Goodbye VMware: How Kubernetes and KubeVirt Became the New Virtualization Power Duo

It started with a simple goodbye post. After months of planning, scripting, and late-night testing, one systems engineer clicked "Submit" on a short message that would resonate far beyond their datacenter: "We just finalized our migration from VMware to Kubernetes with KubeVirt. No more expensive licensing fees. No more middlemen. We're free." That post struck a nerve. It wasn't just one company's victory lap — it was the sound of a growing rebellion in enterprise IT. In the span of hours, hundreds of engineers, sysadmins, and architects chimed in to share their own stories: six-figure renewals canceled, 400% price hikes ignored, entire virtualization stacks being rebuilt on open platforms. This wasn't a quiet shift; it was a loud one. For two decades, VMware had been the gold standard of virtualization. But with Broadcom's acquisition and its aggressive licensing overhaul, many longtime customers began to see the brand less as a partner and more as a landlord. The result? A mass migration — not to another proprietary hypervisor, but to Kubernetes and KubeVirt. ## The breaking point For many, the math stopped making sense. One user described it bluntly: "Our licensing went from £80k per month to £400k. You'd think a £1M-per-year customer was worth keeping happy, but clearly not." Another said their VMware renewals had doubled every year for three years straight — until their small team finally gave up and moved to Proxmox. And then there was the big one: "Our licensing cost is now $0. We spent about six months building our own management tools, but everything runs on Kubernetes now. We control the stack." There's a quiet power in that last line — we control the stack. It's a sentiment that's becoming increasingly rare in enterprise IT, where licensing restrictions, subscription lock-ins, and bundled "mandatory support" have left many teams feeling boxed in. VMware's changes under Broadcom, particularly the forced transition to subscription-only models and the consolidation of product tiers, were seen by many as the final straw. As one admin put it, "They called our bluff, and we left. Just like that, they lost a seven-figure license renewal." ## From virtual machines to virtual freedom For years, VMware had the edge because it made virtualization elegant. It turned complex infrastructure into something visual, manageable, and dependable. But that came at a cost — one that, by 2025, had ballooned into an unsustainable line item. In contrast, Kubernetes and KubeVirt promise something different: freedom and flexibility. Kubernetes has already transformed how the world runs applications — orchestrating containers at scale, providing native resiliency, and abstracting away hardware in a way that made developers' lives easier. KubeVirt, on the other hand, extends that same philosophy to virtual machines. It lets you run both containers and traditional VMs on the same infrastructure, managed through the same API layer. In other words: you don't have to choose between modern containerized workloads and the legacy applications that still run your business. For many, that hybrid capability is the sweet spot. "We can run containerized workloads on the same metal as the VMs," one engineer said. "Fine-grained resource control, tight segmentation — and no license fees hanging over our heads." It's not magic. It's just modern design. ## The hidden cost argument One commenter pushed back: "Sure, your licensing cost is zero, but you spent six months of man-hours. That's not free." It's a fair point — migrations are expensive, both in time and talent. But others were quick to respond with a more pragmatic view. "We're already paying those engineers full time," another replied. "Instead of maintaining VMware, they're modernizing the environment. If that saves us millions in renewals, it's a win." That's the underlying economic shift in motion. The cost of expertise is no longer the blocker it once was — because the alternative is simply worse. In a world where a 400% license hike is "just business," internal investment in open infrastructure starts to look like a bargain. ## The cultural shift: from vendor loyalty to open control Perhaps the most striking thread across all these migrations wasn't technical, but cultural. For decades, VMware was synonymous with stability and innovation. Engineers earned their VCP badges like honor medals; entire communities formed around the ecosystem. VMUGs (VMware User Groups) were places to network, learn, and share ideas. Now, those same communities are rallying around open platforms instead. Proxmox, OpenShift Virtualization, and KubeVirt are the new playgrounds. "I'm saddened by the state of VMware today," one longtime user wrote. "It was such a great resource early in my career. Now it's gone to pure corporate greed. Good things never last, I guess." That line carries more emotion than most