If you've been watching your VMware renewal quotes climb through the roof, you're not alone. Over the last year, thousands of IT teams have been blindsided by license hikes, partner reductions, and service uncertainty, and the middle market is taking the biggest hit.
The most viable VMware alternative after the Broadcom acquisition is a fully managed OpenStack Private Cloud. OpenStack delivers enterprise-grade performance, scalability, and built-in disaster recovery, often at 50% or more savings in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to the new Broadcom-VMware licensing model.
Broadcom’s acquisition has permanently reshaped the virtualization landscape by eliminating the perpetual license model and forcing customers onto costly subscription-based bundles. This shift has resulted in typical price increases of 300–400% for many clients, driven by mandatory packages that include unused features.
Compounding the issue, Broadcom’s drastic reduction of authorized VCSP partners has left thousands of mid-market clients stranded without renewal options. The result is a market urgently seeking reliable alternatives that deliver the same enterprise-grade performance, without the vendor lock-in.
Enter OpenStack, a mature, open-source cloud platform that gives IT leaders back control. For over a decade, OpenStack has quietly powered enterprise clouds for NASA, Walmart, Citibank, and countless others, and it’s now the most viable VMware migration path for mid-market organizations seeking independence and predictable pricing.
The key distinction lies in its licensing model: OpenStack is open-source with zero software licensing fees, unlike VMware’s subscription model that drives recurring costs. This freedom means OpenStack carries no vendor lock-in, as it’s built on open standards and typically leverages the KVM hypervisor, rather than VMware’s proprietary ESXi.
When it comes to scalability, OpenStack excels. There are no per-core or per-socket licensing fees, so expansion is straightforward and cost-efficient, especially for businesses expecting growth. And because infrastructure resources are fully transparent, organizations gain cost predictability through a fixed, managed monthly rate instead of unpredictable vendor pricing cycles.
TTSX offers fully managed OpenStack environments that rival or outperform comparable VMware setups, at a fraction of the cost. We leverage best-in-class, carrier-agnostic infrastructure to deliver maximum value through private, dedicated clusters with enterprise-grade performance, ransomware protection, and integrated disaster recovery.
For example:
Professional Package (Estimated $3,487/month)
Gold Package (Estimated $6,109/month)
Both packages include Automated Data Protection, providing a 4-hour Recovery Point Objective (RPO), a level of built-in resilience essential in today’s threat landscape.
OpenStack isn’t a fit for everyone, but if you’re running production workloads on VMware today, especially if your renewal is approaching, you need to know your options.
We’re seeing the strongest demand for OpenStack private cloud among:
These organizations aren’t trying to rip and replace everything, they simply want stability, transparency, and pricing predictability. OpenStack delivers exactly that.
At TTSX, we specialize in complex VMware-to-OpenStack migrations for mid-market clients, aligning with our core philosophy:
Carrier-Agnostic. Vendor-Neutral. Results-Driven.
If your VMware renewal is coming up and you want to break free from the cost spiral, let’s talk about smarter alternatives before the next invoice hits your inbox.
