VMware exit and Azure Local
Move off VMware on a plan that meets your renewal date.
Broadcom's move to subscription bundles has turned many VMware renewals into a cost problem with a deadline. We place every workload where it belongs, build the target platforms as code and migrate in waves that keep applications working.
Start with a VMware exit readiness assessment
Where each workload should land
Most estates don't have one right destination. The answer is usually a split, decided workload by workload:
- Public Azure for general-purpose servers, burst and anything that benefits from platform services
- Azure Local for systems that need to stay on site: latency-sensitive applications, plant and site systems, and data that has to remain local
- Azure VMware Solution as a bridge for a defined period, when a workload can't be rebuilt before the renewal
- Retirement for the servers nobody can explain, which every inventory finds
How it runs
- Readiness: an inventory, dependency map and disposition for every workload, with costs compared and a plan worked back from the renewal date. This is the VMware exit readiness assessment, or it is built into the project.
- Platform build: the Azure landing zone and Azure Local clusters designed, built as code, secured, backed up and monitored before the first workload moves.
- Migration waves: a pilot first, then waves in dependency order, each tested with application owners and each with a rollback path.
- Decommission: VMware hosts retired as waves finish, so the renewal covers as little as possible, or nothing.
- Handover: runbooks, diagrams and code in your repository, with the option of North Ark operating the new platforms under Managed Engineering.
Azure Local, done properly
Azure Local brings Azure management to hardware in your own sites, but it is a different platform from VMware. Nodes come from Microsoft's validated catalogue, storage resiliency uses raw capacity differently, updates run node by node, and storage networking needs switches configured for it. We size clusters from measured utilisation, with room for a node to be out for maintenance, and confirm the network design before hardware is ordered.
Keeping the lights on during the move
- Backup and DR stay intact throughout, with restores tested on the new platforms before the old ones are retired
- Identity, DNS and network paths are designed once for both platforms, so applications keep resolving and authenticating
- Change windows are agreed with application owners, whose availability usually sets the pace
- Licensing for the new platforms, including Windows Server guests, is settled before build
If the date is too close
When the work back from the renewal date shows the migration can't finish in time, the plan says so early. Options include a shorter renewal term, renewing fewer hosts, or bridging a subset of workloads through Azure VMware Solution while the rest are rebuilt.
Questions buyers ask
Is Azure Local a straight replacement for VMware?
It replaces the hypervisor for workloads that need to stay on site, but it operates differently: hardware, networking, updates and support boundaries all change. We design for those differences rather than copying the VMware layout.
Can we reuse our existing hardware?
Sometimes. Azure Local needs validated hardware, so existing servers can only be reused if they match a supported configuration. The readiness work checks this before anything is ordered.
How long does a VMware exit take?
It depends on the size of the estate, the dependencies and how quickly application owners can test. The readiness plan gives a dated timeline. For a mid-sized estate it is usually measured in quarters.
Do you supply the hardware?
We specify and size it. You buy it from your preferred OEM or distributor, so the hardware relationship stays with you.
Can you run the new platforms afterwards?
Yes. The new Azure and Azure Local platforms can move into Managed Engineering once the migration is finished, run by the engineers who built them.
What if we decide to stay on VMware for some workloads?
That can be the right answer for a period. The plan shows what staying costs and how to keep the remaining footprint as small as possible.
Start a conversation
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