The virtualization market has changed. What does that mean for CIOs and IT managers?
Virtualization has been a stable pillar in the data center for years. The choices were clear, the market predictable and the technology “mature". However, that period is behind us.
The virtualization market is fundamentally changing after Broadcom's acquisition of VMware and the consequences that this has for licensing and pricing structures, among other things. This forces CIOs and IT managers to rethink strategic choices that were obvious for a long time. The reason is not primarily technological, but economic and strategic.
VMware's choices as a tipping point
For years, VMware was the de-facto standard for enterprise virtualization. Not because it was the only option, but because it offered a mature, reliable and rich ecosystem. Many IT architectures, operational processes and skills are built on this.
The recent changes in the VMware landscape, in particular around licensing models, bundling of functionalities and pricing structures, have broken that de-fzcto standard. For many organizations, virtualization is suddenly no longer a “commodity”, but a cost that is under a magnifying glass.
The result: as CIOs and IT managers, you have to ask yourself a few questions again today:
· What do we really pay for our virtualization layer today?
· What functionality do we use effectively?
· How much dependent are we on one supplier?
· And most importantly: does this choice support our broader IT strategy?
This explains why more and more organizations are actively evaluating alternatives.
From technology choice to strategic decision
Where opting for a hypervisor used to be mainly a technical approach, it is now undeniably strategic. Virtualization touches:
- Cost structure (CAPEX vs OPEX, predictability)
- Risk Management (vendor lock-in, roadmap dependency)
- Operational flexibility (integration with cloud, containers, automation)
- F uture-proofness of your IT environment
So the debate is less about features and more about control, agility and long-term scalability.
Open-source alternatives are gaining ground
In that context, open-source platforms such as Proxmox are getting more and more attention. Not because they are “new”, but because their value proposition today is more in line with the questions asked by decision makers.
Key reasons why organizations are exploring this direction:
- More transparent cost model without per-core or feature-related licenses
- Functional completeness: clustering, high availability, software-defined storage and network management in one platform
- Architectural freedom: broad support for storage and network technologies
- Integration with modern IT concepts such as containers, automation and API-driven management
For many IT managers, this is not an ideological choice for open source, but a rational rebalancing of value versus cost and risk.
What does this mean in concrete terms for CIOs and IT managers?
1. Virtualization is no longer a matter of course
The days when virtualization remained “under the radar” are over. The current impact on budgets and strategic dependencies makes it a topic at the management level.
2. Rearchitecturing becomes a real option
Organizations are not only looking at alternative platforms, but also their overall infrastructure architecture: simpler, more modular and better tailored to hybrid cloud models.
3. Operational continuity remains crucial
Although cost and flexibility are important drivers, stability, performance and support remain crucial. Migration and transition scenarios must therefore be controlled and phased.
4. Internal skills versus external expertise
Not every IT organization wants or can continue to develop in-depth platform knowledge within its own team. Managed services and strategic partners are therefore becoming more important as extensions of the internal team.
Conclusion: repositioning a core layer
For years, the virtualization layer was a stable foundation that received little strategic attention. Today, that has fundamentally changed. The key question is not which platform is “the best”, but which platform, and by extension, which collaborative model best meets the organization's long-term goals. Virtualization has once again become a strategic building block.