Frequently Asked Questions.

This is not a simple yes-or-no. Some businesses can migrate workloads with minimal disruption, while others must plan significantly to minimize risk and ensure business continuity. The simplicity of migrating off VMware depends on these things:

• Size of your environment
• How many hosts are in the cluster
• Storage architecture
• Application dependencies
• Your downtime requirements
• Previous migration experience

Regardless of your environment, experience matters. A successful migration requires careful assessment, detailed planning, and a well-defined execution strategy.

* In some cases, working with a trusted partner, like Net3, whose architects and engineers have migration experience, can not only speed up the process but also reduce confusion, risk, and downtime.

After performing hundreds of migrations over the years, Acronis is typically our go-to solution for on-premise environments. Acronis is extremely flexible and supports many platforms, including alternative hypervisors, private cloud platforms, and public cloud providers.

With Acronis, businesses can choose from a variety of platforms including Proxmox, Nutanix AHV, Hyper-V, Virtuozzo, or a cloud-hosted environment that best fits their technical, operational, and financial requirements, without being locked into a single migration path.

It depends. Recent rising hardware costs and the increasing volatility of global supply chains have shifted the “refresh hardware” conversation dramatically.

Many organizations have found that moving to the cloud is more cost-effective. Cloud service providers' economies of scale on the hardware they own lead to a much more reasonable unit cost for compute resources for you as the customer.

On-premises environments do have use cases, but organizations need to closely evaluate hardware costs, availability and deliverability, performance, and compliance needs.

The most successful service providers typically standardize on as few platforms as possible. Maintaining consistency across the customer base delivers more value than supporting a wide range of hypervisors.

• On-premise clients are recommended to align with a primary virtualization platform whenever practical.
• When the cloud makes strategic or financial sense, it’s recommended to leverage a single cloud provider that is trusted to provide a consistent migration and operational experience.

If an MSP offers every available option, the support and expertise will likely be lacking. The goal isn’t to offer as many services as possible; it’s to build a repeatable, scalable strategy that delivers an exceptional experience for clients.

The greatest benefit for an MSP in partnering with a managed private cloud is that it lets MSPs standardize their cloud strategy, reduce operational complexity, avoid major infrastructure investments, and focus on delivering high-value services to clients.

The most successful MSPs recognize they don’t need to be experts in every aspect of infrastructure. By leveraging a trusted cloud partner, they gain access to experienced cloud architects, engineering resources, and proven infrastructure platforms without adding headcount or operational costs and complexity. MSPs can expand their capabilities, deliver enterprise-grade solutions, and remain their clients' trusted advisor.

*Net3 is a private cloud provider and partner that serves as an extension of an MSP’s team. We bring deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, virtualization, disaster recovery, and solution architecture to MSP service offerings. This expertise helps MSPs design and deliver solutions that align with each client’s technical, financial, and business requirements. Whether a client is evaluating a hardware refresh, a VMware alternative, a hybrid cloud strategy, or full cloud migration, Net3 works alongside the MSP to architect the right solution and support them through the process.

If your business secured a VMware renewal before the price increase and new minimum licensing requirements, you are good...for now.

If your business can't or didn’t secure a renewal, start researching VMware alternatives now – even if it’s over a year away. Many businesses didn't anticipate the 2x-3x increase in licensing costs or the new minimum commitments, and are renewing now to buy time later. That is an expensive decision when perhaps it could have been avoided.

When researching VMware alternatives, your costs should include a long-term plan. Whether the future involves another hypervisor, a public hyperscaler, a private cloud platform, or a hyperconverged infrastructure solution, businesses should evaluate their options today to avoid being forced into a rushed decision later.

* Net3 is a trusted MSP partner that can help migrate off VMware by:

• Assessing current IT environments
• Understanding business and technical requirements
• Evaluating available alternatives
• Building practical roadmaps for the future

Net3’s goal is to identify the best VMware alternative solution that best aligns with operational needs, performance requirements, growth plans, and budget objectives while ensuring a smooth transition when the time is right.

Yes. A good best practice is to assess your environment’s performance needs before approaching a vendor. If you clearly understand the performance need, designing or choosing infrastructure to meet it becomes easier. There are several options on the market that can help you avoid high-priced VMware licensing while maintaining VMware hypervisor performance.