tech conversations ever do. Because it's not just about servers and hypervisors — it's about trust. When a vendor that built its empire on community starts treating customers like line items, people notice. And when those people also happen to be the ones keeping the world's infrastructure running, they take their talent (and their budgets) elsewhere. ## KubeVirt: the quiet disruptor KubeVirt isn't flashy. It doesn't have the marketing machine of VMware or the slick enterprise packaging of Nutanix. But it's quietly becoming one of the most talked-about technologies in infrastructure circles. At its core, KubeVirt allows operators to define, deploy, and manage virtual machines as Kubernetes resources. That means: - You can manage VMs and containers in one unified control plane. - You gain declarative infrastructure (no more manual tweaks). - You can version-control your infrastructure using YAML or GitOps pipelines. - And it's open source — meaning your roadmap is your own. Migration tools like Forklift (by the KubeV2V community) are even making the once-daunting process of moving VMs to Kubernetes surprisingly manageable. One engineer linked it directly in the thread: "Check out Forklift — https://github.com/kubev2v/forklift.github.io" This shift toward DIY, open infrastructure isn't about saving a few bucks; it's about owning your destiny. ## The new hybrid normal Despite the growing exodus, not everyone is ditching VMware completely. Some are taking a hybrid approach — running critical legacy workloads on their existing clusters while building new projects on Kubernetes or KubeVirt. "We have 300+ VMs we migrated to Proxmox," one user explained. "But we kept our pure storage active-active systems in place during the transition. The key is planning." Others are exploring Hyper-V or OpenStack, proving that the future of virtualization isn't monolithic. It's flexible, federated, and deeply pragmatic. "We're not against VMware," said one admin. "We're just against being cornered." That's the theme echoing across IT circles now — choice. For years, "virtualization" meant VMware. But in 2025, the conversation has evolved. It's about agility, cost transparency, and integration with cloud-native ecosystems. Kubernetes and KubeVirt are not just alternatives; they're signs that the market itself has matured beyond its first generation. ## Broadcom's gamble — and what it cost To be fair, Broadcom's strategy isn't random. By focusing on high-value enterprise customers (think finance, government, and defense), it's chasing predictable revenue and stability. The problem? That approach leaves thousands of small-to-medium enterprises — the very backbone of VMware's historic success — feeling abandoned. One user put it best: "Broadcom doesn't care unless you're one of their top 10% of sales. Everyone else can go." And they are going — to Proxmox, to Hyper-V, to KubeVirt. The irony is painful: VMware once made IT simpler and more democratic. Now, it's driving that same community into the arms of open-source competitors. ## What the future looks like The long-term implication of this shift is more profound than it appears. By moving to Kubernetes and KubeVirt, organizations are effectively merging two previously separate worlds: virtualization and orchestration. That convergence opens the door to: - Unified management of all workloads — legacy or modern. - Easier automation and CI/CD integration. - Lower operational costs through standard tooling. - True portability — from on-prem to cloud, or anywhere in between. The new infrastructure stack isn't just open; it's composable. And that's exactly what modern IT teams want. One user summed it up simply: "Having full control over your environment — not being tied to a vendor who can screw you overnight — is invaluable." ## Goodbye VMware, hello independence No one can deny VMware's impact. It shaped the last 20 years of enterprise computing. But every era ends, and this one is ending with a clear message: the future belongs to the flexible. The companies leaving VMware aren't anti-enterprise — they're anti-dependence. They're tired of paying for stability when innovation can be self-built. They've realized that open infrastructure isn't a risk anymore; it's the new standard. As one commenter wrote, almost wistfully: "It feels weird to ditch vSphere. You realize how many proprietary features you took for granted. But still — f*** Broadcom." There's frustration, yes. But also empowerment. Kubernetes and KubeVirt are giving organizations something VMware hasn't offered in years: control, transparency, and choice. And maybe that's the real story here — not a breakup, but a rebirth. ## The bottom line: VMware didn't lose customers because its technology failed. It lost them because it stopped listening. Kubernetes and KubeVirt are stepping in not just as tools, but as symbols of a broader truth — that IT teams would rather build their own future than rent it from someone else.