Introduction

Did you know that VMware customers are facing licensing cost increases of up to 300-500% following Broadcom's acquisition with many organizations given as little as 90 days to renegotiate or find an alternative?

Over the past few decades, VMware has been the backbone of enterprise virtualization. From powering private clouds and enabling high availability to providing the better control for infrastructure teams, VMware has become inevitable part of cloud modernization.

But the economics have changed dramatically due to dynamic licensing models, cost escalations, portfolio restructuring and uncertainty in the long-term roadmap alignment, forcing organizations to wrestle with isn’t whether to move. The strategic question is “Should we lift-and-shift out of VMware quickly — or take this opportunity to replatform your workloads and modernize architecture properly?”

Both paths are valid. Both carry risk. And choosing the wrong one — or executing the right one poorly — can set an organization back by years.

This blog breaks down the decision clearly, so your team can move with confidence rather than pressure.

Understanding the Two Paths: What Each One Actually Means

Lift-and-Shift: Speed with Continuity

A lift-and-shift migration moves your existing VMware workloads to the cloud with minimal changes to the underlying application architecture. The VMs go up, the applications run as they did before, and your teams operate in a familiar environment.

Azure VMware Solution (AVS) is purpose-built for exactly this scenario. It provides a fully managed VMware environment, running VMware vSphere, vSAN, and NSX natively on Azure dedicated infrastructure, allowing organizations can migrate without retooling applications or retraining teams on a new stack.

• Migration timeline is significantly shorter – from weeks to months rather than quarters
• Operational disruption is minimal, allowing teams continue working with familiar VMware tooling
• Applications require no rearchitecting before migration
• Licensing costs shift from Broadcom to Microsoft, often at a more predictable rate
• Azure-native services such as security, monitoring, backup can be layered on incrementally.

For organizations under licensing pressure with complex, interdependent workloads, AVS is often the smartest immediate move. It buys time, eliminates the Broadcom dependency, and opens the door to modernization on a timeline that the business can manage.

Re-platforming: Modernization with Greater Long-Term Return

Re-platforming takes a different approach. Rather than moving VMs as-is, it involves rearchitecting workloads to take advantage of cloud-native services — containers, managed databases, serverless compute, and platform services that eliminate the need for VM management entirely.

Done right, re-platforming delivers significant long-term benefits: lower infrastructure overhead, better scalability, and closer alignment between application architecture and business requirements. But it takes longer, requires deeper engineering effort, and introduces complexity that lift-and-shift avoids.

• Best suited for applications that are already due for modernization
• Requires thorough workload assessment before migration begins
• Higher upfront investment — in time, expertise, and testing
• Greater long-term ROI for applications with variable scale requirements
• Riskier without experienced architectural guidance

Re-platforming is suitable for the right workloads. The only risk comes from applying it indiscriminately, treating every workload as a modernization candidate when some are better served by a stable, proven migration path.

Hybrid strategy is the smart solution for enterprises under licensing pressure; Lift-and-shift critical workloads immediately using Azure VMware Solution (AVS), then re-platform selectively based on business priority rather than infrastructure urgency.

Why Azure VMware Solution Is the Right First Move for Most Organizations

Microsoft's Azure VMware Solution was designed in collaboration with VMware specifically to make enterprise migration viable without forcing organizations to abandon what works. It is the only hyperscaler solution that runs VMware technology natively, not emulated, not abstracted, but the actual VMware stack on dedicated Azure bare-metal infrastructure.

For organizations looking to exit Broadcom's licensing model without taking on architectural risk, AVS offers a uniquely low-friction path:

No Application Changes Required

Workloads that run on VMware on-premises run identically on AVS. There is no application refactoring, no compatibility testing, and no retraining of development teams on new runtime environments. The migration is an infrastructure move, not an application overhaul.

Familiar Operations Model

IT teams continue using the VMware tools they already know such as vCenter, vSphere, NSX, so operational continuity is maintained from day one. There is no productivity cliff as teams learn new management paradigms mid-migration.

Native Integration with Azure Services

Because AVS runs within Azure, organizations gain immediate access to Azure-native capabilities such as Azure Monitor, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Backup, and the full Azure networking stack without needing to rearchitect applications first. This is where the long-term value of the Azure ecosystem begins to compound.

A Realistic Path to Future Modernization

AVS is the right starting point for organizations that need to move quickly and safely. Once workloads are stabilized in Azure, teams can assess modernization opportunities on a deliberate timeline, prioritizing the applications where cloud-native architecture delivers the most business value.

The Hidden Risk No One Talks About: Poor Workload Assessment

Whether you choose lift-and-shift or re-platforming, the most common cause of migration failure is insufficient assessment before the migration begins.

Organizations frequently underestimate the interdependencies between workloads, the latency sensitivity of certain applications, the compliance requirements that govern specific data, and the licensing implications of moving certain software to cloud infrastructure.

A migration that begins without a thorough workload assessment almost always surfaces these issues mid-flight — at precisely the moment when reversing course is most expensive and disruptive.

• Which workloads are truly VMware-dependent vs. migration-ready?
• What are the latency and performance requirements of each application?
• Are there third-party licensing constraints that affect cloud deployment?
• Which workloads carry regulatory or compliance obligations that shape migration design?
• What is the true cost of downtime if a migration window runs long?

These are the questions that must be answered before a single VM moves. Getting them right is the difference between a migration that delivers on its promise and one that creates new operational debt while solving a licensing problem.

How iLink DIGITAL Helps You Make the Right Call

iLink Digital has guided organizations through complex infrastructure migrations for over two decades. As a Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider, we bring both the technical depth and the operational experience to design VMware exit strategies that minimize risk and maximize long-term value.

Our approach to VMware migration is structured around three priorities:

Workload Assessment First

Before recommending a migration path, we assess your full VMware environment — mapping workload interdependencies, performance requirements, compliance obligations, and modernization readiness. This assessment becomes the foundation for a migration strategy that is specific to your environment, not a generic playbook applied without context.

Right-Sized Strategy, Not One-Size-Fits-All

Most enterprise environments contain a mix of workloads — some ideal for immediate AVS migration, others that warrant re-platforming, and some that may be candidates for retirement rather than migration. We help you segment your workload portfolio accurately and build a phased migration plan that prioritizes business continuity alongside cost reduction.

End-to-End Execution with Ongoing Support

iLink delivers migration end-to-end — from assessment and architecture design through to execution, testing, and post-migration optimization. And because we operate as a fully managed Azure MSP, the relationship doesn't end at go-live. We continue to monitor, optimize, and evolve your Azure environment as your business needs change.

iLink measures every engagement by its ROI and potential for new business opportunities for our customers. For VMware exits, that means reducing licensing cost, improving operational efficiency, and building a cloud foundation that supports long-term growth — not just solving today's problem.

Don't Let Licensing Urgency Drive an Architecture Decision

Whether that starts with Azure VMware Solution today and evolves over time, or involves a more deliberate re-platforming effort from the outset, the key is making the decision with full information not under pressure.

If your organization is evaluating its VMware exit strategy, the opportunity extends beyond cost control. This is a moment to reassess your infrastructure foundation to ensure it supports resilience, scalability, and long-term modernization goals.

The decision is no longer simply about leaving VMware. It’s about choosing a migration path that aligns with business priorities and risk tolerance.

iLink Digital can help you assess your environment objectively, define the right mix of lift-and-shift and re-platforming, and execute with minimal disruption.

iLink is ready to help you make that call with confidence.

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