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Moving off VMware / Broadcom: migrate and modernise

Since Broadcom acquired VMware, licence costs have risen sharply for many organisations, and perpetual licences have been replaced by mandatory subscriptions. Many three-year licences expire at the end of 2026, which increases the pressure to migrate. Appfront helps you move away from VMware: we assess your environment, choose a suitable alternative, and migrate and modernise your applications so you are not locked into a platform that keeps getting more expensive.

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What has changed at VMware under Broadcom?

Since Broadcom acquired VMware (completed at the end of 2023), the licensing model and pricing have changed significantly. Perpetual licences have been discontinued in favour of mandatory subscriptions, product bundles have been restructured, and since April 2025 a minimum purchase applies per environment. For many organisations this has led to substantial cost increases; some report prices several times higher than before.

The result is a widespread search for alternatives. Many organisations with three-year contracts are approaching a decision point towards the end of 2026. Appfront supports you with that decision and its implementation: we look not only at the virtualisation layer, but also at whether it makes sense to modernise your applications at the same time, towards containers or a sovereign environment.

How we approach this

Analysis of your environment

We map out your VMware landscape, applications, integrations and licensing situation.

Weighing up alternatives

We compare suitable alternatives such as Proxmox, Kubernetes, OpenShift or Nutanix against your requirements.

Migrating and modernising

We move the workloads and modernise where it adds value, in a phased and controllable way.

Management

After the migration, we provide maintenance, monitoring and ongoing development of the new environment.

What we do

Landscape analysis

We map your virtual machines, applications and dependencies.

Alternatives advice

Independent advice on Proxmox, Kubernetes, OpenShift Virtualization, Nutanix and other options.

Workload migration

We move virtual machines and applications in phases, with fallback options.

Modernising to containers

Where it makes sense, we convert applications to containers rather than simply relocating them.

Sovereign option

We can set up the new environment as sovereign and EU-based from the outset.

Management and monitoring

Ongoing management of the new environment.

For whom

Organisations with a large VMware landscape

Parties hit hard by the new licensing costs.

IT departments with expiring contracts

Organisations whose three-year licences expire towards the end of 2026.

Companies wanting to modernise

Parties who want to use the migration to move to containers.

Government and healthcare

Sectors that also need to safeguard sovereignty.

Technology and approach

We advise independently on alternatives and migrate using open, portable technology. Where it adds value, we modernise applications into containers, rather than copying your old setup one-to-one.

Proxmox VE

Kubernetes / KubeVirt

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

Nutanix AHV

Infrastructure as Code

Containers

EU-based infrastructure

Monitoring and logging

Why Appfront

Appfront is independent of virtualisation and infrastructure vendors. We look at what fits your situation and combine the migration with application expertise, so you not only come out cheaper but also end up with a future-proof environment.

Independent alternatives advice
Experience in migrating and modernising
Phased, with fallback options
Option to go sovereign straight away

Related services

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do so many organisations want to move away from VMware?

Since the Broadcom acquisition, perpetual licences have been discontinued and costs have risen sharply for many organisations, in some cases several times over. That makes alternatives attractive, especially as existing contracts come up for renewal.

What alternatives are there?

Commonly cited options include Proxmox VE (open source), Kubernetes with KubeVirt, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization and Nutanix AHV. Which one suits you depends on your size, workloads and requirements; we weigh these up independently.

Do I need to migrate everything at once?

No. We migrate in phases, with fallback options, so continuity is safeguarded. We often start with less critical workloads.

Can I modernise straight away?

Yes, and that is often sensible. Rather than copying your existing setup, we can convert suitable applications to containers, which is more maintainable and flexible in the long run.

Can you combine the migration with sovereignty?

Yes. A migration is a natural moment to move straight to an EU-based, sovereign environment. We will discuss whether that fits your requirements.

What happens to my existing applications?

We assess each application to decide whether to move, adapt or modernise it, and draw up a plan that suits your priorities and budget.

Get started with a VMware migration

Are your VMware costs rising, or is your contract approaching a decision point? We are happy to advise you independently on migrating and modernising.

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