Migrating from VMware to Other Platforms: Technical Evaluation and Selection Recommendations

In today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape, many enterprises face a critical decision: how to migrate from VMware to other platforms? Since Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware and made significant changes to its product lines and licensing models, existing VMware users—particularly in industries like finance, healthcare, education, and energy, as well as small and medium-sized businesses—have begun searching for VMware alternatives.

Among these, questions such as what to consider when migrating from VMware to other platforms, what is the VMware migration operational guide, and what VMware migration tools are available have become urgent priorities.

Gartner predicts that by 2028, up to 70% of enterprise VMware customers will consider migrating some of their virtual workloads due to cost pressures.

Changes to VMware’s licensing model, especially the shift to subscription-based and CPU core-based licensing, have significantly increased costs for users with high-core-count CPUs. Additionally, the streamlining of product portfolios has limited flexibility for users. For those with upcoming VMware service renewals, limited budgets, or expanding clusters requiring more flexible resource allocation, now is the time to evaluate and select a VMware to ZStack solution.

Technical Evaluation and Selection Criteria for VMware Migration

When assessing VMware alternatives, consider the following technical dimensions:

1. Core Feature Comparison

Evaluate whether the candidate solution meets VMware’s original features and enterprise needs in areas like compute virtualization (e.g., live migration support without hardware dependencies), storage models (e.g., software-defined storage supporting hybrid storage types), and networking capabilities (e.g., SDN support, compatibility with existing switches).

2. Performance Testing

Conduct comprehensive testing under varying workloads, including VM startup/shutdown times, CPU/memory overhead, network bandwidth/latency, and storage I/O performance (read/write speeds, random I/O capabilities). Tools like vmbench can simulate business loads to compare response times before and after migration.

3. Ecosystem Compatibility

Assess compatibility with different chips (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Hygon, Kunpeng, etc.), infrastructure, system software (OS, databases, Kubernetes, etc.), and applications (Hadoop, Flink, MySQL, VERITAS, Kafka, etc.).

4. Production-Grade Requirements

The VMware to ZStack solution should demonstrate production-grade stability, performance, and real-world case studies. Also, evaluate the vendor’s openness, compatibility, independent R&D capabilities, and local service support.

5. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Assess software licensing, hardware investments, and operational costs. Solutions that leverage existing hardware can reduce overall TCO.

Common Challenges and Solutions in VMware Migration

Migrating from VMware to other platforms is complex, with cross-platform VM migration being the core challenge. Key risks include reliability, compatibility, and business impact.

Ensuring Reliability

Choose technically reliable and effective VMware migration tools. Conduct pre-migration checks (network connectivity, VM status) and testing.

Ensuring Compatibility

Evaluate the VMware migration tool’s compatibility with VMware environments, VM operating systems, and server chips. Note that some tools may not support migrations involving vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS).

Minimizing Business Impact

Select the right VMware migration tool to reduce downtime. For example, ZStack ZSphere supports cross-version hot upgrades.

ZStack’s VMware to ZStack Solutions

ZStack offers multiple VMware to ZStack solutions. Its ZStack ZSphere virtualization platform delivers a VMware-like user experience, supports intelligent unified operations, and enables seamless V2V migration. Over 600 enterprises have successfully adopted VMware to ZStack services.

ZStack provides three VMware to ZStack migration paths:

• ZStack Cube hyperconverged appliance supports VMware VVF migration (vSphere + vSAN)
• ZStack ZSphere virtualization platform supports VMware VVEP migration
• ZStack Cloud supports VMware VCF migration (vSphere + vSAN + networking, operations, container components, etc.)

Summary and Actionable Recommendations

ZStack offers professional solutions, flexible VMware migration tools, and proven expertise. When evaluating, consider not just procurement costs but also performance, reliability, and hardware reuse potential.

If you’re considering VMware to ZStack, here’s a recommended action list:

• Download a demo, such as a free 3-month trial of ZStack ZSphere.
• Create a comparison table to score solutions against technical criteria.
• Join technical communities for migration case studies and insights.
• Learn more about ZStack’s VMware to ZStack solutions.

With thorough preparation and the right partner, you can successfully migrate from VMware to other platforms, upgrading and optimizing your infrastructure.