TLDR¶

• Core Points: Broadcom’s strategy prioritizes selective customer retention; a CloudBolt survey shows most VMware users are actively reducing their footprint and consolidating workloads.
• Main Content: Enterprises continue to de-emphasize VMware in favor of diverse environments, focusing on cost, governance, and modernization efforts.
• Key Insights: Fragmented multi-hypervisor strategies, rising interest in cloud-native architectures, and persistent concerns about licensing and total cost of ownership.
• Considerations: Organizations must plan transitions carefully to avoid outages, ensure license compliance, and maintain operational maturity.
• Recommended Actions: Map workloads, optimize licenses, pilot modernized stacks, and establish clear governance for cloud and on-prem environments.

Content Overview¶

The article reviews findings from a CloudBolt report that investigates how VMware users are approaching their infrastructure footprints in a landscape shaped by Broadcom’s ownership of VMware. The central takeaway is that a majority of VMware customers are not simply maintaining or expanding their VMware deployments; they are actively shrinking and rebalancing their environments. This trend persists despite VMware’s continued relevance in enterprise data centers, and it is driven by a combination of financial pressures, strategic modernization goals, and evolving workload requirements. The CloudBolt study underscores a broader industry shift toward flexible, multi-hypervisor environments and cloud-native architectures, all while acknowledging the enduring importance of VMware in supporting mission-critical applications. The report also references Broadcom’s strategy, noting that the vendor’s long-term approach has not focused on retaining every customer at all costs, which can influence customer behavior and vendor relationships. Taken together, these elements illustrate a transitional period for enterprise IT, where organizations seek to optimize total cost of ownership, reduce licensing risk, and increase agility by distributing workloads across on-premises and cloud platforms.

In-Depth Analysis¶

The Core Finding: A substantial portion of VMware users are actively reducing their VMware footprint. This conclusion stems from survey responses collected and analyzed by CloudBolt, a cloud management platform vendor known for examining how enterprises manage hybrid cloud and virtualization infrastructures. The reported trend is not a sudden shift but a continuation of ongoing optimization efforts spanning several years. Enterprises are reevaluating where to run workloads, how to license software, and how to govern diverse environments. While VMware remains a foundational technology for many organizations—particularly for legacy applications and highly regulated workloads—the business case for maintaining large-scale, single-vendor hypervisor estates has weakened in the face of mounting cloud strategies and multi-hypervisor experimentation.

Licensing and Total Cost of Ownership: A recurring theme in the findings is concern about licensing complexity and the total cost associated with VMware deployments. Broadcom’s stewardship of VMware is often cited in discussions about licensing changes, product roadmaps, and pricing adjustments. The survey results suggest that customers are wary of unexpected licensing escalations, tiered pricing, and the administrative overhead of maintaining compliance across hybrid environments. These concerns drive some organizations to consolidate or migrate workloads to other platforms or cloud-native services where licensing terms may be more predictable or aligned with consumption-based models. However, the migration is not simply a mass exodus from VMware; rather, it is a strategic distribution of workloads based on workload characteristics, risk tolerance, and modernization goals.

Broadcom’s Strategy: The survey references Broadcom’s stated approach to VMware, noting that the vendor’s strategy was never to maintain every customer indefinitely. This stance can influence how customers perceive long-term viability, product roadmaps, and support quality. Some organizations interpret Broadcom’s strategy as a signal to diversify or reduce dependency on a single vendor, while others see it as a nudge toward modernization and cloud adoption. The CloudBolt report frames this context as a key external factor shaping customer behavior, complementing internal considerations like cost management, governance, and technical debt.

Workload Modernization and Cloud Alignment: Enterprises are increasingly aligning workloads with cloud-native architectures where feasible. This often involves containerization, Kubernetes orchestration, and serverless paradigms for new applications while preserving VMware for critical, stateful, or performance-sensitive workloads. The strategy involves a phased approach: begin with non-critical workloads, implement robust CI/CD pipelines, and gradually migrate or modernize central applications. The result is a hybrid tapestry in which VMware remains a cornerstone for certain classes of workloads even as cloud-centric approaches gain traction for others. This nuanced stance reflects a broader industry trend toward choosing the right tool for the job rather than defaulting to a single technology stack.

Governance, Compliance, and Security Considerations: As environments diversify, organizations face governance and security challenges that must be addressed methodically. A multi-hypervisor footprint increases the complexity of policy enforcement, access control, and compliance reporting. Enterprises are investing in centralized cloud management platforms, policy-as-code constructs, and automation to maintain visibility and control across diverse environments. The CloudBolt study highlights governance as a critical driver behind footprint reduction, with many organizations seeking to simplify management to reduce risk and improve security posture.

