VMware is the leading virtualization software provider, powering countless data centers and enterprise IT infrastructures worldwide. For over two decades, it has been the default choice for organizations running virtual machines.
That stability was disrupted after VMware’s recent acquisition by Broadcom, a major US-based infrastructure technology company. Since then, customers have reported price increases of 500–600% [1]. Perpetual licenses have also been discontinued, pushing enterprises into new subscription models that add complexity and cost.
In response to such drastic changes, companies are increasingly exploring VMware cloud migration to modernize their infrastructure and regain control over IT spending. While this shift often begins out of necessity, cloud migration presents extensive business opportunities.
Explore our guide and discover the key steps of a successful migration, as well as expert insights to help you confidently navigate the transition.
What are the main VMware cloud migration options?
Businesses can take two distinct approaches to relocating their VMware virtual machines (VMs) to the cloud. One option is to migrate to hyperscalers’ cloud offerings designed for compatibility with VMware workloads. Alternatively, you can move your VMs to cloud-native environments that don’t depend on VMware infrastructure. When planning a migration, it’s important to evaluate both options carefully.
1. Migrating to a VMware cloud
This option focuses on moving your existing virtual machines (VMs) from on-premises to dedicated VMware cloud environments. By taking this approach, you largely retain the VMware software, tools, and operational model. You continue using the VMware environment, policies, and processes your team is already familiar with.
One major downside of this approach is that it leaves you dependent on VMware. Although your workloads now run in the cloud, they are still tied to VMware’s software and licensing model. Broadcom’s changes may continue affecting costs and support.
2. Moving to cloud-native virtual machines
This approach involves migrating your VMs to the standard VM services of cloud providers. These offerings are a form of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), where the provider manages the physical infrastructure, up to the hypervisor level, and you manage your workloads. This option provides a foundation for cloud transformation. You can gradually modernize your workloads, integrate cloud-native features, and later re-architect applications to take full advantage of unique cloud services. In addition, cloud-native infrastructure offers better reliability and resilience capabilities.
Our engineers note that in most cases, the second approach offers a more flexible and future-ready pathway.
In the aftermath of Broadcom’s acquisition, businesses may benefit from moving away from VMware. Migrating your VMs to hyperscalers’ native offerings grants flexibility, creates modernization opportunities, and closes skill gaps as VMware licensing changes reduce the talent pool.
Let’s review several other reasons for migrating to cloud-native IaaS instead of transferring to a VMware cloud solution.
Key business advantages of cloud-native VMs
- Innovation and transformation: Cloud-native IaaS allows for easier interoperability. It helps adopt modern services such as containers, serverless computing, and AI, enabling faster innovation and better customer experience.
- Agility and scalability: Adopting cloud-native services on top of IaaS provides flexible scaling and faster deployment options.
- Cost optimization: Native cloud offerings like Azure Virtual Machines don’t have additional licensing or minimum compute requirements. As a result, they typically come with significantly lower fees than their VMware-based counterparts. While future cloud modernization may incur additional investment, long-term savings and capabilities often outweigh initial costs.
- Performance and resilience: Native infrastructures allow businesses to use hyperscalers’ global data centers, advanced networking, and built-in redundancy for improved uptime and reliability.
- Simplified management and support: With VMware hosted by hyperscalers, support responsibilities may be split between VMware and the cloud provider. Native VM offerings provide clear accountability, reducing time-to-resolution for issues.
Discover more on-premises and cloud alternatives to VMware
VMware cloud migration destinations: AWS, Azure, or GCP
When moving to the cloud, most businesses choose one of the big 3: AWS, Azure, or GCP. Each platform offers its own approach to running VMware workloads. Exploring their offerings is the first step in identifying the best path for your VMware migration.
Amazon Web Services
VMware to AWS migration used to be the top choice until 2024. Since then, AWS has discontinued reselling VMware Cloud on AWS, with the service now available only through Broadcom. For businesses seeking long-term flexibility, the focus has shifted toward AWS’s native VM offering, Amazon EC2.
