VMware to AWS Migration - The Complete Guide After Broadcom's Licensing Changes

VMware to AWS Migration - The Complete Guide After Broadcom’s Licensing Changes

This guide is written for mid-market companies, enterprise IT, and public-sector bodies running VMware estates that face a renewal decision they did not choose. We deliver these migrations for organisations under real regulatory and uptime constraints - regulated financial services, healthcare, and manufacturers running production workloads that cannot simply be switched off for a weekend.

If you need a broader AWS migration overview that is not VMware-specific, see our complete AWS cloud migration guide.

Why VMware migration became a cost decision

What Broadcom changed

Broadcom acquired VMware in November 2023 and reshaped the commercial model fast:

• Perpetual licences are gone. Everything is subscription now - you rent, you no longer own.
• Products were bundled. Individual SKUs collapsed into VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF); many customers pay for capability they do not use.
• Prices jumped. Reported increases run 2-10x at renewal, depending on the previous contract and the bundle you land in.
• Minimums rose. Core-count minimums per CPU mean smaller hosts are penalised disproportionately.

This is not a theoretical wave that has passed. Renewal dates are staggered, so new organisations hit the “our bill just doubled - what now?” moment continuously through 2027 and beyond. If your renewal is ahead of you, the time to model the alternative is before the quote lands, not after.

The parallel with Oracle

If this pattern feels familiar, it is. It is the same dynamic that drives Oracle to PostgreSQL migrations: a legacy vendor raises the cost of staying, and AWS actively funds the exit. AWS has a dedicated MAP track for VMware for exactly the same reason it has one for Oracle - moving those workloads onto AWS is strategically valuable to them, so they subsidise it. For enterprises carrying both VMware and Oracle, the two can often be funded under a single MAP engagement.

The migration paths - four ways off VMware

The first decision is not “how” but “how far.” Moving off VMware is a spectrum from lifting the whole vSphere stack onto AWS hardware (fast, but you keep VMware licensing) to leaving VMware behind entirely (more work, better economics). The right answer is usually a mix, decided workload by workload.

The distinction that trips people up: VMware Cloud on AWS is not an exit from VMware. It moves your vSphere estate onto AWS-managed bare metal - which gets you out of your own data centre quickly and with almost no re-architecture - but you keep paying VMware (now Broadcom) subscription licensing on top of the AWS host cost. It is a genuinely useful step (especially as a first move under time pressure, or to vacate a data centre whose lease is ending), but if the driver is the Broadcom bill, VMC alone does not solve it. Rehosting to EC2 with AWS MGN is what actually ends the VMware licence.

A common, pragmatic sequence: use VMC on AWS to exit the data centre fast, then rehost or modernise workload by workload off VMware once the time pressure is gone. That maps directly onto the “Relocate” then “Rehost/Replatform” strategies in our 7 Rs of cloud migration guide.

Which path for which workload

Step-by-step migration process

AWS tools for VMware migration

• AWS Application Migration Service (MGN) - the primary rehost tool. Agent-based, continuous block-level replication of VMs into EC2, with test launches before cutover. This is what moves you off VMware.
• VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC) - runs vSphere, vSAN, and NSX on AWS bare-metal hosts. HCX handles the VM migration into the SDDC. Fast data-centre exit; keeps VMware licensing.
• AWS DMS - database migration with change-data-capture for near-zero-downtime cutover. See our AWS DMS guide.
• AWS DataSync - fast, managed transfer of large file and object datasets.
• Migration Evaluator / Application Discovery Service - build the inventory, dependency map, and target-state cost model in the assessment phase.

VMware Cloud on AWS pricing - how the cost works

VMware Cloud on AWS is priced primarily per host - dedicated bare-metal instances (such as the i4i host class) that you reserve by the hour, or commit to for 1 or 3 years for a substantial discount. A single host packs a large amount of CPU, RAM, and NVMe vSAN storage, and there is a minimum host count per SDDC in production.

