Gartner Server Virtualization Market Guide: Top VMware Alternatives and Migration Strategies

With Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware now settled, the IT infrastructure landscape is undergoing a drastic transformation from “monolithic” to “diversified.” Facing the pressure of skyrocketing subscription costs and bundled sales, Gartner explicitly points out in its Market Guide for Server Virtualization Platforms that enterprises must re-evaluate their virtualization strategies and reduce risks by introducing dual vendors or multi-cloud architectures. For CIOs and IT managers searching for VMware alternatives enterprise solutions, the core task today is not just replacing a hypervisor, but building a new foundation for the next decade of hybrid cloud and AI computing.

Responding to the Post-Broadcom Shift: Gartner’s Strategic Advice on Virtualization Replacement

Gartner advises enterprises to abandon the “one-size-fits-all” mindset and instead choose the replacement path that best matches the characteristics of their workloads. For a steady-state traditional business, private cloud and Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) offer a controllable Total Cost of Ownership (TCO); for an agile, innovative business, public cloud and cloud-native architectures are the superior solutions. This stratified strategy not only effectively reduces dependence on a single vendor but also leverages the flexibility of VMware alternative open source technologies to reshape enterprise IT autonomy.

Migration Paths to Public Cloud: Strategies from Major Cloud Providers

For enterprises wishing to completely shed the burden of heavy hardware assets, migrating workloads to the public cloud is one of the paths recommended by Gartner. Major cloud service providers have significantly lowered the migration threshold through highly automated toolchains.

AWS: Seamless Transition for Elastic Computing

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a mature toolchain to help enterprises migrate VMware virtual machines (VMs) to Amazon. Through the AWS Application Migration Service (MGN), enterprises can perform block-level replication of local vSphere virtual machines and automatically convert them into EC2 instances. This not only achieves a fast “Lift and Shift” to the cloud but also allows enterprises to immediately enjoy the huge advantages of AWS in elastic scaling and pay-as-you-go pricing.

Azure: Smooth Transition for the Microsoft Ecosystem

For enterprises deeply dependent on Windows Server and SQL Server, the decision to migrate VMware vSphere VMs to Azure is the most cost-effective choice. The Azure Migrate service can automatically discover local environments, assess compatibility, and provide end-to-end migration orchestration. More importantly, Azure offers Hybrid Benefit for existing Windows users, making the cost of running Windows virtual machines in the cloud significantly lower than retaining expensive on-premises VMware licenses.

Google Cloud: A Hybrid Architecture Driven by Data and AI

For organizations that do not want to refactor applications but want to leverage Google’s data analytics capabilities, the option to migrate VMware VMs from a vSphere datacenter to Google Cloud is an ideal compromise. Google Cloud VMware Engine (GCVE) allows enterprises to run the VMware stack natively on Google’s infrastructure. This model preserves the vCenter management experience familiar to IT teams while utilizing the high throughput of Google’s global fiber network, paving the way for future AI business innovations.

Reconstructing Private and Hybrid Cloud Architectures: The Battle of Commercial Alternatives

Data rules, rule-following, or edge computing needs keep most companies with local data centers. In this area, old virtualization and new hyper-converged setups compete hard.

Hyper-V: The Low-Cost Choice for Windows Environments

Among private cloud alternatives, Microsoft Hyper-V has become a highly competitive player due to its free integration within Windows Server. Although switching from ESXi to Hyper-V involves changing disk formats (from VMDK to VHDX), enterprises can efficiently implement the bulk job to migrate VMware to Hyper-V using tools like System Center. For data centers dominated by Windows workloads, this is almost a “zero software licensing cost” replacement path.

Nutanix: The Modernized Experience of Hyper-Convergence

If an enterprise prefers a one-stop delivery experience similar to the public cloud, then the VMware alternative Nutanix is undoubtedly a leader in the HCI field. The Nutanix AHV virtualization platform eliminates the complexity of traditional three-tier architectures by deeply integrating compute, storage, and networking. Its “Move” migration tool can simply migrate vSphere virtual machines to AHV, providing enterprises with a modern infrastructure that possesses both the agility of the public cloud and the controllability of the private cloud.

The Future of Open Source and Containerization: Dual Drivers of Flexibility and Cloud-Native

For teams with strong technical reserves, open-source communities and cloud-native technologies offer the ultimate solution to break vendor lock-in.

