VMware Exit Strategy: How to Leave VMware Without Disruption

VMware Exit Strategy

Broadcom’s overhaul of VMware licensing and support has many CIOs asking a serious question: “Should we leave VMware?” Exiting VMware is possible, but it’s not simple or quick.

This guide will help you design a structured, low-risk VMware exit plan in the Broadcom era.

We’ll show how to evaluate your dependencies, identify the right alternatives, and phase out VMware workloads methodically – all while protecting uptime, controlling costs, and maintaining skills along the way.

Pro Tip: “Leaving VMware isn’t about emotion — it’s about architecture and timing.”

Step 1 – Evaluate Your Current VMware Footprint

Before you move anything, know exactly what you’re moving.

Start with a comprehensive VMware dependency audit of your entire environment:

• Inventory all VMware components: List every vSphere hypervisor cluster (ESXi hosts), vCenter Server instance, vSAN storage deployment, NSX networking instance, and any VMware Horizon (VDI) or vRealize suite components in use. Document versions and configurations.
• Map all integrations: Identify external systems tied into VMware – backup solutions (e.g., that use vSphere APIs), disaster recovery tools (like SRM or third-party replication), orchestration scripts or vRealize Automation workflows, monitoring tools feeding from vCenter, etc. This reveals what systems might break or need replacement during the exit.
• Find VMware-specific dependencies: Pinpoint workloads or processes using VMware-exclusive features (vMotion live migrations, DRS load balancing, vCenter APIs, VM snapshot scripts, NSX micro-segmentation, etc.). These will need equivalent capabilities on a new platform or careful planning to retire.

Next, document each workload running on VMware by a few key criteria:

• Criticality: Is it production, disaster recovery, or test/dev? What uptime is required? Prioritize protecting mission-critical apps during any migration.
• Dependency depth: How tightly is this workload coupled to VMware-specific infrastructure or tools? (For example, does it rely on a vSphere plugin, use vSAN storage, or require NSX network rules?) The more entangled it is, the more planning is needed to untangle it.
• Migration feasibility: How easy or hard would it be to move this workload? A modern stateless web app might be simple to relocate or refactor, whereas a legacy system with a complex setup or an old OS might be much harder to manage. Mark each workload as low, medium, or high effort to migrate.

This deep visibility into your footprint is the foundation of your exit strategy. By the end of Step 1, you should have a detailed map of what you have, how it all connects, and which pieces are most critical. This map will guide all subsequent planning.

Pro Tip: “You can’t exit what you can’t see — start with visibility.”

Step 2 – Identify Viable Alternatives

With a clear picture of your VMware usage, the next step is to explore realistic replacement options for each part of your stack.

There is no one-size-fits-all replacement – instead, consider several categories of alternatives and where each would fit best:

Different parts of your environment may go to different destinations. The right answer may be a mix of these – not a single switch.

For example, you might move some applications straight to public cloud VMs, shift others to a new on-prem hypervisor like Hyper-V, and refactor a few into containers.

It’s about choosing the best operational model for each workload, rather than blindly chasing any one platform.

Pro Tip: “Don’t chase a platform — chase the right operational model.”

Step 3 – Build a Multi-Year Transition Roadmap

Leaving VMware isn’t an overnight event; it’s a multi-phase journey. After identifying your targets, lay out a realistic timeline with phases. A VMware exit typically spans 2–3 years with deliberate milestones along the way.

For example, your roadmap might look like this:

By breaking the effort into phased stages, you reduce risk and manage change in digestible chunks. Early phases build the groundwork (inventory and plan), middle phases execute carefully (pilot then gradual transition), and the final phase cleans up any remaining VMware usage and solidifies the new normal.

Treat this as an ongoing program with executive visibility, not just a one-time project. Each phase should have clear goals and deliverables to measure progress.

Pro Tip: “VMware exits aren’t one-year projects — they’re two-year programs.”

