Has anyone actually left VMware for good? It’s one of the most common questions in IT forums right now, and the honest answer is yes.
Some teams have moved a handful of VMs. Others have moved hundreds of sites. What they share is a clear VMware exit strategy: a plan for what moves, when it moves, and where it lands.
If you’re weighing your own VMware exit, this guide covers who has done it, what tends to slow teams down, and how to compare your options. You’ll also see where the StorMagic platform fits, and where it doesn’t.
Why So Many IT Teams Need a VMware Exit Strategy Now
Since Broadcom acquired VMware, many organizations have faced new licensing bundles, the end of perpetual licenses for new purchases, and renewal quotes that look very different from last year’s.
Have you opened a renewal quote recently and had to read it twice? You’re not alone. For small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and teams running remote office/branch office (ROBO) and edge sites, the pressure is often sharpest. These sites tend to run a few critical workloads on two or three servers, yet the licensing can be sized for a full data center.
That’s why a VMware exit strategy has moved from a “someday” idea to a planning priority. Even teams that renew for one to three years are using that time to test alternatives.
Has Anyone Actually Left VMware Completely?
Yes. One of the largest public examples is Sheetz, the convenience store chain. Sheetz is currently in the process of replacing VMware across more than 830 retail locations with StorMagic SvHCI, the hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform.
Importantly, this isn’t a pilot, more than 600 stores have already moved, at an anticipated pace of roughly 200 stores per month. At each converted store, SvHCI replaces the VMware stack entirely.
Sheetz was able to “pause” plans for a hardware refresh as part of the StorMagic deployment, which aided the timeline and bottom line. The migration involves replacing multiple single-purpose systems with a two-node HCI architecture.
In an interview with SDxCentral, Scott Robertson, infrastructure team manager at Sheetz explained; “There are certain virtualization platforms that just aren’t purpose-built for the edge … and it was easy to sort of cross them off the list,” Robertson said, before joking that Sheetz would have been “better off buying brand new hardware and re-upping with VMware” than “going down that route.”
Community discussions tell a similar story at smaller scale. IT teams report moving clusters of three hosts and a dozen VMs, as well as environments with hundreds of VMs, to a range of platforms. The common thread is planning, not luck.
What Holds Teams Back From Leaving VMware?
If leaving VMware were easy, everyone would have done it already. Here’s what typically slows teams down, and what to do about each one.
- Vendor-certified applications: Some systems, like certain phone platforms or line-of-business apps, are only supported on specific hypervisors. Check support statements early so they don’t surprise you mid-project.
- Sheer number of VMs: Hundreds or thousands of VMs can’t move in a weekend. Plan in waves, starting with the simplest sites. Or having to replace servers becomes a headache.
- Fear of downtime: Nobody wants to explain an outage. A pilot site and a tested rollback plan take most of the risk out of cutover.
- Contract timing: A recent renewal or remaining perpetual licenses can buy time. Use that window to test, not to wait.
- Team skills: A new platform means new habits. Look for tools your team can learn quickly, like a fleet management tool with an easy to use interface, with support you can reach when you need it.
Comparing VMware Alternatives for Your Exit Strategy
There’s no single right answer. The best VMware alternative depends on your size, your sites, and your team. Here’s a quick look at the options teams most often consider.
| Option | Often a Fit For | Things to Weigh |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Hyper-V | Teams already invested in Windows Server and Microsoft tools | Licensing tied to Windows Server editions; plan your storage and clustering approach |
| Proxmox VE | Teams comfortable with open source and Linux | Paid support subscriptions are available; skills and support model vary by team |
| Nutanix AHV | Larger data centers wanting a full HCI platform | Often a broader platform and investment than small sites need |
| Public cloud | Workloads that suit cloud pricing and don’t need to run on-site | Ongoing costs and latency for sites that must keep running locally |
| StorMagic SvHCI | Edge, ROBO, and SMB sites running a few critical workloads | Built for smaller footprints, not large centralized data centers |
Where StorMagic Fits in a VMware Exit Strategy
StorMagic SvHCI is full-stack HCI built for the edge and SMBs. It brings your hypervisor, storage, and networking together in one package, so there’s less to buy and less to manage.
- A complete stack: A Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor, Open vSwitch networking, and SvSAN virtualized storage, all from one vendor.
- High availability (HA) with two servers: Keep applications running through a server failure, with only two servers at each site. See the full list of SvHCI features.
- Guided VM Import: Move existing VMware VMs to SvHCI with a step-by-step tool. Read the VM Import whitepaper.
- Central management with Edge Control: Monitor and manage every site from one place, whether you run three locations or 300. Learn more about Edge Control.
- VM snapshots: Capture a point-in-time copy before changes, so rollback is quick.
- Simple subscription pricing: Licensed per server node, with software savings of up to 62% compared to VMware. Read the SvHCI VM Snapshots whitepaper.
When StorMagic Isn’t the Right Fit
We’d rather tell you upfront. If you run a large centralized data center with thousands of VMs and need something broad, a larger platform made for data centers may suit you better. Many teams use StorMagic SvHCI at their edge and ROBO sites while running something else at the core. StorMagic is also compatible with a wide range of partners, which you can use to create a solution that fits your exact needs. View the partner solutions hub to find out more.
How to Build Your VMware Exit Strategy in 5 Steps
Here’s a simple way to build a VMware exit strategy:
1. Take Inventory
List every host, VM, and application. Note which apps have hypervisor-specific support requirements and which sites are business-critical.
2. Map Your Licensing Timeline
Write down renewal dates, any perpetual licenses you still hold, and when support ends for your current versions. This sets your real deadline.
3. Right-size Each Environment
Your main data center and a two-server branch site rarely need the same platform. Match each location to what it actually runs.
4. Run a Pilot
Pick one low-risk site. Migrate a few VMs, test failover, and time the cutover so you have real numbers for the rest of the plan.
5. Migrate in Waves
Use what you learned to schedule the remaining sites in batches. Keep a rollback path open until each wave is stable.
A good VMware exit strategy is a living plan. Expect to adjust it after the pilot, and that’s fine.
Start Your VMware Exit Strategy With Real Numbers
You don’t have to make this decision on a hunch. See what it would cost for your sites with the StorMagic savings calculator.
Got questions about your environment? We’ve helped teams through this before. A good place to start is our hardware price rises guide. We find that many customers are looking to learn how to manage rising server hardware costs with virtualization, existing hardware, flexible sourcing, and scalable edge infrastructure.
The guide reflects hardware and virtualization market conditions expected to continue into 2027 and beyond, so you can find the best alternative strategy to VMware or begin planning your VMware exit strategy. When it comes to migrating away from VMware, knowledge is power, so this guide is a great place to start.