The practical implications for a cost model:

• VMC cost = AWS host cost + Broadcom subscription on the vSphere/VCF running on those hosts. Both meters run at once - this is why VMC is not the answer if the goal is to escape the Broadcom bill.
• Rehosting to EC2 cost = EC2 + EBS + data transfer, and no VMware licence at all. For steady-state workloads, Savings Plans or Reserved Instances bring the compute cost down 40-70% against on-demand.
• Commitment vs on-demand: 1- or 3-year commitments cut the host/instance rate sharply. For predictable estates that is the right call; for uncertain ones, on-demand while you stabilise, then commit.

The honest cost comparison is three-way: staying on new Broadcom pricing, VMC on AWS (AWS host + Broadcom), and native AWS after rehosting (no VMware licence). For most organisations whose trigger is the Broadcom increase, the native-AWS column wins clearly once the estate is stable - which is why VMC, when used, is usually a stepping stone rather than the destination. We build this comparison for your specific estate in the assessment phase; our AWS migration cost calculator gives a first-order estimate by company size.

VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts

For workloads that genuinely cannot leave your premises - data-residency rules, latency to on-site equipment, or a regulator that will not accept public cloud - VMware Cloud on AWS Outposts runs the same managed VMC stack on AWS hardware installed in your own data centre. It is a niche but real option for keeping a hybrid footprint while still consolidating onto an AWS-managed platform.

How AWS MAP funds your VMware migration

What MAP is

The Migration Acceleration Program is how AWS subsidises moving off competing platforms. It does not discount AWS services - it funds your migration partner’s fees (assessment, engineering, testing, cutover), across three phases:

The dedicated VMware track

AWS runs a VMware-specific MAP track with budgets above the standard programme - the direct analogue of its Oracle track. It exists because Broadcom’s pricing created a large pool of workloads actively looking to move, and AWS wants them. In practice that means higher funding ceilings for VMware estates and, where your Broadcom renewal date is close, “window of opportunity” incentives timed to it.

Who qualifies

• A VMware estate running on-premise, in colocation, or on VMC.
• A minimum partner-engagement value (roughly €50K+ of work) - which most real VMware estates clear comfortably.
• A target on AWS-native services (or VMC as a first stage).
• A certified MAP partner to submit the application. We handle that end to end.

What it looks like in practice

Put against new Broadcom pricing, the out-of-pocket cost after MAP is frequently less than a single year of the increased VMware subscription - which is what makes the payback period so short. If you also run Oracle, both migrations can sit under one MAP engagement.

The qualification process

1. Estate inventory - VM counts, sizing, dependencies.
2. A business-case outline - even rough Broadcom-vs-AWS numbers.
3. Your Broadcom renewal date - it sets urgency and can unlock timed incentives.
4. A conversation - we submit the MAP application on your behalf and manage the funding through to completion.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Treating VMC on AWS as the finish line. It exits your data centre, not VMware licensing. Fine as a first stage; expensive as a permanent home if the Broadcom bill was the driver.
• Lift-and-shift with no right-sizing. VMware estates are usually over-provisioned. Rehosting VMs at their old sizes carries that waste onto AWS. Right-size against real usage during stabilisation.
• Ignoring the renewal clock. MAP incentives and negotiating leverage are strongest before renewal. Starting the assessment after you have re-signed with Broadcom throws both away.
• Skipping dependency mapping. The workload that looks isolated is feeding three others. Discovery is not optional; a missed dependency is a cutover outage.
• Forgetting to decommission. The saving is only real once vSphere is switched off and the subscription cancelled. Leaving the source running “just in case” indefinitely means paying twice.

Timeline and cost by estate size

After-MAP figures assume 70-80% partner-fee coverage under the VMware track. Timelines assume MGN-based rehosting with wave cutovers; a VMC-first data-centre exit can be faster to leave the building but adds a later rehost phase to actually end VMware licensing.

Frequently asked questions

How we can help

At Devopsity we run VMware-to-AWS migrations end to end: the assessment and dependency map, the AWS landing zone, the wave-based rehost with MGN (or a VMC-first data-centre exit where that fits), the database moves with DMS, and the decommission that actually stops the Broadcom bill. As a MAP-eligible partner we submit and manage the VMware-track funding on your behalf, so 70-80% of the work is covered by AWS rather than your budget.

If your VMware renewal is ahead of you and the quote is heading the wrong way - let’s talk about your migration, while the renewal clock is still working in your favour.

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