and it can be found here.

The severity of this vulnerability as well as the fact that there are exploits available for both Windows and Linux servers, kicked off a flurry of mass scanning for vulnerable vCenter Servers.

Code execution, no authorization required

CVE-2021-21972 allows hacker with no authorization to upload files to vulnerable vCenter servers that are publicly accessible over port 443, researchers from security firm Tenable said. Successful exploits will result in hackers gaining unfettered remote code-execution privileges in the underlying operating system. The vulnerability stems from a lack of authentication in the vRealize Operations plugin, which is installed by default.

The flaw has received a severity score of 9.8 out of 10.0 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System Version 3.0. Mikhail Klyuchnikov, the Positive Technologies researcher who discovered the vulnerability and privately reported it to VMware, compared the risk posed by CVE-2021-21972 to that of CVE-2019-19781, a critical vulnerability in the Citrix Application Delivery Controller

Can your small business survive during the Covid crisis?

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The management stresses that are pressed upon small business owners during this time of crisis are many fold.  How do you keep your business afloat during the crisis that diminishes your ability to react, with your staff either working from home, or limited in their ability to interact with each other and customers.

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Working from Home has expanded dramatically during the Covid crisis.

Companies need to rethink their operating model based on how their staff work best, including operations and IT.  I know this is old news, but the push to digital tech is accelerating and the skill sets necessary to maintain, plan and grow as well as maintain appropriate security are becoming more and more difficult for small companies that don’t have the resources to employee multiple IT staff and keep their skills up to date.

This provides a new opportunity to review the benefits of a managed IT provider – providing a bench of skilled technology staff as well as a standardized approach to hardware, software management and security for both the endpoints and the overall company.

If you are unfamiliar with the managed IT business model, here is a quick overview: Managed IT services is a subscription based model, usually scoped around the number of devices, with pricing driven by consumption, monitoring, backups and security.   This model helps in several ways, but primarily it aligns the cost structure to drive positive proactive maintenance of both infrastructure as well as planning for future growth and expansion to minimize risk.   Risk management is something that every business understands.  The Managed IT provider assumes and manages much of the risk for the company it serves by applying standardized methodologies to your infrastructure and software systems.

Some questions to ask yourself to determine if your company is ready for a managed IT solution:

  • Do you have sufficiently trained staff or time to formally deal with proper maintenance, updates and repairs/replacement?
  • Did your IT team achieve its goals last year, or were they hampered by lack of time, skills or support?
  • Did your organization have too many outages or downtime?
  • Did you lose data due to lack of a proper disaster recovery plan, malware or ransomware?
  • Were you able to quickly pivot to a remote workforce and have the tools necessary to maintain and support that workforce?

These are all areas that a managed IT solution provider can help your business cope with the stresses and changes happening in the IT requirements due to Covid.

I recommend you reach out to your local providers and get a better understanding on how managed IT can help your business survive and thrive during these trying times.

Why your company needs to have a network and infrastructure assessment

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Many times, we have been contacted by companies that want us to ‘replace our hyper-visor infrastructure’ or ‘update our server infrastructure’ because of perceived issues in performance or user experience.  Unfortunately, by bypassing the critical step of a full network and infrastructure assessment, companies miss out on identifying the root cause of security issues and network performance.

Do you know all your infrastructure assets and what bandwidth they are using?

What are the critical infrastructure is not longer under warranty or service support?

How much traffic is traversing your branch office internet connection?

Network and infrastructure assessments are not a one time and done process.  Having fresh insight on your network and potential bottlenecks and security issues brings a piece of mind to any IT Manager, CIO and CSO.

Having our team identify and rank your organization’s pain points gives you the tools to apply budget appropriately and meet the growing demand of your companies IT needs.

VDI infrastructure

Covid has changed the way we use the Internet at home

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A recent article in the NY Times, highlighted the fact that we have moved away from our phones as the primary mode of interacting with content on the internet, as we sheltered at home.  In addition, there has been a huge increase in the use of video chat, including Zoom, Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, as we look at ways to perform the face to face interactions that we took for granted, in our day to day lives and work environments.

Working from home has changed many company’s employee interactions with high reliance on the tools that allow them to do their jobs, while still being home to take care of children who are also remotely learning.   As a Managed Service Provider, we have been hard pressed to assist our clients in expanding the availability of remote access to critical software tools, stuck at their corporate offices and co-location facilities.   Companies that readily integrated cloud services, such as Office 365, Google Suite and Egnyte have fared better and been more easily able to transition to this difficult, distributed work force.

If your company has not thought about how they are going to support their home-workers, it is a good time to evaluate the services of a good Managed Service Provider that can help you create a strategic plan to provide services, maintain and support your remote teams.   The home environment adds other security issues as well, with unknown firewalls, wifi and IOT devices with potential access to your company’s data.

If your company is in search of good advice, we’re here to help in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as the Anchorage Metro.

Meraki Wireless Announces New Solutions for Hospitality

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Like many other industries, hospitality is undergoing a digital transformation. Guest WiFi access has gone from being an amenity–and something that would simply enhance the guest experience–to being just one of many services that are critical to meeting guests’ needs. Today, properties are swarming with devices, having grown more than 3X since 2012 to an average of 3.5 devices per room. Today, Cisco Meraki is announcing an expansion to our wireless and switch portfolio and solutions designed specifically for the hospitality industry, as well as new products applicable to the broader market.

In hospitality, it’s not enough to simply support the increased device density. Properties must differentiate by developing services such as rapid, personalized check-in, location-assisted experiences, and increased guest attentiveness. WiFi in particular, and the network in general, provide the critical backbone to innovate and deliver these services.

The new Meraki MR30H simplifies wireless for hotels, dorms, and multi–dwelling units. 802.11ac Wave 2 technology delivers robust wireless access in challenging RF environments, and its small form-factor with integrated four port gigabit Ethernet switch enables deployments in a range of environments without the need to deploy an additional tabletop Ethernet switch. Additionally, integrated location analytics deliver insights into client behavior such as foot traffic, dwell time, and repeat visit rates, and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) powers advanced location applications such as those leveraging beacons.

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The new Cisco Meraki MR30H Cloud Managed Wireless Access Point

Along with the MR30H, we are introducing the MR33, an 802.11ac Wave 2 2×2 MIMO access point. It’s similar to the MR32 (including built-in location analytics and Bluetooth low energy), but in a smaller form factor and at a lower price.

Meraki is also announcing a major expansion of our switch portfolio, with the introduction of the MS225 and MS250 families. Available in 24-port and 48-port models, both families support physical and virtual stacking, PoE+, and feature 10 GbE SFP+ uplinks. Both are fully compatible with previous generation Meraki switch families, and additionally the MS250 supports the same layer 3 routing technology featured in the Meraki MS350 line. Naturally, these new switches are ideal to support the increased device density seen in hospitality and many other industries.

All of these new products are available to order today. If you’re curious to learn more about them, register for a wireless webinar or switch webinar and see what they’re all about!

– December 6, 2016

Original blog post here: http://blogs.cisco.com/wireless/meraki-new-solutions-hospitality

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How & Why Wireless Networks Can Be the Safer Solution

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The transition from wired to wireless networks is happening across the business world, especially as the technology underpinning wireless advances. Besides the convenience factor, wireless is also increasingly preferred over wired networks due to the security benefits available through proper implementation. However, many IT departments and companies are unfamiliar with the security advantages of wireless, especially given its shaky reputation in the past. Here is what you need to know about the wireless of today and how it stacks up against wired networks.

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