Navigating the Virtualisation Market in Higher Education

The Virtualisation Market has undergone significant change since Broadcom acquired VMware in late 2023. Consequently, many Higher Education customers are facing difficult choices and unbudgeted costs. 

In this blog I will share Softcat's view of how this acquisition is affecting Higher Education customers, provide practical advice on how to proceed, and explore the alternative hypervisors that are available for customers who decide to migrate away from VMware. We will also highlight how Nutanix is supporting customers with brand-new Education pricing. 

Broadcom acquisition: the Softcat view 

Softcat is a VMware Pinnacle Partner; VMware’s highest level of partner accreditation. We have more dedicated VMware resources than any other UK partner, supporting a mature and growing customer base. VMware is and will remain an incredibly important and valued partner to Softcat, one whom we expect to remain as a foundational technology provider to customers in all segments. Changes in VMware’s commercial approach since its acquisition have had many benefits, including accelerated modernisation to a subscription licence model, reductions in some list prices, and the simplification of a complex portfolio. I want to be clear – Softcat believes VMware should continue to be our industry's default choice. No other platform has the same maturity, interoperability and completeness of vision and portfolio. VMware’s decades of investment and development make it credible and crucial to most organisations. 

However, it is also fair to note that since the acquisition was completed, VMware has made a number of commercial and licensing changes which are proving challenging to some customers. The most significant change affecting Higher Education is that Academic discounts have been discontinued, so most Education customers are facing a price increase at their next renewal.  

Softcat is hearing from many of our Higher Education customers who are facing these challenges and uncertainties. We understand that VMware has been a foundation of infrastructure strategy for many years, and that changing platforms is not a trivial decision. We also recognise that you may have budget constraints, technical dependencies, and operational requirements that limit your options. That is why we want to support you through this challenge by helping you understand how to make the best of your existing investment and review your options. For many customers, that will mean staying with VMware and seeking to maximise value by making full use of VMware’s market-leading technology. For some customers, it might mean changing platforms. In all cases, we want to help you make fully informed decisions that align with your strategic goals and operational needs. 

Practical advice on how to proceed 

As a leading provider of Datacentre and Virtualisation technology to the Public Sector, Softcat has a dedicated and experienced team of experts who can help you navigate the changing market. Here are some of the steps we recommend you take to assess your situation and plan your next move: 

• Evaluate the commercial impact of Broadcom's acquisition on your VMware licensing costs. Compare the costs of staying with VMware versus migrating to another platform. Consider the total cost of ownership, including hardware, software, maintenance, support, and training costs. 

• Review the alternatives to VMware that are available in the market. There are several credible options, including Microsoft's Hyper-V, Red Hat's OpenShift, and Nutanix's AHV. Each of these options has its own strengths and weaknesses, and you need to evaluate them based on your specific requirements, such as cost, performance, scalability, security, and ease of use. 

• Consider the technical challenges of re-platforming. Migrating from one platform to another is not a simple process, and it involves risks and complexities. You need to consider the compatibility of your existing applications, workloads, and hardware with the new platform. You also need to plan for the migration process, including the time, resources, and tools needed to execute it. You need to ensure that you have the skills and expertise to manage and operate the new platform. 

Softcat can help you with all these steps and more. We can provide you with advisory services from our own experts and industry analysts. We can help you with proof of concepts, pilots, and demonstrations of the alternative platforms so you can see them in action and test them in your own environment. We can also help you with the design and implementation of the migration project and provide you with ongoing support and optimisation services. We are here to help you make the best decision for your organisation and to ensure a smooth and successful transition. 

Nutanix AHV: the Softcat view 

We believe that Nutanix's AHV is one of the most realistic and credible alternatives for Higher Education customers, especially if they can migrate onto new hardware at the same time. Nutanix and Softcat have already helped several Higher Education customers migrate, most of whom made this choice prior to the Broadcom acquisition for some of the reasons below:  

• AHV is an integrated enterprise-grade hypervisor that is part of Nutanix's hybrid cloud software platform. It offers high performance, scalability, security, and reliability, and it supports a wide range of applications and workloads. It also simplifies the management and operation of your infrastructure, as you can use a single, intuitive, and web-based interface to manage your virtual machines, storage, and network. 

• AHV is free of charge for Nutanix customers. You do not have to pay any licensing or support fees for using Nutanix's AHV, as it is included in the price of its hardware and Nutanix cloud platform.  

• Nutanix is compatible with VMware. You do not have to worry about losing your existing VMware investments or skills, as AHV can coexist and interoperate with VMware. You can also use Nutanix's tools and services to migrate your VMware workloads to AHV with minimal downtime and disruption. Experienced VMware admins are likely to find Nutanix AHV to be intuitive and easy to use, as the two platforms have developed in parallel over many years. 

Nutanix Education pricing 

In recognition of the challenges being faced by Education customers, Nutanix has introduced brand-new Academic pricing to support the sector and make it easier for organisations to adopt the Nutanix platform. Nutanix’s offer, first shared on a joint webinar with Softcat and UCISA on Wednesday 10 July 2024, is as follows: 

• 20% lower pricing on new licence subscription than the average Nutanix sale price in the UK 

• Renewals on new licence subscriptions will be protected by a ‘not to exceed' of 5% increase year on year 

• Available for all Educational organisations 

• Framework agnostic 

• Available via Nutanix channel partners 

This brand-new offering is in addition to pre-existing commitments made by Nutanix to support migration from VMware to AHV: 

Learn more here: VMware to Nutanix Migration Promotion.  

What now? Get in touch with Softcat 

We hope that this blog post has given you some useful insights and guidance on how to navigate the Virtualisation Market with Softcat and Nutanix. We know that this is a complex and challenging topic, and that you may have many questions and concerns.  

Our experienced and independent team will do everything they can to help you make the best decision for your organisation and to ensure a smooth and successful transition. Whether you want to stay with VMware, migrate to Nutanix, or explore other options, we are here to support you. Please contact your Account Manager or get in touch with our Sales team, and let's start the conversation.