A customer tells you they want off VMware.
They have seen the headlines, looked at the latest renewal, and decided it is time to evaluate Nutanix, Proxmox, public cloud, or another virtualization platform. The opportunity appears straightforward: help them select an alternative and build the migration plan.
But what if leaving VMware isn’t actually the best answer?
A platform move is risky, time-consuming, and expensive. And the incumbent has enormous power simply because the customer already knows how to run it.
Before investing months in a replatforming strategy, partners should ask a more detailed question: How can the customer improve cost, operations, and accountability without taking on unnecessary replatforming risk?
Because the real choice isn’t simply to renew VMware or replace it. There is a fourth option that lets the customer keep the platform while changing the economics and operating model around it.
Assumption 1: Reducing VMware means leaving VMware
Follow the numbers, not the headlines.
A 2026 CloudBolt survey found that while 86% of respondents were actively reducing their VMware footprint, only 4% had completely replaced VMware. That 86% is not necessarily an exit signal. It is a realignment signal.
Customers are adopting SaaS applications, retiring or rationalizing legacy applications, consolidating platforms, and becoming more disciplined about cost. Every IT leader is being asked to eliminate waste.
The 4% tells an equally important story. Only a small minority has fully replaced VMware. Most customers are reshaping their environments while continuing to run critical workloads on the incumbent platform.
That is thoughtful workload realignment, not a mass exodus.
This distinction matters. If the only option a broker brings to the table is an exit, even when that is what the customer initially requests, the broker may spend months building a deal that never closes.
Assumption 2: The alternative story won’t change
Historically, most VMware customers bought vSphere rather than the full VMware Cloud Foundation stack. That tells us something important: Many customers may not be reacting to the technology itself. They may be reacting to price, packaging, and uncertainty.
If the commercial equation changes, the alternatives do not suddenly become bad. They simply lose the easiest part of their pitch: the customer’s desire to escape. A platform move is still risky, time-consuming, and expensive. The incumbent still has the tools, integrations, operating knowledge, and ecosystem the customer already knows.
That is the signal brokers should not miss.
If an alternative only wins when the incumbent is priced out of the conversation, it is not a durable strategy. It is an arbitrage opportunity built on commercial pain.
DIY Nutanix, Proxmox, and public cloud all have legitimate use cases, but none is a silver bullet.
Don’t spend months building a replatforming case that depends entirely on today’s price gap remaining in place. Keep the customer’s familiar platform, a managed VMware option, and the alternatives in the decision set until the economics and requirements are clear.
Assumption 3: There are only three paths forward
Most VMware conversations eventually narrow to three options: renew, replatform, or move to the public cloud. There is another.
The customer’s choices are broader:
- Renew Broadcom as quoted and accept the status quo.
- Replatform to DIY Nutanix or another virtualization stack.
- Move to the public cloud.
- Bring in 11:11 Systems without replatforming.
That fourth option matters because the migration can be replication, not reinvention. The customer keeps the VMware platform, tools, integrations, and ecosystem they already know and value. 11:11 brings a managed private cloud operating model, right-sizing, accountability, and a better economic conversation.
The customer keeps what works while changing the cost and operational model around it.
This is the conversation a Technology Broker should lead. Start with the status quo as the baseline. Then show what changes if the customer keeps the platform but removes unnecessary cost and operational burden.
Assumption 4: Replatforming is automatically less expensive
A useful comparison doesn’t begin with a like-for-like resource assignment. That approach can carry unnecessary infrastructure and years of accumulated waste directly into the next proposal.
Consumption analysis and migration discovery provide a more credible view of what the customer actually needs. That means identifying what doesn’t belong, including unnecessary replication machines, controllers, stranded capacity, and assumptions inherited from an export.
The results can be counterintuitive.
DIY Nutanix can lose on hard costs over a 60-month view, while public cloud can introduce a significant premium for steady-state infrastructure.
The answer isn’t that VMware always wins. The answer is to model the workload honestly, account for the cost and risk of moving, and give the customer a path that doesn’t require an unnecessary leap.
For some customers, replatforming will be the right decision. Others may benefit from moving to the public cloud. And some may be better served by keeping VMware and changing how the environment is sized and managed.
A replatforming project or public cloud migration can require new architecture, new tools, staff training, application testing, and remediation before the customer sees measurable improvement. With 11:11 Managed VMware-based Cloud, the customer can preserve their VMware environment, replicate workloads rather than rebuild them, and begin operating in a managed model sooner. This is also where faster time-to-value becomes one of the biggest advantages of keeping VMware but changing the operation model.
The savings matter, but speed matters too. The customer can reach predictable costs, stronger accountability, and a more resilient operating model without waiting for a multi-phase platform transformation to finish.
The customer should see all four options before deciding.
Before you build the exit, bring the opportunity to 11:11
Before you spend months building the exit strategy, bring the opportunity to your 11:11 Systems Channel manager.
11:11 can help evaluate the customer’s current environment, analyze actual consumption, identify opportunities to right-size the workload, and compare the available paths.
Recent wins make the comparison tangible.
In a recent customer use case, a planned $350,000 Dell server refresh had ballooned into a $1.5 million quote. A five-year total-cost comparison across production, Cohesity, colocation, VMware, and Microsoft licensing projected more than $1.5 million in savings with 11:11’s like-for-like VMware IaaS and cloud-to-cloud DR approach. The customer avoided a hardware refresh and replatforming while moving toward a managed operating model.
In another example of a healthcare client, a DIY Nutanix or hyperconverged option was approximately $250,000 more expensive over 60 months. A hyperscaler option was approximately $2.1 million more expensive even before adding backup or disaster recovery. The customer chose 11:11’s Managed VMware IaaS and DRaaS to keep the familiar environment while reducing disruption, execution risk, and cost.
The comparison also showed the importance of looking beyond a single infrastructure line item: production hosting alone was compared at about double with another provider versus approximately half the cost for 11:11’s combined IaaS, DRaaS, and BaaS.
Maybe the customer should replatform. Maybe they should move to the public cloud. Or maybe the better answer is keeping VMware and changing the operating model around it.
The point is to know before you build the exit.
A partner’s role isn’t to push the customer toward an exit. It’s to protect the customer from an unnecessary one while creating a practical path to improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are most VMware customers completely leaving the platform?
No. A 2026 CloudBolt survey found that while 86% of respondents were actively reducing their VMware footprint, only 4% had completely replaced VMware. Many customers are realigning their environments while continuing to run critical workloads on VMware.
Why are customers evaluating VMware alternatives?
Customers may be reacting to price, packaging, and uncertainty rather than dissatisfaction with VMware technology itself. Understanding what is driving the request can help determine whether replatforming or moving to public cloud is actually necessary.
What is the fourth option for VMware customers?
The fourth option is bringing in 11:11 Systems without replatforming. The customer keeps the VMware platform, tools, integrations, and ecosystem while moving to a managed private cloud operating model with right-sizing and faster time-to-value.
Does moving to 11:11 require rebuilding the customer’s environment?
Not necessarily. The migration can be replication rather than reinvention. Consumption analysis and migration discovery help determine what needs to move, what can be removed, and how the environment should be sized.
Who should partners contact about a VMware opportunity?
Partners should contact their 11:11 Channel Manager. The 11:11 team can help assess the environment, compare the available options, and determine whether a managed VMware model fits the customer’s requirements.
Additional Resources:
- 11:11 VMware Transition Program Video
- Navigating VMware Uncertainty Webinar
- Blog – VMware Renewal Coming Before You’re Ready?
- Blog – How 11:11 Systems Keeps You Moving Forward with Broadcom VMware
