The Escape Plan
For a decade, “Hybrid Cloud” meant running VMware on-prem and VMware in the cloud. That era is ending. The dramatic pricing shifts from Broadcom have made “Native Cloud” not just an architectural goal, but a financial survival strategy.
Technical Deep Dive
1. The “Pet” to “Cattle” Shift
- VMware: You nurse sick VMs back to health. You use vMotion to keep them alive during maintenance.
- Native Cloud: You shoot sick instances and let the Auto Scaling Group replace them.
- Requirement: Your apps must handle sudden termination. Session state must be externalized (Redis/Memcached).
2. Right-Sizing (The ROI Maker)
- On-Prem: You provisioned for peak load + 20% buffer because adding RAM took weeks.
- Cloud: You provision for average load and auto-scale for peaks.
- Result: Most VMs can be downsized by 50% when moving to cloud, funding the migration cost.
3. Database Freedom
- Opportunity: Don’t just move Oracle/SQL Server on a VM to Oracle/SQL Server on EC2.
- Move: Switch to Amazon RDS or Azure SQL Managed Instance. Offload backups, patching, and HA to the vendor. This is where the real operational savings live.
How to Choose a VMware Migration Partner
If you need a massive datacenter exit: Kyndryl. They managed the infrastructure you are leaving; they know how to move it.
If you need a “Lift and Optimize” approach: Rackspace. They are great at moving VMs quickly and then optimizing them for cost.
If you need strategic financial modeling: Deloitte. They can build the business case to convince your CFO that the “Broadcom Tax” is worth leaving.
If you need application refactoring: SoftServe. They don’t just move VMs; they rewrite apps to be cloud-native (Kubernetes/Serverless).
Red flags:
- Vendors who suggest “VMware Cloud on AWS” (VMC) as a long-term solution (it’s still VMware licensing)
- No plan for “Right-Sizing” instances (moving 64GB on-prem VMs to 64GB cloud VMs is a waste)
- Ignoring the “Egress Cost” trap
- No automation strategy (Terraform/Ansible)
When to Hire VMware Migration Services
1. The Broadcom Renewal Shock
Your VMware renewal quote just arrived. It’s 4x what you paid last year. The CFO is furious.
Trigger: “We need to get off VMware NOW.”
2. Hardware End-of-Life
Your servers are 5 years old. You are facing a $2M capital expenditure (CapEx) to refresh the hardware.
Trigger: “Do we really want to buy more servers?“
3. Agility Blockers
Developers are waiting weeks for a VM. They want AWS/Azure APIs to provision resources instantly.
Trigger: “Shadow IT” (Developers using credit cards for AWS).
4. Datacenter Closure
Your lease on the colocation facility is expiring in 12 months. You don’t want to renew.
Trigger: Real estate consolidation.
5. Innovation Stagnation
You are spending 80% of your budget on “keeping the lights on” (patching vCenter) and 0% on AI/Innovation.
Trigger: “We are an IT shop, not a software company.”
Total Cost of Ownership: VMware vs Native Cloud
| Line Item | % of Total Budget | Example ($1M Project) |
|---|---|---|
| Migration Labor (Partners) | 30-40% | $300K-$400K |
| Cloud Infrastructure (Year 1) | 40-50% | $400K-$500K |
| Training (Cloud Skills) | 5-10% | $50K-$100K |
| Dual Run Costs (Overlap) | 10-15% | $100K-$150K |
Hidden Costs NOT Included:
- Egress Fees: Moving data out of the cloud is expensive.
- Software Licensing: Bring Your Own License (BYOL) vs Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) for Windows/SQL.
Break-Even Analysis:
- Median Investment: $800K
- Annual Savings: $400K (Hardware + VMware Licensing + Power/Cooling)
- Break-Even: 2 years
VMware to Native Cloud Roadmap
Phase 1: Discovery & TCO Analysis (Months 1-2)
Activities:
- Run discovery tools (AWS Migration Evaluator / Azure Migrate)
- Map dependencies (App A talks to App B)
- Identify “Zombie VMs” (running but unused)
- Build the Business Case
Deliverables:
- TCO Report
- Migration Wave Plan
Phase 2: Landing Zone & Foundation (Months 3-4)
Activities:
- Build the Cloud Landing Zone (VPCs, Security Groups, IAM)
- Set up Hybrid Connectivity (Direct Connect / ExpressRoute)
- Establish FinOps tags and budgets
Deliverables:
- Secure Cloud Environment
- Network Connectivity
Phase 3: Migration Waves (Months 5-10)
Activities:
- Rehost (Lift & Shift): Move simple apps using tools (AWS MGN / Azure Migrate).
- Replatform (Lift & Reshape): Move DBs to RDS, Web Apps to App Service.
- Refactor (Rewrite): Rewrite critical apps to Serverless/Containers.
Deliverables:
- Migrated Workloads
- Decommissioned On-Prem Hosts
Phase 4: Optimization (Months 11-12)
Activities:
- Right-Sizing: Downsize instances based on actual cloud usage.
- Reserved Instances: Commit to 1-3 year plans for 40% savings.
- Modernization: Start refactoring the “Lifted & Shifted” apps.
Deliverables:
- Optimized Cloud Bill
- Fully Retired Datacenter
Architecture Transformation
graph TD
subgraph "Legacy VMware"
A["Load Balancer (F5)"] --> B[Web VMs]
B --> C[App VMs]
C --> D["DB VMs (SQL/Oracle)"]
E[vCenter] --> B
end
subgraph "Native Cloud"
F["Cloud Load Balancer (ALB)"] --> G[Auto Scaling Group]
G --> H["Container Service (EKS/AKS)"]
H --> I["Managed DB (RDS/SQL MI)"]
J[Infrastructure as Code] --> G
end
style E fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
style J fill:#bbf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2pxPost-Migration: Best Practices
Months 1-3: FinOps
- Tagging: Ensure every resource has an “Owner” and “Cost Center” tag.
- Budgets: Set strict budgets and alerts. Cloud costs can spiral if unchecked.
Months 4-6: Automation
- IaC: Stop clicking in the console. Move to Terraform or Pulumi for all infrastructure changes.
- CI/CD: Automate deployments. No more manual file copies.
Expanded FAQs
Why not just use VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC)?
Answer: VMC is great for speed (no refactoring), but you still pay the “VMware Tax” (licensing) plus the AWS infrastructure cost. It is often more expensive than on-prem. Native cloud removes the VMware licensing cost entirely.
How do we handle IP addresses?
Answer: You don’t. In the cloud, IP addresses are ephemeral. You must switch to DNS-based service discovery. Hardcoded IPs are the #1 cause of migration failures.
What about our legacy OS (Windows 2008)?
Answer: Cloud providers offer “Extended Security Updates” (ESU) if you move to their platform, but you should prioritize upgrading. Running EOL operating systems is a massive security risk.
Is “Lift and Shift” bad?
Answer: No, it’s a valid first step. It gets you out of the datacenter quickly. But if you stop there, you will pay more than on-prem. You must have a Phase 2 plan to optimize and modernize.
How do we move 500TB of data?
Answer: For massive data, network transfer is too slow. Use physical devices like AWS Snowball or Azure Data Box to ship disks to the cloud provider.