By: Vuong Pham, Nth Generation, Sr. SA Virtualization Specialist
The VMware of today isn’t the VMware of yesterday. What you knew is now something you might not recognize today. Take into consideration the following:
Undisputable facts
ESXi hypervisor is now licensed per core, 16 minimum – not per CPU socket.
Licenses are subscription-based. Perpetual licensing isn’t available.
vSAN is now licensed as a capacity-model.
What you are paying for isn’t always what you need or want.
To recap, this year VMware is now a part of Broadcom by acquisition. What do you do? What CAN you do?
Nth + Nutanix
Nth Generation has worked with the best technologies available for over 30+ years. These days, there isn’t simply a single hypervisor in town, nor is there a single hyperconverged solution. Many of our customers are having remarkable success in adopting and using Nutanix for their production workloads.
Nutanix
Nutanix is technology that delivers what you want and need. If your workload is in the cloud, on-prem, hosted/managed, public, private, or edge – they have you covered. Consider starting with Nutanix Private Cloud Solutions which delivers security, control, and the benefits you need. Then as your needs grow, you can seamlessly extend to a hybrid model. Nutanix Cloud Platform can work across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
VMware customers and partners are facing major changes in pricing, packaging, support, and product offerings. By consolidating to essentially just two foundational offerings (vSphere Foundation and VMW Cloud Foundation) plus add-ons, Broadcom has eliminated a great deal of choice for VMware customers. In addition, higher levels of support are only available with the higher-priced Cloud Foundation, which will force customers who want more support to over-provision to get it. They are also changing end-user computing (EUC) and potentially cloud product offerings (VMC on AWS). The size of the VMware price increases has many customers questioning their ongoing relationship with VMware, and now they are open to considering other options for the first time in many years. On the hypervisor front, there are few enterprise options now that Hyper-V is effectively end of life. Startups like Proxmox do not offer compelling enterprise features or support.
How Nutanix and Nth Can Help
To reduce the risk arising from the Broadcom acquisition, there are a few strategies your organization can employ. The simplest is to diversify your virtualization platform, or for even more savings and efficiency, you can transition away from VMware completely. If you want to extend your cloud presence, we are here to assist every step of the way.
Strategies to Reduce Risk
Diversify your Environment. Whether you choose to run new workloads like AI apps on Nutanix, migrate existing workloads, or leverage the platform with existing VMware licenses, you will streamline management, improve TCO, and move forward with confidence.
Transition from VMware. With similar solution offerings, including an enterprise-grade hypervisor, plus improved efficiency, Nutanix is the ideal, modern platform. There are available migration toolkits and services to help you migrate quickly and efficiently.
Extend to the Cloud. We offer a secure, fast, and cost-effective path for rebalancing workloads across core and public cloud. With Nutanix, you can easily move applications from existing VMware deployments to AWS or Azure without refactoring.
Diversify Your Environment
Thousands of enterprises choose Nutanix because with Nutanix, administration is simplified. You can improve resilience and reduce costs – all while allowing preparation for growth with a modern hybrid multi-cloud platform to run any app anywhere. Nutanix can help your organization minimize risk and save money by diversifying based on your unique needs.
“...but I can’t turn an oil tanker on a dime”
Many enterprises and large commercial VMware customers likely have substantial investments in existing SAN infrastructure that cannot simply be discarded.
If you have an existing SAN, but you are not ready to replace:
Put new workloads (modern apps, AI, dev/test, DR, etc.), new instances of existing workloads, and new sites on a software-defined, server-based, flexible infrastructure with an alternative integrated, enterprise-grade hypervisor, with no additional cost beside your SAN.
If you have existing vSphere licenses you would prefer to use, then construct these new workloads and new instances of existing workloads and sites on a software-defined, server-based, flexible infrastructure with vSphere as the hypervisor beside your SAN. Many businesses choose Nutanix infrastructure for their VMware platform. At the same time, you can be prepared for future uncertainty by trying out an alternative, integrated, enterprise-grade hypervisor with no additional cost on-prem or in the cloud by converting DR, dev/test, and edge use cases from vSphere.
You’re ready to replace your SAN but want to use your existing vSphere licenses:
Replace your traditional SAN-based infrastructure with software-defined, server-based, flexible infrastructure; and use your current vSphere licenses. Many businesses choose Nutanix infrastructure for their VMware platform. At the same time, you can be prepared for future uncertainty by trying out an alternative, integrated, enterprise-grade hypervisor on-prem or in the cloud by converting DR, dev/test, and edge use cases from vSphere. (This is like #2 above, it is just fully replacing the SAN and still using vSphere.)
Nutanix offers the ability to modernize your infrastructure using a server-based, software-defined approach that allows them to constrain their existing VMware costs.
Builds a platform for new modern apps and existing app growth using an integrated, enterprise-grade hypervisor.
Leverages public and managed clouds without refactoring and being locked into a specific cloud.
Your organization can utilize strategies and tactics to navigate this dynamic environment. You may decide if you are going to de-risk by diversifying your VMware consumption, transition fully from VMware, and/or leverage the cloud more. Whichever path you select, they are not exclusive. We are here to help.
There is a strategic framework with helpful tactics we can share. This is not specific to VMware, for example, comparable to how x86 servers co-existed with – and eventually replaced – UNIX servers. The first logical step is to constrain new investments in VMware and SAN-based infrastructure. You can then examine alternatives for constructing infrastructure for new workloads and new instances of existing ones, while also looking for workloads that could be converted from VMware to other options.
For organizations with a large VMware investment, we can help you access x86 economics in a dual-vendor situation (permitting existing investments depreciate over time). For those smaller, less-invested businesses, we can help you move more quickly to replace VMware or extend operations into the cloud. There are concerns about uncertainty with Broadcom and be assured Nth and Nutanix are here to help. You can use Nutanix cloud platform on-prem or in the cloud to run alongside existing VMware workloads. Or if it is right for your business migrate from VMware. Since Broadcom is not known for customer support, our commitment to our customers' success is reflected in Nutanix's seven-year average NPS score of 90+. Customers matter and both Nth and Nutanix are committed to helping drive your business' success.
What now?
Nth can help you explore your options. Schedule 1:1 with a Subject Matter Expert to see the solution in action.
Test drive demo.
Experts are available for you to ask questions and get deep into the weeds.
Do you know your total operational costs?
What will your renewal costs for VMware by Broadcom cost next year? What about the next five years?
If you have not yet experienced Nutanix, what are you waiting for?
We offer modern, simplified, but very powerful outcomes.
This is an unprecedented time for VMware customers affected by the changes in pricing, product, and support offerings brought on by the Broadcom acquisition.
There is the choice to use Nutanix AHV as the alternative to VMware for customers in the context of modern apps and new workloads and sites. It is important to remember that AHV is not a standalone hypervisor replacement for vSphere on SAN today. It is a complete solution: a simple and powerful alternative.
Nth can help you explore your options. Schedule a 1:1 with an Nth Subject Matter Expert to see the solution in action. Click here.
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