VMware licensing changes: Perpetual to Subscription

Broadcom acquire VMware

VMware was acquired by Broadcom in November 2023 for approximately $61 billion in a combination of cash and stock. VMware is the market share leader in the virtual computing industry. The acquisition of VMware by Broad is a strategic move aimed at consolidating its position in the enterprise software market and achieving business diversification.

VMware licensing changes: perpetual license ends

After the acquisition, Broadcom made some changes to VMware products. They simplified the product lines and stopped some product supplies.

One significant impact of this acquisition for VMware users is the shift in VMware's licensing model. Before the acquisition, many VMware users were accustomed to using licenses and only needed to pay an annual maintenance fee.

However, after Broadcom's acquisition, the model has shifted from a perpetual license to a subscription. Users need to pay on an annual or monthly basis to use the products and obtain support. Although this model allows customers to continuously obtain the latest software versions and support, for some customers, the long-term usage cost has increased significantly.

If you are a VMware perpetual user, you can choose to:

► Continue to use the perpetual license: Customers can continue to use perpetual licenses that they’ve purchased for products under the license agreement for the duration of their current support contract. But after the effective date for the end of availability perpetual licenses, customers can’t buy new perpetual licenses.

►Upgrade Perpetual license to subscription: Broadcom also plans to offer bring-your-own licenses to let perpetual customers shift to subscription.

Main impacts of VMware licensing changes

We heard some complaints from VMware customers about the new licensing model on various forums. They said the changes are a disater and the negative impact on them are generally as follow:

• Cost increases: The new VMware licensing made their products to be a long-time expenditure for users. In a long time, they definitely spent much more money compared with the perpetual license.

• Continuous Innovation and Updates: Subscription models often include regular updates and access to the latest features. For VMware users, this means they will continuously benefit from the latest innovations and security updates.

• Flexibility and Scalability: The subscription model offers greater flexibility, allowing users with short-term needs to scale their usage up or down more easily according to their needs.

Do you need to migrate off VMware?

Because of the new VMware licensing model, some IT managers and enterprises are considering an alternative tool. There are many alternatives to VMware, such as Microsoft Hyper-V, Nutanix, Citrix Hypervisor, and Oracle VM. If you are also doing so, you must migrate virtualized environments from the VMware platform to other alternative platforms.

The method for migrating virtualized environments can be different depending on the target environment. Here, we take converting VMware to Hyper-V as an example. If you want to use Hyper-V to replace VMware, follow the steps below.

Convert VMware to Hyper-V

Step 1. Download, install and run Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC). Select the “Virtual machine conversion” as the Machine Type. Then click “Next”.

Step 2. On the Migration Destination page, choose "Migrate to Hyper-V", and click Next.

Step 3. Then enter an IP address, computer name, and fully qualified domain name. and choose a path to store the virtualized disk in the Disk window.

Step 4. Select the VM you want to convert on the Virtual Machines page.

Step 5. Follow the rest page to complete the migration.

Important: Regular backup virtual machines

Whether you switch to a new hypervisor, regular backup virtual machines are important to protect data from loss and ensure business continuity. To easily back up multiple or all VMs, AOMEI Cyber Backup is a great choice.

With AOMEI Cyber Backup, you can easily backup VMware and Hyper-V virtual machines to a local path, external storage, NAS drive, network share, and archive backups to Amazon S3 storage. And it offers many features to meet different backup demands.

AOMEI Cyber Backup supports VMware ESXi 6.0 and later versions, as well as Hyper-V in Windows 8/8.1/10/11, Windows Server/Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, and later versions.

Conclusion

Overall, the new VMware perpetual licensing changes in 2024 have a big impact on its customers. Broadcom ended VMware’s perpetual licensing model that many customers have relied on. You can continue to use the perpetual license under the license agreement for the duration of their current support contract. However the option to purchase new perpetual license is not available.