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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →A 2026 survey found that 90% of respondents at VMware user organizations are considering alternatives to VMware because of higher licensing costs. That is a measure of stated consideration, not a count of companies that have left. The survey was commissioned by Rimini Street, which sells third-party support for VMware and other enterprise software, so the numbers are best read with that in mind.
What the survey reports
The 2026 IT Virtualization Survey, titled “What’s Next for VMware Users,” was conducted by Unisphere Research in partnership with Rimini Street. It surveyed 269 executives, managers and professionals at VMware user organizations between December 2025 and February 2026. Every respondent was a current VMware user when surveyed. (Ars Technica described the sample as roughly 300 organizations. The release’s figure of 269 respondents is the more precise one.)
| Finding | Share of respondents |
|---|---|
| Considering alternatives to VMware because of higher licensing costs | 90% |
| Cite the end of perpetual license support as another reason to evaluate options | 54% |
| Name cost savings a top virtualization-roadmap priority | 73% |
| Considering a multiple-hypervisor strategy | 60% |
| Favor a hybrid environment of hypervisors and containers | 47% |
| Do not currently plan to move any assets to VMware Cloud Foundation | 48% |
| Using or considering third-party support | 66% |
Why interest in leaving is not the same as leaving
Respondents also reported what is slowing them down. These barriers explain why a 90% “considering” figure does not translate into an immediate wave of migrations:
- Operational complexity: 40%
- Multi-vendor management challenges: 38%
- Security concerns from an increased attack surface: 37%
- Team skills requirements: 37%
Cost pressure pushes organizations to look around. Staff skills, tooling and the risk of disrupting mission-critical systems pull the other way. The two lists are the heart of the story: the same teams that want lower bills are wary of the work and risk of moving.
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What organizations say they are considering
Multiple hypervisors
Sixty percent are weighing a multiple-hypervisor strategy. That means running more than one platform instead of swapping VMware for a single replacement. It fits the multi-vendor management worry above, since each added platform adds tooling and skills overhead.
Hybrid virtualization and containers
Forty-seven percent favor combining hypervisors with containers. These are stated preferences. The survey does not show how many have deployed such an environment.
Staying off VMware Cloud Foundation
Forty-eight percent do not currently plan to move any assets to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). That is a statement about current plans, not a final decision.
Third-party support
Sixty-six percent are using or considering third-party support. The reasons cited were security (60%), installation and implementation support (57%) and service and support concerns (54%). Rimini Street sells this kind of service, so this is the figure where the sponsor’s commercial interest is most direct. Treat it as a data point on demand, not as an endorsement.
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What the survey cannot tell you
- It does not show what share of all VMware customers plan to leave, or how many have actually migrated.
- It does not measure realized savings.
- The accessible methodology text gives no sampling frame or margin of error, so it should not be treated as a representative census of VMware customers.
- It does not compare named alternative products or recommend one.
- Respondents were all current VMware users, so the results say nothing about organizations that have already left.
A practical way to weigh your own options
The survey documents concerns but not product-by-product results, so any comparison has to come from your own environment. These are the axes that map onto the concerns respondents raised:
| Axis | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| Total licensing and support cost | What is the full multi-year cost, including support and migration work? |
| Operational complexity and skills | Does your team have the skills, or is training or hiring needed? |
| Security and support coverage | Who patches and supports each platform, and how is the attack surface affected? |
| Workload compatibility | Which applications depend on VMware-specific features? |
| Migration disruption and continuity | Can critical systems move in phases without downtime risk? |
| Vendor dependence | Does the option reduce reliance on one provider or just shift it? |
The analyst’s reading
Joe McKendrick, lead analyst at Unisphere Research, said in the announcement: “The shift for current VMware users is not simply about replacing one vendor with another. It reflects a broader effort by enterprises to reduce dependency on a single provider, maintain continuity for mission-critical systems and modernize at a pace that fits their own business requirements.”
He added: “For many organizations, that means balancing support for existing environments with new investments designed to improve resilience, security and scalability over time.”
In practice, the survey describes organizations hedging: keeping existing VMware environments running, often with outside support, while testing other platforms at a pace their teams can handle.
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