VMware: A Traditional Licensing Model in a SaaS World

      by Wyatt Walter

With our economy closing in around us, companies are investigating ways to save money and improve efficiencies. Startups that are looking for VC are struggling to find cash to front projects that involve IT projects. One way to conserve costs is to virtualize infrastructure to get the most of hardware purchases. VMware has been considered by many to be king of virtualization. However, VMware’s cost of entry is extremely high. A startup can get into the VMware ESX line with a starter pack which allows for 6 CPU’s, virtual center, and 3 years of support for $20,000. That’s actually an incredible deal when you go try to buy that software retail with machines from an OEM. Unfortunately for VMware, an organization can get into virtualization using Amazon’s EC2 service or other cloud computing provider for a much lower cost per machine. Perhaps a subscription-based model could allow for a lower point of entry for organizations into the VMware architecture? The technology is great but so far their licensing hasn’t adjusted to the way the market is moving. Even Steve Ballmer harped on VMware for its pricing model. Of course, they do offer the ESXi version of their software for free, but it doesn’t allow you to hook into a SAN or migrate guests between VMware hosts.

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Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (0) : Nov 17th, 2008

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