Rimini Street Survey: 90% of VMware Users Weigh Alternatives
Rimini Street's 2026 survey of 300 VMware-using organizations found 90 percent are exploring alternatives, citing licensing costs.
Rimini Street has published its "2026 IT Virtualization Survey – What's Next for VMware Users," which found that 90 percent of surveyed organizations are exploring alternatives to VMware because of higher licensing costs, according to arstechnica.com.
The survey covered 300 organizations worldwide that use VMware. Cost savings was named a top priority in virtualization roadmap decisions by 73 percent of participants.
Asked what is driving them to look elsewhere, 54 percent pointed to Broadcom's ending of support for perpetual license holders.
Barriers to moving on
Respondents also flagged obstacles to changing their virtualization setups: 40 percent cited operational complexity, 38 percent cited multi-vendor management challenges, and 37 percent each cited securing the increased attack surface and team skills requirements.
Since Broadcom took over VMware, customers have said their VMware costs rose by as much as 1,000 percent, with many reporting more modest increases of around 100 to 300 percent.
Quick answers
How many organizations did the Rimini Street survey include?
The survey examined 300 organizations worldwide that use VMware.
Why are VMware users looking at alternatives?
90 percent of participants said they are exploring VMware alternatives due to higher licensing costs, and 54 percent pointed to Broadcom ending support for perpetual license holders.