One example of AWS migration advantages comes from N-iX’s client, a large international bank serving over 2M customers. The client needed to strengthen disaster recovery and protect sensitive data while modernizing their on-premises infrastructure.
Our team designed and executed a migration strategy that combined VMware Cloud on AWS with native AWS services. We enabled seamless VM replication, configured AWS Direct Connect for secure connectivity, and implemented AWS S3 for robust backup and recovery. We also continue supporting and maintaining powerful AWS servers to handle the client’s vast data volumes.
As a result, our client protected critical banking data against loss and breaches, and gained a scalable cloud foundation with stronger resilience, security, and operational efficiency.
Read the full case: Robust data protection and disaster recovery with AWS migration
Microsoft Azure
Azure VMware Solution is Microsoft’s managed service for running VMware virtual machines in the cloud. It lets businesses extend or migrate existing VMware workloads into Azure while maintaining familiar tools and processes. If you compare VMware on Azure vs AWS, Microsoft’s service is deeply integrated with the broader Azure ecosystem, while AWS has phased out its VMware offering.
Another option for VMware to Azure migration is to move workloads directly into Azure Virtual Machines. This approach avoids continued dependency on VMware and opens new modernization opportunities. Migrating to Azure in this way provides significant flexibility, lower long-term costs, and a straightforward path to adoption of cloud-native services.
Google Cloud Platform
GCP offers two migration options for your virtual machines. If you aim to run VMware on GCP with minimal changes, Google Cloud provides a managed VMware Engine service. It lets organizations migrate existing VMware workloads while maintaining familiar tools and operations.
Alternatively, Google Compute Engine allows you to migrate to GCP smoothly without retaining VMware dependencies. When moving to Compute Engine, workloads are converted into standard virtual machines managed directly on GCP. This path offers a more future-ready option and eliminates reliance on VMware tooling.
Read more: GCP migration best practices and insights
Choosing between cloud providers sets the direction, but it’s only one part of the journey. Once you’ve identified the right platform, the next challenge is making the migration itself a success.
9 key steps for a successful VMware cloud migration
Migrating VMware-based workloads to the cloud involves several essential stages, from initial planning to execution and post-migration management. To help you navigate the complexity, our experts break down the main steps for a smooth migration.
1. Evaluate your migration goals and establish success metrics
Companies migrate VMware to the cloud for a variety of reasons. Some are looking for more efficient hardware allocation and lower IT operating costs. Others may focus on greater innovation potential, better scalability, and faster deployment that cloud platforms enable. Defining your “why” is a crucial step that will determine the scope and objectives of your cloud transition.
It’s also essential to decide what constitutes success for your migration initiative. Your cloud strategy should align with both immediate operational needs and long-term business objectives. Whether you’re focusing on cost reduction, performance enhancement, or business agility, ensure your metrics reflect your organization’s strategic vision and growth trajectory.
2. Assess your current workloads and plan thoroughly
Before moving your virtual machines, conduct a readiness assessment and create a migration plan. It’s crucial to ensure you can transition your workloads to the new cloud environment smoothly and with minimal downtime. During this stage, N-iX engineers recommend completing the following steps:
- Inventory your VMs: Understand your existing VMware environment to scope the migration. Use tools like VMware vCenter Server to build an inventory of your VMware virtual machines, their configurations, and the applications they run. Additionally, analyze resource utilization (CPU, memory, storage, and network) to properly size each workload for the cloud. This ensures you avoid unnecessary costs while preventing performance bottlenecks from undersizing.
- Map all dependencies: Analyze network and application dependencies between workloads. This will help migrate tightly interconnected systems while avoiding latency issues, application failures, and unexpected data transfer costs.
- Reassess the total cost of ownership (TCO): The costs associated with on-premises models and cloud infrastructures can differ significantly. Reevaluate TCO before migration to avoid budget surprises. Use tools like the AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) to gain a data-driven view of your expected compute, storage, and licensing expenses.
