VMware migrations will be long, expensive, and risky, warns Gartner

If the changes Broadcom brought to VMware have you thinking of a move to an alternative virtualization platform, expect a long, costly, and risky project – and perhaps a longer, costlier, and riskier one if you put off pondering the move.

That’s the thrust of a new assessment titled “Estimating a Large-Scale VMware Migration” from by analyst firm Gartner, and the opinion of one of its authors – VP Analyst Michael Warrilow.

The assessment modelled the cost of migrating off VMware for an org that runs 2,000 or more VMs and at least 100 servers to host them and found projects will take 18 to 48 months. Each virtual machine will cost between $300 and $3,000 to migrate, if you engage external service providers.

Initial scoping alone will require seven to ten full time staff for a month. Technical evaluation of potential VMware replacements needs another six people for ...