Operational Maturity and Skill Gaps: Transitioning away from a VMware-centric model requires increased emphasis on cross-functional skills, platform interoperability, and mature IT processes. Teams must become proficient in container runtimes, cloud orchestration, and hybrid cloud operations alongside traditional virtualization expertise. The article implies that organizations should anticipate a learning curve and allocate resources for retraining, process redesign, and new tooling investments. In some cases, a strategic partnership with management platforms or consulting services can help accelerate modernization while maintaining service levels.

Industry Context and Market Dynamics: The findings sit within a broader enterprise technology landscape characterized by rising cloud adoption, more complex licensing models, and heightened financial scrutiny of IT spend. As organizations pursue modernization, they weigh the benefits of a consolidated vendor ecosystem against the flexibility of a diversified toolset. VMware’s role in this mix is evolving rather than diminishing; it remains integral for certain workloads but is no longer the sole centerpiece of enterprise virtualization strategies. The CloudBolt report situates VMware within a continuum of IT modernization that underscores deliberate decision-making about where and how to run workloads.

Customer Segments and Variability: The degree to which organizations shrink their VMware footprint varies by industry, regulatory requirements, and legacy application portfolios. Financial services, healthcare, and government agencies often operate under stringent compliance mandates that influence virtualization strategies and licensing considerations. In some sectors, VMware continues to deliver reliability, performance, and vendor-supported innovations that justify continued investment. In others, cost pressures or the strategic push toward cloud-native architectures drive greater experimentation with alternative platforms. The survey’s nuanced findings reflect this variability, indicating that there is no universal path but rather a spectrum of approaches tailored to organizational context.

Vendor Relationships and Support Models: The evolving vendor landscape affects how enterprises engage with VMware and Broadcom. Some customers consider negotiating terms, exploring renewal options, or transitioning to adjacent products that offer better alignment with current roadmaps or consumption models. Support structures and service levels also factor into decision-making, particularly for mission-critical workloads where downtime or performance degradation carries significant risk. The CloudBolt report implies that a pragmatic approach—balancing cost, risk, and modernization goals—tends to yield the most durable outcomes over time.

Future Implications: If the trend toward footprint reduction continues, several implications emerge for vendors, customers, and the broader ecosystem. Vendors may respond with more flexible licensing, clearer roadmaps, and enhanced integration with cloud-native toolchains. Customers can anticipate greater emphasis on governance, cost management, and automated optimization across hybrid environments. For practitioners, the message is clear: modernization is a journey that requires careful planning, measurable milestones, and ongoing reassessment of workloads against evolving business and technical requirements. The survey’s findings encourage ongoing dialogue between IT leadership, procurement, and security teams to align technical strategy with organizational objectives.

Perspectives and Impact¶

The CloudBolt survey sheds light on a critical shift in how enterprises view virtualization, cloud strategy, and vendor relationships. The persistence of VMware as a foundational technology for many organizations is juxtaposed with a clear appetite for reduction and diversification. This dual reality reflects mature IT environments where legacy investments coexist with forward-looking modernization efforts. Enterprises are not simply abandoning VMware; they are rebalancing workloads to leverage the strengths of multiple platforms, including public cloud services, private clouds, and container-based infrastructures.

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From a governance perspective, footprint reduction correlates with a heightened focus on cost management, license optimization, and risk reduction. Organizations seek to avoid license sprawl, unexpected price escalations, and the administrative drag of managing complex, multi-vendor ecosystems. The survey suggests that CIOs and IT leaders are increasingly adopting centralized visibility and control mechanisms to monitor usage, optimize licensing terms, and enforce consistent security policies across platforms.

Security and compliance considerations gain prominence in diversified environments. A consolidated, VMware-heavy approach often provided a familiar security model and a single point of governance; as the footprint expands across diverse technologies, enterprises must implement robust cross-platform security controls, unified identity management, and consistent compliance reporting. This shift necessitates investment in security automation, threat detection, and policy enforcement that can operate uniformly across VMware, hypervisors, containers, and cloud services.