Expert tip: Incorporate cloud cost optimization into your migration plan early on. Consider reserved instances, licensing models, and workload right-sizing early to prevent overspending. This proactive approach helps control costs and demonstrate a clear VMware cloud migration ROI to stakeholders.
3. Partner with an experienced VMware and cloud consultant
Successfully migrating workloads to the cloud can be complex and time-sensitive. Our clients attest that working with an experienced cloud partner helps achieve faster product launches and smoother cloud transitions.
They balance strong software expertise with a state-of-the-art approach to managing software projects. This was a complex migration project, and they took us by the hand and guided us through it.
By working with a trusted consultant, organizations gain access to proven methodologies, specialized tools, and hands-on experience. This ensures the migration is technically successful and aligned with your business goals, timelines, and strategic vision.
Read more: How to find and hire top VMware engineers?
4. Choose your migration method
The migration methodology you choose will depend on several factors, such as the type of workloads being migrated, the source environment, and the destination. However, the most common method at this stage is lift-and-shift (or “rehosting”). With lift-and-shift, an identical copy of the source machine is transferred to the cloud, often through VM replication techniques. This approach provides a solid foundation to get workloads running in the cloud quickly and reliably.
Following the initial migration, you can continue modernizing through other transformation methods, such as refactoring or re-architecting. The type of methodology may vary for individual workloads. The choice will also depend on whether you are migrating to VMware Cloud, such as Google VMware Engine, or to a native hyperscaler IaaS environment.
5. Evolve your approach to security
Security in the cloud and on-premises fundamentally differs, and businesses must account for that shift when migrating to cloud environments. On-premises infrastructures traditionally adhere to a “fortress model.” This model uses perimeter defenses such as firewalls, reverse proxies, and demilitarized zones (DMZs) to establish a single trust zone within the network’s boundaries. Once a user is inside this perimeter, they’re assumed to be trustworthy.
Cloud security, on the other hand, follows a “zero-trust” model, meaning users and devices must repeatedly authenticate themselves before accessing specific resources. It’s a more proactive approach that demands continuous validation. To secure your workloads in the cloud, our experts recommend:
- Implementing identity and access management (IAM) solutions to centralize control over who can access which resources;
- Employing multi-factor authentication (MFA) to extend security beyond simple passwords;
- Implementing contextual policies to adapt access rights based on user role, device, or location;
- Establishing continuous network monitoring to detect anomalies and respond to threats in real time;
- Deploying advanced endpoint security to continuously validate users.
6. Prepare network connectivity
Reliable connectivity is critical for a smooth migration. Establish secure links between your data center and the cloud using site-to-site VPN or dedicated connections. Validate DNS resolution and routing across both environments to ensure applications remain available and users experience consistent performance.
Expert tip: Plan for bandwidth needs during peak migration windows. Underestimating network throughput can delay the process and increase downtime.
7. Prepare your organization and team
VMware cloud migration can expose gaps in your staff’s cloud expertise. In-house IT personnel might need to learn new skills to keep pace with evolving cloud technologies and tools. While using VMware Cloud feels more familiar than a complete cloud-native transformation would, it still requires dedicated training. Consider partnering with cloud consultants like N-iX, who provide employee education through structured workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions.
8. Execute the migration
The timeline for this stage will depend on your cloud migration strategy. N-iX engineers usually perform migration in waves. Instead of a single, large-scale transition event, we move groups of virtual machines and their associated applications to the cloud over time. This helps reduce the risk of disruptions and ensures the process is organized and controlled.
Here are several tools we commonly use during this phase:
- For AWS: AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) for lift-and-shift migrations, with AWS Migration Hub and the Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) to guide and support the process;
- For Azure: Azure Migrate for transitions into native Azure services or VMware HCX for migrations to Azure VMware Solution;
- For GCP: VMware HCX for VMware Cloud Engine and Migrate for the native Compute Engine.