Step 4 – Address Staff Skills and Training

One often-overlooked challenge in leaving VMware is the people aspect.

Your IT staff has spent years becoming experts in VMware’s tools and workflows; asking them to manage a new platform (whether cloud, a different hypervisor, or containers) is a big change.

Plan early for how you will bring your team along on the journey:

• Cross-train your VMware admins in the target environments. If you’re moving to AWS or Azure, invest in cloud training courses or certifications for your team. If you’re adopting Nutanix, Hyper-V, or KVM, ensure your admins get hands-on training and perhaps vendor-led workshops on those technologies.
• Encourage certifications and skills development for the new platforms (e.g., AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Admin, Certified Kubernetes Administrator, etc.). This not only builds competence but also confidence in managing the new environment.
• Update internal documentation and processes to reflect the new infrastructure. As the environment evolves, rewrite your runbooks, operational checklists, and architectural diagrams, and ensure the team contributes to and learns from this documentation effort.
• Retain institutional knowledge: Wherever possible, keep your best people by re-skilling them rather than replacing them. Their knowledge of your business and systems is invaluable during a transition. Offer incentives for them to stay on board (training, new career paths) so you don’t lose talent due to the change. Bringing in some outside experts or consultants for specific knowledge is fine, but pair them with internal staff to facilitate knowledge transfer.

Addressing skills early prevents a scenario where you have a shiny new platform but no one is comfortable operating it. A well-trained team will ensure the new environment runs as reliably as the old one.

Pro Tip: “The hardest part of leaving VMware isn’t tech — it’s muscle memory.”

Step 5 – Run Pilot Projects Before Full Migration

When it comes time to actually migrate off VMware, don’t jump in all at once.

Start with 2–3 small pilot projects in controlled environments to validate your plan on a small scale:

• Choose non-critical or low-risk workloads for the pilot migrations. Good candidates are dev/test environments or a subset of applications that can afford a little downtime or performance variation. These early moves are learning experiences, so you want the freedom to fail safely.
• Migrate these pilot systems to your chosen alternative platform(s) and closely evaluate the outcome. Measure performance and stability: Do the applications run as expected outside VMware? Monitor them and compare against their baseline metrics on vSphere.
• Assess management and operations in the new platform during the pilot. For example, ensure your team can perform day-to-day tasks (provisioning, backups, troubleshooting) in the new environment. Uncover any surprises in tooling or process now.
• Compare costs and resource usage on the new platform for these pilot workloads. This will validate (or adjust) your financial models. Maybe a workload uses more cloud resources than anticipated – better to find out with a small test than after a full migration.
• Refine your migration runbooks and plans based on pilot feedback. Document what worked and what didn’t. If the pilot exposed a problem (say, an application that didn’t behave correctly on Hyper-V), you can adjust your strategy – perhaps that app stays on VMware longer, or you try a different target platform for it.

Only after successful pilots and adjustments should you proceed to migrate more critical workloads. The pilot phase builds confidence for both IT staff and business stakeholders that “Yes, we can do this” without disruption.

Pro Tip: “A failed pilot costs weeks — a failed migration costs credibility.”

Step 6 – Manage Data Migration & Interoperability

Moving the workloads themselves is one challenge; moving the data and ensuring everything works together is another. Data migration and interoperability must be handled with extreme care to avoid data loss or extended downtime.

Prepare by taking these steps:

• Map all storage dependencies: Identify where all your VM disks and data reside. Are you using VMware vSAN hyper-converged storage, traditional SAN/NAS arrays, NFS mounts, or direct-attached storage? Document this for each workload. This will determine how you migrate the data (e.g,. extracting VMDK files, replicating LUNs, etc.) and ensure nothing is overlooked.
• Use migration tools with rollback capability: Leverage tools or processes that allow you to copy or replicate data ahead of the cutover, so you can fall back if needed. For example, you might use a replication tool to continuously sync VM data from VMware to the new environment, then perform a final switchover during a maintenance window. If something goes wrong, you still have the original VMware VM untouched as a fallback.
• Test VM export/import processes: Well before any big move, do a trial run with a sample VM. For instance, export a VM from vSphere (using OVF or other format) and import it into the new platform (Hyper-V, KVM, etc.), or restore a backup of a VM into the new environment. Verify that the VM boots and the application runs properly. Test preserving snapshots or consistent states if possible. This practice run can reveal format incompatibilities or configuration tweaks needed for success.
• Ensure backup and DR coverage on both sides: During the transition, some workloads will be on VMware and some on the new platform. Make sure your backup solutions can protect VMs in both environments (you might need to adopt new backup tools for the new platform or use cloud-native backups for cloud VMs). Similarly, update your disaster recovery plans for the migrated systems – if you were using VMware’s Site Recovery Manager, you may need a new DR solution for the new environment. Test restoring backups in the new environment to confirm everything works.
• Plan migrations in waves: Do not attempt to move all your data and VMs in one giant cutover. It’s far safer to migrate in multiple waves or batches (for example, by application group or business unit). After each wave, pause and validate that all systems in that batch are functioning correctly in the new environment, and that users are not experiencing issues. This staged approach limits the blast radius of any one failure and gives your team time to adjust processes as needed.

Throughout data migration, maintain strict change control and communication. All stakeholders should know which data or applications are moving when, and have confidence that there are contingency plans (like running systems in parallel or having recent backups) to prevent any data-related disaster.

Step 7 – Plan for Partial Exits (If Full Exit Is Not Feasible)

It’s important to recognize that you don’t have to leave VMware 100% to achieve benefits. In some cases, a full exit may not be feasible in the short term – and that’s okay.

Many organizations execute a partial VMware exit, greatly reducing their dependence, even if a few workloads remain on VMware for a longer period.

Here’s how to approach it:

• Adopt a dual-platform strategy: Continue running a slimmed-down VMware environment for the workloads that truly must stay (for technical or business reasons), while moving the rest to your new platforms. For example, you might keep VMware for an older legacy system that isn’t supported elsewhere or a performance-intensive database that your team isn’t ready to move yet. Everything else – especially new developments or easily portable systems – goes to the alternative environment you’ve chosen.
• Reap the benefits of a partial move: Even a partial exit will likely save costs (fewer VMware licenses and support contracts) and reduce your exposure to Broadcom’s terms. It also gives you leverage in any future VMware contract negotiations since your footprint is smaller and you have alternatives in place.
• Plan to revisit later: Treat the remaining VMware-bound workloads as candidates for future migration. Technology evolves quickly; what’s not possible to migrate today might become easier next year. Set a checkpoint in, say, 24 months to reassess those holdouts. Perhaps by then, there’s a new solution, or the legacy app can be retired or upgraded. Your VMware exit is a journey – you may pause at “mostly exited” for a while, and then eventually decide if a full exit makes sense down the road.

In summary, don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. It’s often smarter to gradually reduce VMware usage than to force a heroic, risky total exit on an arbitrary timeline. A well-managed partial exit still achieves much of the strategic goal (cost reduction, flexibility gained) with far less risk.

Pro Tip: “The smartest exits are gradual — not heroic.”

Step 8 – Ensure Business Continuity During Transition

Above all, an exit from VMware must not come at the expense of business continuity.

The goal is zero disruption to the business – your users and customers shouldn’t even notice this transformation if done right. To avoid downtime or chaos during the transition, make sure you:

