VM Platform Ledger 2026
Ledger
VM Platform Ledger 2026
Spectro Cloud Palette VMO: VM Platform Ledger 2026 Scorecard
Spectro Cloud focuses on moving vSphere VMs onto KubeVirt. Kubernetes and fleet management are strong; its VM features trail the other KubeVirt platforms.
Edition September 30, 20268 min read
Part of the VM Platform Ledger (edition 2026-09-30). How the scores work: methodology.
Snapshot
- Type: product
- Owner: Spectro Cloud, Inc. (venture-funded, $260M raised)
- Engine: KubeVirt (release notes name v1.7; upstream is at v1.9)
- Licence: VMO free with Palette; Palette billed per node on bare metal and edge, per core-hour in cloud
- Latest release: Palette 4.10.13, 2026-09-06; VM Launchpad 4.10.13, 2026-09-25
- Next milestone: Launchpad enrolment into PaletteAI; VM-to-container conversion (both promised June 2026, no date)
- Archetype: Opportunist on thin evidence
- Evidence grade: B. Release notes read in full from the docs repo (A), but many capabilities are simply undocumented, recorded as absent (C). No price list.
Scorecard
| Dimension | Score | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Capability today | 61.9 / 100 | higher is better |
| Momentum since end of 2023 | +6.8 points | higher is better |
| Credibility | 15.0 / 25 | higher is better |
| Commercial risk | 12.5 / 25 | lower is better |
| Technical lock-in | 9.0 / 25 | lower is better |
| Integrator fit | 11.5 / 20 | higher is better |
| AI leverage | 5.5 / 20 | higher is better |
| Ledger Index | 55.3 / 100 | balanced weights; see the methodology |
Capability by domain, 2015 to today
Scores 0 to 5 against fixed anchors; total is weighted to 100.
| Domain (weight) | 2015 | 2019 | 2022 | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compute core (15) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.5 |
| Storage (12) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3 |
| Networking / SDN (10) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2.5 |
| Data protection / DR (12) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2 |
| Migration-in (8) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3 |
| GPU / AI (10) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2 |
| Kubernetes (8) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4.5 |
| Security / confidential (8) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.5 |
| Fleet / multi-site (9) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 4 |
| Automation / ecosystem (8) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 3.5 |
| Total / 100 | not released | not released | not released | 61.9 |
Year by year: 2023: 55.1 · 2024: 56.8 · 2025: 56.8 · 2026: 61.9
What moved the score
| Year | Domain | Change | Points | Trigger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Fleet / multi-site | 3.5 → 4 | +0.9 | VMO on edge clusters, two-node HA |
| 2024 | Migration-in | 2.5 → 3 | +0.8 | VM Migration Assistant web UI (Forklift) |
| 2026 | Compute core | 3 → 3.5 | +1.5 | Launchpad: CPU and memory hot-update, instance types, NUMA |
| 2026 | GPU / AI | 1 → 2 | +2.0 | Launchpad: GPU and PCI passthrough |
| 2026 | Security / confidential | 2.5 → 3.5 | +1.6 | FIPS builds, Secure Boot, TPM; SEV/TDX option when hardware supports it |
Direction, 2023 to 2026
Each release item carries one theme and one driver (V vision, C customer need, M market window, U upstream, P portfolio).