Proxmox: The High Value-for-Money Open Source Choice

Among SMBs and tech enthusiast groups, the VMware alternative Proxmox VE (PVE) is rising rapidly. As an open-source platform based on KVM, Proxmox VE is not only completely free but also natively integrates LXC containers and backup functions. It allows enterprises to build high-availability cluster environments without paying expensive licensing fees, making it an ideal choice for pursuing extreme cost-effectiveness and technical autonomy.

OpenShift: The Necessary Path to Application Modernization

With the popularity of microservices architecture, simple virtual machine migration is no longer enough to meet business needs. DevOps teams are focusing more on how to migrate from VMware to OpenShift Virtualization. Red Hat OpenShift allows virtual machines to run as “first-class citizens” in Kubernetes clusters. This means enterprises can manage traditional VM applications and modern container applications on a unified control plane, achieving a smooth modernization transformation of application architecture while ensuring the stability of existing business.

ZStack: Let Every Company Have Its Own Cloud

In Gartner’s global view, ZStack serves as an independent cloud foundation software provider that occupies an important seat due to its differentiated technical route. ZStack not only provides the ZStack ZSphere virtualization platform capable of seamlessly managing and replacing VMware, but is also dedicated to the vision: “Let Every Company Have Its Own Cloud.”

ZStack now serves more than 30 countries and regions worldwide and has accumulated over 1,000 successful VMware replacement cases across industries, including finance, government, telecommunications, education, healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and transportation.

ZStack ZSphere virtualization platform has been included in Gartner’s Market Guide for Server Virtualization Platforms as a representative vendor.

Unlike traditional virtualization vendors, ZStack is rapidly evolving into an AI product supplier. Facing the computing power challenges of the AI era, ZStack has launched AI Infra platform ZStack AIOS, an integrated intelligent computing foundation combining “Virtualization + Container + AI.”

ZStack AIOS enables unified scheduling and management of heterogeneous computing resources (CPU and GPU) in the data center. It not only solves the difficult problems of GPU resource slicing and scheduling in traditional virtualization platforms but also provides enterprises with an out-of-the-box environment for AI model training and inference. Through ZStack, enterprises can not only smoothly replace existing virtualization facilities but also upgrade directly to an AI-ready architecture capable of supporting large models and deep learning tasks. This forward-looking design makes ZStack a key enabler for enterprises transforming from traditional cloudification to intelligence.

FAQ

Q: What are the best VMware alternatives enterprise solutions recommended by Gartner in 2025?

A: Gartner recommends a diversified approach based on workload needs. For traditional virtualization, ZStack ZSphere is highlighted as a premier choice for enterprises seeking a seamless replacement. It is recognized for its ability to lower TCO while maintaining a high-performance environment similar to vSphere. For hyper-converged infrastructure, the VMware alternative Nutanix is highly rated. For cloud-native transformation, Red Hat OpenShift is the leading platform.

Q: How can I migrate VMware virtual machines (VMs) to Amazon or Azure efficiently?

A: To migrate VMware virtual machines (VMs) to Amazon, you can use the AWS Application Migration Service for seamless block-level replication. To migrate VMware vSphere VMs to Azure, Azure Migrate is the preferred tool, offering automated assessment and rightsizing capabilities.

Q: Is it difficult for a Windows admin to migrate VMware to Hyper-V?

A: No, it is a logical step for Windows-heavy environments. Microsoft provides detailed documentation and tools like System Center VMM to migrate VMware to Hyper-V. While it involves converting disk formats, the licensing cost savings are often substantial.

Q: How to migrate from VMware to OpenShift Virtualization for my legacy apps?

A: You can use the Migration Toolkit for Virtualization (MTV). It simplifies how to migrate from VMware to OpenShift Virtualization by importing your VMs directly into the OpenShift platform, allowing you to manage them alongside Kubernetes containers in a single interface.

Q: Why should I consider a VMware alternative Proxmox, over commercial solutions?

A: If you want to eliminate licensing costs entirely, a VMware alternative Proxmox is an excellent choice. It is a VMware alternative open source platform based on KVM that supports high availability and backup out of the box, suitable for teams with Linux expertise.