VMware Freedom
Escape the licensing crisis. Gain the technical and financial framework to evaluate your options and regain control.
The 300% Price Hike is Real.
Organizations are facing dramatic cost increases and forced bundling of unneeded features. We help you engineer a strategic path forward—on your timeline, not theirs.
Hear In Balance CTO Michael Caplan break down the Broadcom licensing shift on The Balancing Act.
Discover Your Path to VMware Freedom
Not sure which strategy fits your organization? Answer 3 quick questions to identify the best approach for your infrastructure.
What is your primary infrastructure goal?
Think about where your data needs to live over the next 3-5 years.
What is your stance on the VMware ecosystem?
Are you open to alternative platforms, or heavily invested in VMware?
How do you want to manage the infrastructure?
Consider your internal IT resources and capabilities.
What is your biggest immediate financial pain point?
Identify what's driving the urgency of this evaluation.
Best For You: You need immediate cost stabilization without technical disruption.
A leaseback model converts unpredictable CapEx into predictable OpEx payments while keeping your current infrastructure intact. This buys you time to plan without the shock of renewal spikes.
Start Over
Best For You: You are ready to break free from vendor lock-in.
Your team should evaluate platforms like Nutanix or Proxmox. This path eliminates VMware licensing costs entirely but requires a systematic migration plan to ensure application compatibility.
Start Over
Best For You: Migration is too risky, but current costs are unsustainable.
You should focus on right-sizing your footprint and auditing licenses. Strategic negotiation (often with multi-year commitments) can secure better pricing without changing your tech stack.
Start Over
Best For You: You want to reduce IT overhead and offload licensing complexity.
An MSP can absorb the licensing headaches and hardware refresh cycles for you, providing infrastructure as a service with predictable monthly billing.
Start Over
Best For You: You are pursuing digital transformation and scalability.
Moving to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud eliminates the on-prem footprint entirely. This is ideal for cloud-ready applications and teams looking to adopt modern DevOps practices.
Start Over
Path A: Estate Leaseback
Flatten renewal costs immediately.
Convert unpredictable CapEx spikes into predictable OpEx. This buys you "breathing room" without a single technical change.
- No Disruption: Keep your current infrastructure exactly as-is.
- Budget Certainty: Fix costs for the next 3-5 years.
- Preserve Capital: Shift funds to innovation projects.
Path B: Modern Alternatives
End the cycle of vendor lock-in.
Move workloads to modern platforms that prioritize your ROI rather than a vendor's stock price.
- Enterprise Grade: Nutanix, Hyper-V, or Cloud-native.
- Stop Bundling: Only pay for what you actually use.
- Automated Cutover: Move with near-zero downtime.
Path C: Strategic Audit
Negotiate with hard data.
If you must stay on VMware, we provide the data needed to right-size your footprint and secure better terms.
- Right-Sizing: Eliminate ghost licenses and unneeded tiers.
- Expert Advocacy: Leverage our relationships for better terms.
- Compliance Prep: Ensure your audit data is ready and accurate.
Strategic VMware Freedom Workshop
An exclusive, vendor-independent engagement to help you evaluate your options and chart a strategic path forward. Delivered onsite at your office—or over steaks at any Capital Grille in the Chicagoland area.
Workshop Deliverables
- Current-state VMware assessment & key findings.
- Cost-benefit analysis of alternative solutions.
- Actionable migration strategy and timeline.
- Access to our technical architecture team.
Who Should Attend
Ideal for IT leadership and infrastructure teams currently running VMware who are seeking to optimize costs, improve operational efficiency, and build a long-term roadmap before their next major renewal.
Stop the Bleeding Today
Read the white paper for a deep dive into the five strategies our engineers use to save organizations millions in licensing costs.
Download White Paper (PDF)Ready for a candid 1:1? Schedule a 15-Minute Technical Discussion.
Common Concerns
How much are VMware costs actually increasing?
Many organizations are seeing increases of 300% or more due to the shift from perpetual licenses to subscription-only bundles.
What is a VMware Estate Leaseback?
A financial structure where your costs are assumed by a partner and provided back as a predictable monthly service.
Can I run alternative hypervisors on my existing hardware?
Yes. Most modern alternatives are designed to run on the same enterprise hardware you already own.