| Date | Item | Theme | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-08 | VMO GA: VMs beside containers | D8 Kubernetes | V |
| 2023-08 | vSphere migration from the command line | D5 Migration-in | M |
| 2024-01 | VMO on edge clusters | D10 Fleet/edge | V |
| 2024-06 | KubeVirt 1.2 rebase | D1 Core compute | U |
| 2024-08 | VMO air-gap production-ready | D10 Fleet/edge | C |
| 2024-09 | Memory hotplug | D1 Core compute | U |
| 2024-12 | VM Migration Assistant web UI | D5 Migration-in | M |
| 2025-02 | KubeVirt 1.4 rebase | D1 Core compute | U |
| 2025-05 | Migration Assistant in air-gapped sites | D5 Migration-in | M |
| 2025-07 | Portworx on Pure reference architecture | D11 Ecosystem openness | M |
| 2025-12 | VDDK made mandatory for migration | D5 Migration-in | M |
| 2026-01 | KubeVirt 1.7; persistent EFI | D9 Security | U |
| 2026-06 | Launchpad for VMs: standalone appliance | D10 Fleet/edge | M |
| 2026-06 | Launchpad: CPU and memory hot-update, golden images | D1 Core compute | C |
| 2026-06 | VM-to-container conversion promised | D8 Kubernetes | V |
| 2026-07 | Renamed PaletteAI VM Launchpad | D12 Packaging | P |
| 2026-09 | HA Launchpad variants; disk export | D10 Fleet/edge | C |
- Centre of gravity: Migration-in (4), Fleet/edge (4), Core compute (4)
- Blind spots (no items): Storage, Networking, Data protection, AI/GPU infrastructure, AI-assisted ops
- Driver mix: Vision 18%, Customer need 18%, Market window 35%, Upstream 24%, Portfolio 6%
- Idea-to-need index: 0.25 (0 = demand-pulled, 1 = thesis-pushed)
Credibility: 15.0 / 25
| Criterion | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Cadence | 3.5 | Minor every 3 to 6 months, patches every 1 to 3 weeks; no published lifecycle |
| Roadmap transparency | 3 | No roadmap; full release-note archive public on GitHub; VMO code not public |
| Say-do | 3 | 5 of 9 announcements shipped (4 within 4 months), 1 partial, 3 pending; few announcements |
| Velocity | 3 | Mostly incremental VM changes; Migration Assistant and Launchpad are the large items |
| Lifecycle stability | 2.5 | About 12 months of patches per minor, unpublished; engine two versions behind upstream |
Commercial risk: 12.5 / 25 (lower is better)
| Criterion | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Price and licence volatility | 2 | New delivery track and rebrand to PaletteAI in 2026; free tier retired; no price change found |
| Purchase constraints | 2.5 | VMO free but Palette required and priced per node or core-hour; no list price |
| Channel and access | 2 | Partner programme by contact form; docs open |
| Owner stability | 3.5 | Venture-funded; latest $100M round is for AI and does not mention VMs |
| Cost of staying supported | 2.5 | About 12 months per minor, no written policy |
Technical lock-in: 9.0 / 25 (lower is better)
| Criterion | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Formats | 1 | Standard KubeVirt objects and PVCs |
| Export path | 2 | Disk export exposed since Sep 2026; no exit guide |
| Stack coupling | 2.5 | Palette cluster profiles or the Launchpad appliance; any CSI storage |
| Hardware / cloud coupling | 1 | Any x86 server; SaaS optional, air-gap supported |
| Skills and tooling coupling | 2.5 | Kubernetes skills plus Palette tooling |
Integrator fit: 11.5 / 20
| Criterion | Score | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Partner programme openness | 3 | Channel, SI, MSP and alliance tracks; terms unpublished |
| Multi-tenancy and self-service | 3.5 | Palette tenants and projects; Launchpad roles and quotas; no billing |
| API and infrastructure-as-code | 3.5 | REST API, Terraform, Crossplane, Go SDK |
| Skills and certification | 1.5 | No certification programme |
AI leverage: 5.5 / 20
How the platform uses AI, scored per year like capability. Only GA counts.
| Criterion | 2019 | 2022 | Today | Latest step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI workload infrastructure | n/a | n/a | 1 | 2023: Whole-GPU passthrough only (documented for Launchpad from 2026) |
| AI platform stack | n/a | n/a | 2.5 | 2025: PaletteAI GA for containers, priced per GPU; not connected to VMs |
| AI-assisted operations | n/a | n/a | 0 | 2023: No AI for VM operators |
| Agent openness | n/a | n/a | 2 | 2023: Palette API; Palette MCP server preview without VM tools |
Year by year: 2023: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2025: 5.5 · 2026: 5.5
AI say-do, 2023 to 2026: 7 AI items announced; 4 GA, 1 still preview, 2 pending, 0 dropped. Both pending items are the ones that would link AI to VMs.
Spectro Cloud's AI investment goes to products for containers, not to its VM offering, which has GPU passthrough only. Both promises that would connect AI to VMs are still pending.
Reading
Spectro Cloud added VMs to its Kubernetes management platform in 2023 and has since focused on one job: moving vSphere VMs onto KubeVirt, first through Palette and since June 2026 through a standalone appliance. Kubernetes and fleet management are strong because they are the core product; the VM features themselves lag the other KubeVirt platforms, with an engine two versions behind and little documented DR. The company's new money is for AI, so buyers should ask how long VMs stay a priority.
Open questions and items to re-score
- Many capabilities are undocumented rather than confirmed absent (vGPU, replication, named backup vendors); scores assume absent.
- Migration only from vSphere 7 and 8 and requires Broadcom's VDDK, whose public download was removed in Aug 2026.
- No public price for Palette or Launchpad.
- The KubeVirt version in use after Jan 2026 is not stated.
Related reading
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