The strategic implications for Broadcom are notable. The company’s stance on customer retention and its product roadmap influence how customers evaluate risk and opportunity. If Broadcom’s strategy emphasizes selective engagement and targeted investments rather than broad, entrenched customer retention, customers may feel incentivized to diversify or accelerate modernization. In turn, Broadcom may face greater emphasis on product interoperability, licensing clarity, and customer-centric support that demonstrates ongoing value beyond traditional virtualization capabilities. The dynamic creates a broader market environment in which VMware remains relevant but must continually justify its role within modern IT stacks.

Industry outlook over the next several years will likely reflect a continued blend of on-premise and cloud-based workloads. The rise of Kubernetes-ready platforms, serverless architectures for suitable workloads, and hybrid cloud management tools will shape how organizations allocate resources and manage costs. Enterprises will increasingly require platforms that can orchestrate, monitor, and optimize across heterogeneous environments, with a preference for tools that reduce complexity and provide end-to-end governance. In this context, VMware’s evolution—whether through product enhancements, partnerships, or licensing reforms—will influence how organizations integrate it into broader modernization programs.

The survey also highlights the importance of practical, incremental changes. Rather than pursuing wholesale replacement in a single initiative, many organizations are pursuing staged migrations, performance tuning, and compatibility testing to minimize risk. This pragmatic approach recognizes the realities of production-critical workloads, the need for data integrity, and the importance of maintaining service levels during transition periods. In parallel, many organizations are investing in upskilling IT staff to capitalize on modern orchestration platforms, containerization, and cloud-native development practices, ensuring that teams can manage a diversified infrastructure with competence and confidence.

The broader technology ecosystem stands to benefit from the shift as well. Tooling ecosystems around hybrid cloud management, licensing optimization, and cost governance may see increased demand and innovation. Vendors that deliver transparent pricing, clear roadmaps, and strong interoperability across platforms may gain competitive advantage. Meanwhile, customers that adopt standardized practices for policy enforcement, security, and cost monitoring can achieve higher visibility and control over their environments, enabling more predictable outcomes and faster time-to-value from modernization initiatives.

Key Takeaways¶

Main Points:
– Enterprises are actively reducing their VMware footprint, not simply maintaining or expanding it.
– Licensing complexities and total cost of ownership are major drivers of diversification and consolidation.
– Broadcom’s customer strategy is influencing enterprise decisions, with a tilt toward selective engagement rather than guaranteed retention.

Areas of Concern:
– Managing governance and security across multi-hypervisor and cloud environments.
– Ensuring license compliance and avoiding sprawl amid workload migrations.
– Maintaining performance and reliability for critical workloads during transitions.

Summary and Recommendations¶

The current landscape indicates that VMware remains an important but not exclusive component of many enterprise IT strategies. Organizations are pragmatically optimizing their footprints to balance cost, risk, and modernization goals. This involves a thoughtful blend of VMware for workloads where it provides clear advantages and alternative platforms for others where cloud-native or multi-hypervisor approaches offer better agility or economics.

For enterprises planning or accelerating footprint reduction, the following recommendations can help ensure a successful trajectory:
– Conduct a comprehensive workload inventory to map application dependencies, performance requirements, and licensing implications across VMware and alternative platforms.
– Build a licensing optimization roadmap that identifies opportunities to consolidate or restructure licenses, negotiate terms, and align usage with consumption-based models where possible.
– Implement a phased modernization plan that prioritizes non-critical or easily containerizable workloads, with clear milestones and rollback criteria.
– Invest in governance and security automation to maintain consistent controls across heterogeneous environments, including identity, access management, and policy enforcement.
– Develop a skilled workforce strategy that includes training, hiring, and partnerships to support hybrid cloud management, container ecosystems, and cloud-native operations.
– Establish clear metrics and governance for cloud spend, license utilization, and performance to enable continuous improvement and visibility for stakeholders.

In conclusion, the trend toward VMware footprint reduction reflects a broader movement of IT modernization and strategic diversification. Enterprises aim to optimize total cost of ownership, mitigate licensing uncertainties, and enhance agility by leveraging a balanced mix of on-premises virtualization, private clouds, and public cloud services. While VMware will continue to play a vital role for many organizations, it is increasingly part of a multi-faceted toolkit designed to support resilient, scalable, and cost-effective IT operations in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

References¶

• Original: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/02/most-vmware-users-still-actively-reducing-their-vmware-footprint-survey-finds/
• Additional references:
• CloudBolt company blog or research summaries on multi-cloud governance and footprint optimization
• Broadcom VMware licensing and roadmap communications
• Industry analyses on hybrid cloud strategies and Kubernetes adoption in enterprise environments

*圖片來源：Unsplash*