Alternative to VMware Tanzu (TKG) Series (4): Building an Enterprise Cloud-Native Platform

Previously, we introduced two alternative solutions to VMware Tanzu (TKG):

Article 1: VMware Tanzu (TKG) Alternative Series (1) Building with a Container Cloud Platform

Article 2: VMware Tanzu (TKG) Alternative Series (2) Unified Virtual Machine and Container Cloud Platform

Article 3: VMware Tanzu (TKG) Alternative Series (3) Building a Container Service Platform on Virtual Machines and Physical Servers

This article introduces how ZStack helps enterprises build a flexible and efficient cloud-native platform while replacing VMware Tanzu.

After VMware was acquired by Broadcom, Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) moved to a subscription model. Enterprises now face rising costs, restricted licenses, and increased operational complexity. Against this backdrop, businesses not only seek an alternative to VMware Tanzu but also an opportunity to upgrade their cloud-native platforms.

ZStack provides a full-stack solution that enables enterprises to smoothly transition to a cloud-native architecture while retaining existing virtual and physical machine resources. By efficiently building Kubernetes clusters, ZStack reduces costs, simplifies operations, and helps organizations accelerate digital transformation toward a flexible and sustainable cloud-native future.An excellent enterprise-class VMware alternatives enterprise.

Enterprise Demand Shifts Behind Replacing VMware Tanzu

Cost vs. Agility

VMware Tanzu’s billing has shifted from physical CPU licensing to a per-vCPU subscription model. This means that as container clusters scale, costs increase linearly with the number of cores—significantly inflating total cost of ownership (TCO) over time. For enterprises frequently deploying new applications or scaling compute resources, this model restricts business agility.

Beyond high pricing, rigid licensing models make budget forecasting difficult. Organizations must often commit to a specific number of subscribed cores before their business workloads have stabilized, adding uncertainty to planning and decision-making.

Control vs. Vendor Lock-In

VMware’s commercial model changes have forced enterprises to purchase vSphere or VCF modules when acquiring container functionalities. This increases procurement costs and limits technology choices. Once the vendor shifts product strategy, users face the risk of constrained architecture upgrades.

As more enterprises adopt cloud-native platforms to power modern applications, container platforms have become the default foundation of digital infrastructure.

Long-Term Digital Foundation Needs

Digital transformation is not a short-term project but an ongoing process. Beyond today’s application delivery needs, enterprises must prepare for future workloads such as big data, AI, and microservices architectures. Replacing VMware Tanzu is not just about cost or lock-in—it’s about laying the foundation for a sustainable digital core.

Building a Cloud-Native Platform on Existing IaaS Resources

(ZStack Zaku: Cloud-Native Scenarios for Replacing VMware Tanzu (TKG))

Core customer needs: not only to replace VMware Tanzu but to build a container service platform that enhances agility, control, and cost efficiency during technology upgrades—leveraging existing infrastructure to create Kubernetes clusters, unify governance for stable and dynamic workloads, and establish an evolving digital foundation.

ZStack Zaku Value Proposition: Enterprises using the ZStack Cloud platform or ZStack Cube hyper-converged infrastructure can rapidly upgrade existing IaaS resources into a fully productized cloud-native platform. It delivers enterprise-grade Kubernetes clusters with unified compute, storage, and network capabilities, along with integrated disaster recovery and compliance modules. This approach avoids vendor lock-in, reduces cloud-native construction costs, and provides a unified operations plane that merges agile and stable workloads—ensuring both agility and control.

Advantages of ZStack Zaku Container Service Platform

Flexible Licensing and Cost Efficiency

ZStack Zaku offers flexible licensing based on CPU and vCPU usage. Unlike VMware Tanzu’s subscription model, ZStack provides a perpetual license option without restrictions on vCPU or memory configurations. In real-world cases, a container cluster with 50 servers can reduce three-year TCO by over 50% compared to Tanzu. This flexibility significantly eases long-term operational costs.

Simplified Operations and Lower Learning Curve

Designed as an inclusive cloud-native product, ZStack emphasizes simplicity. It features a unified console supporting one-click cluster creation, automated scheduling, and health checks. Users can deploy and manage production-grade Kubernetes clusters without mastering complex underlying container technologies.