• Maintain support overlap: Do not cancel VMware support or licenses as soon as you start migrating. Keep your VMware environment fully supported and intact until migrations are complete (and even a little after, for safety). Similarly, ensure you have support contracts or vendor assistance for the new platform in place. This dual-support approach guarantees that if any issue arises on either platform, you can get help immediately.
• Run both environments in parallel: There will be a period where some services run on VMware and some on the new platform – possibly with integrations between them. Monitor both environments closely. Continue regular patching, maintenance, and performance monitoring on your VMware stack while it’s still in use, and apply the same rigor to the new environment. Security and reliability must be maintained on both fronts until the old system is truly retired.
• Validate disaster recovery throughout: Update your DR plans as you migrate. For example, if half your applications are now in the cloud, can your existing DR strategy handle that? You might need interim solutions (like keeping certain VMs replicated in both environments). Periodically test failovers and backups for workloads that have moved to ensure you can meet your RTO/RPO targets. The worst time to discover a gap is during a real incident, so test during the transition.
• Communicate and coordinate: Treat the migration like a mission-critical project (because it is). Communicate status updates to leadership and stakeholders regularly – e.g., “20% of workloads migrated with no outages so far” – to build confidence. Also, coordinate with any business units before moving their applications; schedule migrations during non-peak times, and maintain an open channel for feedback in case any issues arise. This transparency prevents unpleasant surprises and helps garner support for the initiative.

By engineering continuity into every phase – overlapping support, parallel operations, thorough testing, and clear communication – you greatly reduce the risk that leaving VMware will cause any business disruption. In fact, a well-planned exit should feel almost seamless to end users and customers.

(At this point, you have assessed, planned, trained, piloted, migrated in stages, and ensured continuity. Now let’s summarize the critical steps and rules that make for a non-disruptive VMware exit.)

Checklist – Critical Steps for a Smooth VMware Exit

• Complete VMware dependency audit – Know all workloads, integrations, and licenses before you begin.
• Select target platforms and vendors – Decide where each type of workload will go (cloud, Hyper-V, etc.) and line up any vendor partnerships or tools needed.
• Build 2–3-year migration roadmap – Set a realistic timeline with phases; get organizational buy-in on the plan.
• Budget for staff retraining and tooling – Allocate funds for training your team and acquiring migration tools or new platform licenses during the transition period.
• Run pilot migrations with a rollback plan – Test the move on a small scale and ensure you can undo changes if needed.
• Validate interoperability and DR setup – Make sure everything works together (old and new) and that you can recover data/applications at all times.
• Keep dual-support active during transition – Maintain support contracts and maintenance on both environments until you’re sure you don’t need the old one.
• Plan decommissioning and contract closeout – Have a plan to safely shut down or repurpose VMware systems and to end VMware contracts at the appropriate time to avoid needless costs.

Pro Tip: “Your VMware exit plan should read like an engineering project — not a finance memo.” (In other words, focus on technical details, risk mitigation, and execution steps – not just the cost savings on paper.)

Related articles

• Mapping VMware Products to Alternatives (Feature Matrix)
• Assessing Your VMware Footprint Before Exit
• VMware Migration Timeline – Phased vs Big Bang Approaches
• VMware IT Team Retraining: Preparing for a Post-VMware World

5 Rules for a Non-Disruptive VMware Exit

1. Audit dependencies before choosing destinations. You need a complete map of your VMware footprint before you decide where things will go. Skipping this homework is a recipe for surprises later.
2. Pilot before scaling — never go “big bang.” Always do trial migrations in a safe environment. Iron out issues on a small scale to avoid a large-scale failure.
3. Train your team before flipping switches. Ensure your staff is comfortable with the new platform before you rely on it. Their expertise is what keeps systems running smoothly.
4. Keep overlap — no cold cutovers. Don’t yank the plug on VMware until the new environment is proven. Run them side-by-side for a while so you can fall back if needed.
5. Partial exits are still in progress. You don’t have to move everything to see benefits. Even moving a portion of workloads off VMware reduces cost and risk. You can always continue later.

Pro Tip: “Exiting VMware safely isn’t about leaving fast — it’s about leaving clean.” In other words, take the time to do it right. A clean, orderly transition – even if it takes longer – beats a rushed exit that could put your business at risk.

By following the steps and principles above, you can leave VMware on your terms, with your operations intact and your head held high.

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