VMware's $69B Death Spiral: 86% of Enterprise Users Now Actively Fleeing
I remember the day Broadcom announced its $69 billion VMware acquisition in November 2023. The enterprise virtualization world collectively lost its mind. "This is the end!" they screamed. "Mass exodus incoming!"
Two years later? Well, it's complicated.
A new CloudBolt survey of 302 IT directors paints a picture of an industry in permanent migration mode. 86% are actively reducing their VMware footprint. That's not a typo. Nearly nine out of ten enterprise shops are actively trying to get off the platform that once ruled datacenter virtualization.
<> "The fear has cooled, but the pressure hasn't — and most teams are now making practical moves to build leverage and optionality." - Mark Zembal, CloudBolt CMO/>
The Great Unwinding That Never Was
Here's where it gets interesting. Despite all the noise about fleeing VMware, the actual migration numbers tell a different story:
- 36% moved only 1-24% of workloads
- 32% moved 25-49%
- 10% moved 50-74%
- 2% moved 75%+
- 4% fully migrated (basically nobody)
That's right. After two years of panic, only 4% have actually escaped.
Why? Because untangling a decade of VMware dependency isn't like switching email providers. One survey respondent called it "unwinding a decade of process dependencies... far more complex than a standard cloud lift-and-shift." No kidding.
Broadcom's Subscription Squeeze Play
The culprit behind this slow-motion divorce? Price increases, cited by 89% of respondents. Broadcom killed perpetual licensing and forced everyone into subscription bundles like VMware Cloud Foundation.
The fear was real initially. In 2024, 73% expected price increases over 100%. The reality in 2026? Only 5% actually saw those massive hikes. But here's the kicker: 88% remain worried about future price increases.
Broadcom played this perfectly. Scare everyone just enough to keep them paying, but not enough to trigger actual mass defection.
Where Everyone's Running (Slowly)
The migration destinations reveal the new enterprise reality:
1. Public cloud IaaS (72%) - AWS and Azure laughing all the way to the bank
2. Microsoft Hyper-V/Azure Stack (43%) - Microsoft's quiet virtualization victory
3. SaaS replacements (34%) - Death by a thousand cloud services
But here's the messy part: 56% changed strategies more than once since the acquisition. 63% pivoted their migration plans at least twice. This isn't strategic planning; it's corporate thrashing.
The Reality Check
CloudBolt CEO Rod Squires nailed it: "Enterprises aren't just asking what they want to do — they're confronting what they can execute safely."
Migrations are taking 18-24 months minimum. That's not just moving VMs around. It's refactoring networking, security, dependencies, and modern AI workloads that got tangled up in VMware's ecosystem.
One respondent described Broadcom as "a bully taking half your lunch money." Harsh but fair.
The Vendor Feeding Frenzy
Of course, everyone's capitalizing on VMware's pain. CloudBolt (who commissioned this survey) sells hybrid cloud management to companies stuck managing dual-stack environments. Convenient timing.
Microsoft's Hyper-V suddenly looks attractive. Public cloud vendors are rolling out red carpets. The whole ecosystem is profiting from Broadcom's aggressive pricing strategy.
My Bet: This "slow unwinding" continues for years. VMware doesn't die quickly - it gets nibbled to death by migration projects that take forever and cost more than expected. Broadcom keeps extracting maximum value from trapped customers while competitors slowly chip away market share. The real winners? Migration consultants and hybrid cloud management vendors selling shovels during the gold rush.
