DCIG has just published of the 2024-25 DCIG TOP 5 SMB/Edge VMware vSphere Alternatives Report. This report provides guidance on the DCIG TOP 5 VMware vSphere alternative solutions that smaller organizations should consider as they address Broadcom’s recent changes to VMware’s software licensing.

SMBs and organizations with edge environments possess different requirements for a VMware vSphere alternative than enterprises. They still need a vSphere alternative to offer specific core features. These include high-availability, product reliability, software-defined storage, software-defined networking, and the ability to host Windows and Linux guest OSes. They also often look to the provider to deliver education, training, and 24x7x365 technical support.

However, the need to scale the solution to support the highest levels of capacity, networking, and processing may not exist. SMBs and edge sites tend not to run applications and workloads that test the technical limits of the solutions that host them. Further, SMBs and edge sites tend to less frequently experience sudden growth or performance spikes.

These differing, and generally lower, expectations for a hypervisor provided the impetus for these organizations to make a change. Broadcom’s decision to reduce the number of VMware software licenses only contributes to their willingness to explore other options.

In preparing this report, DCIG formally evaluated 15 different VMware vSphere alternative solutions based on multiple different features and capabilities. The general categories under which the features of these SMB/Edge VMware vSphere alternative solutions fell included:

•     Data protection and security.
•     Deployments options.
•     Licensing and pricing.
•     Management.
•     Software options.
•     Technical support.

Based on these criteria, DCIG awarded the following VMware vSphere alternative solutions a DCIG TOP 5 ranking in the SMB/Edge Edition:

•     HiveIO Hive Fabric
•     NodeWeaver
•     Scale Computing Platform (SC//Platform)
•     StorMagic SvHCI
•     VergeIO VergeOS

The report is now available for free download.