“Negative” views of Broadcom driving thousands of VMware migrations, rival says

Nutanix’s claim: big wins, bigger numbers

It has been reported that Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami told attendees at the company’s .NEXT conference in Chicago that “about 30,000 customers” have migrated from VMware to Nutanix. That figure — allegedly driven by dissatisfaction with Broadcom’s stewardship of VMware after the 2023 acquisition — is the headline-grabber. Nutanix also reportedly said the quarter produced its “strongest quarterly new logo additions in eight years.” Bold claims. Worthy of scrutiny.

Why customers are (allegedly) leaving

Industry reporting says the move away from VMware is being driven by familiar complaints: rising costs, enforced product bundling, the end of perpetual licenses, and a thinning channel after Broadcom’s shakeup. Small- and medium-sized businesses are said to be hit hardest; VMware’s pivot toward enterprise customers has allegedly left many shops feeling priced out or boxed in. The emotional core here is plain — customers who once felt locked into a platform now feel trapped and unhappy. Who wouldn’t look for the exits?

Anecdotes and rivals circling the pool

It has been reported that Nutanix executives pointed to named migrations — Western Union has been moving 900–1,200 applications across about 3,900 cores, The Register reported — and to other large wins like a South Korean theme park and an unnamed 100,000-core migration. Other players are smelling opportunity: Microsoft’s Hyper-V, Proxmox and others have been actively courting disgruntled VMware customers. Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware in November 2023 looms over all of this; perception matters, and negative sentiment can be contagious.

What to watch next

These are vendor claims and customer anecdotes, not an audited tally, so take the round numbers with a grain of salt. Still, the story taps into a broader trend: consolidation, rising software costs, and a market hungry for alternatives. Will the departures reshape virtualization’s landscape? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just another quarter of vendor chest-thumping. Either way, expect more customers to test the waters — and more rivals to shout about it from the rooftops.

Sources: arstechnica