The hypervisor market is evolving quickly – particularly due to the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom. At Rimini Street, IT and Finance leaders across the globe have come to us with pressing questions such as:
- How can we retain, support, and secure our perpetual licenses?
- What will the future of the hypervisor market look like?
- What are my options – should I move to alternatives or self-support?
To provide executives with insights needed to strengthen their VMware strategy, we conducted a global survey with 100+ VMware customers, exploring trends and what options they are considering in the wake of price hikes and forced subscription models.
Here’s a look at some of the key takeaways:
79% of respondents report that their existing perpetual licenses meet their business needs
Perpetual VMware licenses remain a highly valued asset and effectively meet current business needs. Transitioning to VMware’s subscription model would mean exposure to recurring price increases—a concern shared by 92% of respondents, who anticipate further cost hikes within the next 12–18 months. In contrast, perpetual licenses offer a stable, predictable ownership and maintenance cost structure that align well with already squeezed IT budgets.
70% of respondents name “cloud-native technologies” as a top influence shaping the future of virtualization
The hypervisor market is poised for significant evolution over the next few years, driven primarily by the rising influence of cloud-native solutions, AI, and automation. These technologies offer businesses greater scalability, ease of integration, and the flexibility to deploy applications across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This shift toward cloud-native is appealing to organizations that require agile, interconnected infrastructure but wish to maintain data governance.
59% of respondents believe AI will be a major driver of transformation
AI-driven solutions enable more efficient workload management, predictive analytics, and automated resource allocation—empowering organizations to anticipate and respond to demand and performance challenges in real time. AI will create much more efficiency, from a cost, productivity and performance perspective across virtualized environments.
Beyond cloud-native and AI, 50% of respondents highlighted edge computing as a crucial factor shaping the future of hypervisors
With data processing moving closer to the source, edge-ready hypervisors allow organizations to maintain low latency and high-speed access for remote or distributed applications. This trend is particularly relevant for industries such as manufacturing, retail, and logistics, where real-time data processing at the edge can be a competitive advantage. As edge computing continues to grow, hypervisors must evolve to handle diverse workloads, enabling seamless communication between central data centers and edge devices.
The collective impact of cloud-native, AI, and edge technologies is reshaping the hypervisor landscape, steering it away from traditional, hardware-bound solutions toward agile, automated, and data-driven environments. Organizations looking to stay competitive should explore how these technologies can be integrated into their infrastructure to drive efficiency, scalability, and future-ready capabilities.
51% of respondents expressed concerns about having access to the necessary technical expertise, while 48% worry that resolving complex technical issues in a timely manner could be difficult—potentially impacting productivity
As organizations face tightening budgets, many are investing and evaluating self-support models to reduce costs, but this approach brings significant challenges. Access to the necessary technical expertise, competition in the marketplace to hire from a pool of limited talent, the ability to solve complex technical issues without impacting productivity, and effectively securing licenses are top concerns. The risks of self-support, particularly in environments where specialized knowledge and rapid issue resolution are critical to maintaining operational efficiency, productivity, and security, cannot be minimized.
As respondents plan for the future, 90% are considering third-party support for their perpetual VMware Licenses
Third-party support is a proven solution for maximizing the value of perpetual VMware licenses. The right partner not only offers operational flexibility, providing you with the time and flexibility to see how the market evolves, but will also help avoid the escalating costs associated with the adoption of Broadcom’s new subscription bundles. By choosing Rimini Street, global leader of third-party support for VMware organizations can continue to innovate and maintain high performance without additional fees or disruptions, allowing you to make changes on your own timeline.
If you would like to know how you can join Rimini Street’s growing number of VMware clients who are maximizing the value and useful life of their VMware perpetual licenses and confidently navigating the complexities of the hypervisor market, reach out to us. Together, we can develop a tailored strategy that supports your business goals while enhancing operational efficiency and VMware performance.
