How a Proxmox Private Cloud Can Cut Your Virtualisation Costs by 50% – Without Compromising Performance

For years, enterprises have relied on VMware as the gold standard for virtualisation. However, with recent licensing changes, price hikes, and increased restrictions, many organisations are finding themselves trapped in a costly cycle of vendor lock-in. CIOs, CFOs, and IT decision-makers are now asking:

Is there a more cost-effective way to maintain a high-performance private cloud without sacrificing reliability and security?

The answer is yes. Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is an enterprise-ready, open-source alternative that can deliver comparable (if not superior) performance to VMware – at a fraction of the cost.

Based on extensive discussions and comments we have reviewed from past and current VMware customers and partners, businesses are increasingly seeking alternatives due to three primary factors: skyrocketing costs, restrictive vendor lock-in, and deteriorating service quality.

1. Unmanageable Licensing Costs

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has triggered sweeping changes, resulting in massive cost increases for long-time customers. VMware, as an independent entity, no longer exists – Broadcom now dictates the entire licensing model, product direction, and sales cycle.

Key cost-related pain points include:

• Per-core pricing: Broadcom’s new model penalises businesses striving for efficiency by significantly increasing per-node costs.
• Feature restrictions: While NSX is included in VCF, advanced functionalities like stateful firewall rules are locked behind expensive add-ons.
• Subscription-only model: Perpetual licences have been eliminated, forcing businesses into recurring expenses with no ownership over their software. In Broadcom’s defence, VMware was already heading down this path and the rest of the industry is already there.
• Budget unpredictability: Many businesses have reported double or triple-digit cost increases, making long-term financial planning difficult.

2. Broadcom’s Vendor Lock-In Strategy

Beyond cost increases, Broadcom is actively making it harder for customers to transition away from VMware’s ecosystem by implementing policies that prioritise profit over customer success.

• Restrictive terms and conditions: Contracts are designed to reduce customer flexibility and discourage competitive alternatives.
• Opaque procurement processes: Pricing structures are increasingly convoluted, adding friction to licensing renewals and new purchases.
• Intentional complexity: VMware products are being bundled in ways that make partial migration more difficult, ensuring continued customer dependency.

Broadcom’s strategy is clear: they assume most IT leaders will be too risk-averse to switch, allowing them to tighten control and extract even more revenue from existing customers.

3. Declining Support and Business Operations

Broadcom’s approach to VMware’s support structure and customer service has been a major concern for enterprise IT teams:

• Outsourced, prioritised support: Only the highest-paying customers receive direct attention, while standard support has become slow and ineffective.
• Convoluted procurement processes: Licensing renewals are unnecessarily complex, leading to delays and frustration.
• Diminished customer rights: Terms and conditions have become increasingly restrictive, reducing flexibility in how organisations manage their virtualisation environments.

As service quality continues to decline, IT leaders are left with few options—pay more for sub-standard support or begin planning their exit from the VMware ecosystem.

As organisations look for an enterprise-ready alternative that provides financial predictability, flexibility, and performance, Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is emerging as a clear front-runner.

Key Advantages of Proxmox:

• ✅ Predictable, Cost-Efficient Licensing – No per-core fees, allowing enterprises to scale efficiently without financial penalties.
• ✅ Enterprise-Grade Clustering & High Availability – Built-in HA and clustering provide the resilience needed for mission-critical workloads, without requiring expensive add-ons.
• ✅ Zero-Downtime Live Migration – Seamlessly move workloads between Proxmox nodes with no impact on operations.
• ✅ Comprehensive Backup & Disaster Recovery – Native backup and recovery tools ensure business continuity at no additional cost.
• ✅ Robust Open-Source Ecosystem – Leverage an extensive ecosystem of open-source tools, including Ceph for software-defined storage, Ansible for automation, and Grafana for monitoring, to build a fully optimised private cloud. All of which Instelligence.io can assist you with.
• ✅ True Vendor Independence – Avoid vendor lock-in with full transparency and control over your infrastructure, enabling long-term strategic flexibility.

Real-World Savings: A Case Study

To illustrate the tangible benefits of migrating to Proxmox, we have documented a case study showcasing a successful transition from VMware. This case study details the cost savings, infrastructure improvements, and strategic advantages gained by adopting Proxmox as a private cloud solution.

📌 Read the full case study here: Case Study: Transforming Private Cloud Efficiency with Instelligence — Migrating from VMware to Proxmox

Migrating from VMware to Proxmox doesn’t have to be a painful process. Our structured, risk-mitigated approach ensures a seamless transition:

🔹 Phase 1: Strategic Assessment & Roadmap – We conduct a comprehensive analysis of your current VMware infrastructure, identifying cost savings, performance enhancements, and compatibility considerations. This results in a tailored migration strategy that aligns with your business objectives.

🔹 Phase 2: Pilot Deployment & Validation – A Proxmox test environment is deployed to rigorously evaluate compatibility, security, and workload performance, ensuring a seamless transition with minimal risk.

🔹 Phase 3: Controlled Phased Migration – Workloads are systematically migrated in a structured, risk-mitigated manner, prioritising uptime and operational continuity. While migrations from VMware require brief downtime, careful scheduling ensures minimal business impact.

🔹 Phase 4: Performance Optimisation & Enablement – Post-migration, we fine-tune system configurations, optimise performance, and provide hands-on training to empower your IT team with Proxmox expertise.

Instelligence: Your Proxmox Migration Partner

At Instelligence, we specialise in helping enterprises take back control of their IT infrastructure by providing:

• Proxmox Design & Deployment – Custom-built private cloud environments tailored to your needs.
• VMware to Proxmox Migration Services – Expert-led transitions with minimal disruption.
• Ongoing Management & Support – Ensure your Proxmox environment remains optimised, secure, and resilient.

VMware’s changes don’t have to dictate your IT future. Proxmox is a proven alternative that offers long-term financial and operational advantages.