9. Manage and optimize post-migration
After the migration, it’s crucial to maintain visibility and control over your new environment. Use a unified management platform to monitor workloads, optimize resource allocation, and scale capacity as needed. Track activity and audit logs regularly to ensure ongoing security and operational efficiency.
Common VMware cloud migration challenges and proven solutions
Migrating your VMware workloads to the cloud offers great potential for business agility, cost savings, and innovation, but it comes with several challenges. Let’s explore the complexities you might face during this process and how to navigate through them.
1. Lift-and-shift causes infrastructure compatibility issues
Directly moving on-premises workloads to a public cloud may lead to difficulties due to unsupported operating systems or legacy applications. This often calls for refactoring or rewriting later, negating initial cost savings or causing delays.
Even if you lift an old monolithic application to the cloud, you may not benefit from increased reliability and scalability. Without adjustments, the workload is just running on someone else’s server. To make a migration worthwhile, examine each workload carefully and determine which needs re-platforming, re-architecting, or other modifications before commencing the process.
To avoid incompatibility, assess workloads individually and prepare a rationalization strategy. Identify which applications need refactoring, re-platforming, or even repurchasing to ensure compatibility and performance in cloud environments. This way, you can maximize your cloud utilization while reducing post-migration surprises.
2. Data protection and compliance become more complicated
Traditional “fortress model” security, common in on-premises environments with perimeter defenses, is insufficient for public and hybrid clouds. Data security, compliance with regulations, and control over IT services are top concerns when moving to third-party hosts.
To migrate VMware to the cloud safely, adopt a “zero-trust” security model. Shift from perimeter-based security to continuous validation of users and devices. Ensure your cloud security strategy aligns with your corporate policies and regulatory requirements from the start.
3. Unidentified dependencies cause latency after the migration
Enterprises frequently experience latency post-migration due to unidentified infrastructure, operations, and application dependencies. This can disrupt business processes and impact user experience.
Prevent such surprises by conducting dependency mapping and building an inventory of your VMware VMs. Utilize tools that help visualize data flows across your hybrid infrastructure to identify interdependent applications and plan for their seamless migration. Consider migrating those applications in coordinated ways, so that their functioning isn’t disrupted.
4. The lack of talent hinders VMware migration to the cloud
Finding skilled VMware engineers is becoming increasingly difficult. Licensing changes have discouraged new specialists from entering the field, while the demand for VMware cloud migration continues to grow. This mismatch forces many organizations to slow down their migration initiatives.
Outsourcing provides an efficient way to bridge this gap. Partnering with a reliable VMware and cloud consulting company like N-iX gives you quick access to the specialized expertise you need, for as long as you need it. This allows your projects to progress regardless of the composition of your in-house team, reduces risks, and accelerates migration outcomes.
N-iX can help you complete a VMware cloud migration with confidence
N-iX is a global technology consultant with 23 years of experience helping businesses stay competitive and modernize with cloud computing. In the last five years, we have delivered over 150 cloud migration and modernization projects, serving clients across banking, manufacturing, retail, and more than seven other industries.
We can help you migrate VMware to the cloud by offering the following:
- Scalable teams: Our talent pool includes over 400 cloud engineers and more than 2,400 versatile tech professionals, enabling you to access critical VMware and cloud skills on demand.
- Vendor-aware guidance: As an AWS Premier Tier Partner, Microsoft Solutions Partner, and Google Cloud Platform Partner, we apply our extensive expertise to select the most suitable platform for your migration goals.
- End-to-end delivery and support: We guide every stage of your migration, from initial discovery to implementation and continuous optimization.
- Rigorous security and compliance: We adhere to industry standards, including PCI DSS, GDPR, ISO 9001, and ISO 27001, ensuring your new cloud environment is resilient and audit-ready.
Partnering with N-iX means your VMware cloud migration is handled with precision, efficiency, and security. Contact us today, and let’s turn your cloud vision into measurable results.
References
1. “Broadcom says VMware to grow revenue by double-digit percentages all year.” The Register.
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