VMware releases vSphere Express for virtualization on up to 128 cores

VMware has announced vSphere Express, a lower-end virtualization offering for organizations that need cost-effective essential virtualization. The release follows reports that many small and midsize business customers felt pushed toward VMware Cloud Foundation, the flagship private cloud bundle that includes features many do not need and is expensive. TD Synnex lists vSphere Express at $9,600 a year for use on up to 128 cores, with no cheaper price for fewer cores.

What vSphere Express includes

It includes basic capabilities such as vMotion for live migration of running virtual machines with improved migration speed and efficiency, and high availability for automated restart of failed virtual machines. The product only supports discrete instances, and organizations will not be able to manage them centrally, according to Prashanth Shenoy, VP of product marketing for VCF. Shenoy said VMware started listening to lower-end customers who did not want VVF but wanted core virtualization capability. Whereas vSphere Standard has not seen a meaningful update in years, vSphere Express will be updated as frequently as VCF and VVF are.

Pricing and positioning

A VMware spokesperson said the company will sell a per-core subscription license at a price significantly lower than VVF and VCF, but would not provide a price quote. IT distributor TD Synnex lists vSphere Express as costing $9,600 a year for running on up to 128 cores. The price does not get cheaper with fewer cores, which still presents a challenge to the smallest use cases. Some customers reported that VMware sales representatives previously told them vSphere Standard was not available anymore.

Winning back smaller customers

Returning focus to a streamlined low-end virtualization product is an about-face for VMware, which has largely focused on enterprise-size customers since Broadcom's takeover. This focus shift has been evident as the company reduced the number of channel partners it works with, bundled its product lineup into a small number of expensive SKUs, and canceled plans to take its biggest clients direct. While VMware has been financially successful under Broadcom, vSphere Express suggests Broadcom may worry about losing business from smaller organizations and that its changes are pushing customers of various sizes to explore their options.

Migration concerns remain

Migrating off VMware can be very costly and time-consuming, making matters particularly complicated for SMBs. For organizations that cannot currently juggle a migration alongside other projects and have limited resources, vSphere Express can be a much simpler and more easily attainable solution than changing virtualization platforms. Some SMBs, including thousands of firms that have already migrated to VMware rivals and firms whose preferred resellers no longer work with VMware, will be much harder to sway. Nick Watson, chief technologist at UK-based tech advisory firm C4C Group, said Express exists because customers looked at VCF, did the sums, and started packing, calling it Broadcom putting a door back on the building. A Reddit user said last week in response to details shared about vSphere Express that Broadcom has lost all credibility and that they have two more locations to migrate off VMware. Dean Colpitts, CTO of Canadian managed services provider and former VMware partner Members IT Group, said that even though migrating to the new low-end virtualization offering may be easy, Broadcom has already shown both customers and partners they cannot be trusted.

Sources: Ars Technica