# VMware exodus: 90 percent of users seek alternatives

> Broadcom's price hikes and licensing changes are pushing VMware customers to explore other virtualization platforms and multi-vendor strategies.
- Title: VMware exodus: 90 percent of users seek alternatives
- Summary: Broadcom's price hikes and licensing changes are pushing VMware customers to explore other virtualization platforms and multi-vendor strategies. Ninety…
- Keywords: vmware, broadcom, licensing costs, virtualization, cloud infrastructure, multi-hypervisor strategy, technology, science, exodus, percent, users, seek
- Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/10/operational-complexity-a-top-barrier-for-vmware-migrations-survey
- Published: 2026-10-06T12:00:31+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: vmware, broadcom, licensing costs, virtualization, cloud infrastructure, multi-hypervisor strategy, technology, science
## Survey reveals VMware exodus
Rimini Street published its two thousand twenty-six IT Virtualization Survey examining three hundred organizations worldwide using VMware. Ninety percent said they're exploring alternatives due to higher licensing costs.
## Broadcom's changes spark the shift
Since Broadcom took over VMware, customers reported cost increases of up to one thousand percent, with many seeing increases of around one hundred to three hundred percent. Fifty-four percent cited Broadcom killing support for perpetual license holders.
## Cost savings drive migration plans
Seventy-three percent of survey participants pointed to cost savings as a top priority in their virtualization roadmap decisions. Operational complexity emerged as the biggest barrier, cited by forty percent of respondents.
## Multi-vendor strategies gain traction
Sixty percent of surveyed organizations are considering a multi-hypervisor strategy. Forty-seven percent favor hybrid IT virtualization combining hypervisors and containers. Forty-eight percent aren't planning to move assets to VMware's Cloud Foundation.
## Gartner predicts wider shift ahead
Gartner predicted that fifty-five percent of enterprises will make proofs of concept for alternative distributed hybrid infrastructure products by two thousand twenty-nine, up from twenty-five percent in two thousand twenty-six.
## Enterprises seek vendor independence
Joe McKendrick, lead analyst at Unisphere Research, said the survey reflects enterprises reducing dependency on single providers while maintaining continuity for mission-critical systems and modernizing at their own pace.

> reduce dependency on a single provider, maintain continuity for mission-critical systems and modernize at a pace that fits their own business requirements
## Key takeaway

Ninety percent of VMware users are exploring alternatives due to higher licensing costs since Broadcom's takeover, with many reporting price increases of one hundred to three hundred percent or more.