This enables enterprises to focus on innovation rather than spending extensive time learning or maintaining container infrastructures.

Open Compatibility and Sustainable Evolution

ZStack strictly adheres to Kubernetes standards and supports mainstream ecosystem tools and plugins such as Helm Charts, Operators, and CNI/CSI plugins. It can manage heterogeneous resources across clouds, regions, and hardware environments.

This openness helps enterprises avoid vendor lock-in while maintaining future flexibility for evolving architectures.

ZStack Zaku fully covers VMware Tanzu’s container service capabilities while integrating deeply with ZStack Cloud’s compute, network, storage, and security modules. Its pluggable architecture hides container complexity, simplifies operations, and provides unified login, tenant, resource quota, and authorization management. It also supports multi-cluster management, CI/CD, microservice governance, GPU scheduling, disaster recovery, and operations management—helping enterprises build sovereign, enterprise-grade cloud-native platforms.

Enterprise Use Cases for Building Cloud-Native Platforms

Building a Private Cloud-Native Platform

With ZStack’s full-stack solution, enterprises can quickly build private cloud-native platforms on existing virtualization or hyper-converged environments. This avoids dependency on public clouds, enhances data control, and ensures business security—making it an ideal VMware Tanzu replacement for autonomy-focused organizations.

Unified Governance of Agile and Stable Workloads

During digital transformation, enterprises must balance stability for legacy systems and agility for new applications. ZStack’s unified governance enables both workloads to coexist within a single platform—simplifying architecture and improving operational efficiency.

AI and Intelligent Computing Workloads

As AI and large model applications expand, enterprises require significant compute capacity. ZStack supports GPU virtualization and scheduling, maximizing GPU and memory utilization. This enables AI training, large-model inference, and high-performance computing on the same platform without separate hardware configurations.

Such capabilities are crucial for industries like finance, medical imaging, and autonomous driving. By replacing VMware Tanzu with ZStack, organizations achieve cutting-edge compute capacity with controlled costs.

ZStack: Let Every Company Have Its Own Cloud

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Shanghai, ZStack is a leading cloud infrastructure software provider committed to its mission—‘Let every company have its own cloud.’ It delivers secure, efficient, and controllable cloud infrastructure solutions worldwide.

ZStack has empowered over 4,000 enterprises across 30+ countries in industries such as government, telecom, finance, energy, transportation, education, healthcare, and manufacturing. With more than 1,000 customers replacing VMware globally, ZStack has proven to be a trusted partner in transitioning to cloud-native platforms.

ZStack’s product matrix includes virtualization, cloud platforms, container services, distributed storage, hyper-converged systems, and multi-cloud management:

• ZStack ZSphere: Covers over 95% of VMware’s VM lifecycle management features, adding unique capabilities to enhance operational efficiency.
• ZStack Cloud: Enterprise-grade IaaS providing compute, storage, and networking.
• ZStack Zaku Container Service Platform: Kubernetes-based with multi-cluster, CI/CD, microservice governance, and GPU scheduling.
• ZStack Cube HCI Appliance: Combines compute, storage, and networking for rapid deployment and simplified delivery.

FAQ

Q: Why do enterprises consider cloud-native upgrades when replacing VMware Tanzu?

A: Because they not only seek cost reduction from subscription licensing but also use the opportunity to modernize their architecture for agility, control, and sustainability.

Q: How does ZStack’s full-stack solution help build a cloud-native platform?

A: Through the integration of ZStack Cloud and ZStack Zaku, enterprises can rapidly deliver standard Kubernetes clusters on existing IaaS resources with unified operations and governance.

Q: What are the key advantages of ZStack Zaku over VMware Tanzu?

A: Flexible licensing, lower TCO, simplified management, and GPU scheduling with AI workload support.

Q: Which industries benefit from ZStack’s cloud-native platform?

A: Finance, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, education, and public sectors requiring balance between legacy stability and modern agility.

Q: Can ZStack help enterprises avoid vendor lock-in?

A: Yes. ZStack follows open standards, ensuring compatibility with Kubernetes ecosystems and diverse hardware/software environments for autonomous control.