Introduction: VMware Didn’t Become “Bad” — It Became Expensive in New Ways

For years, VMware costs were predictable.

You bought licenses.
You sized infrastructure.
You amortized CAPEX over time.

CFOs understood the model. CIOs planned around it.

That predictability is gone.

Across Indian enterprises in 2024–2026, we are seeing a pattern:

• Infrastructure capacity hasn’t grown materially
• Application count hasn’t exploded
• Yet virtualization spend has increased sharply

The uncomfortable question now being asked in boardrooms is:

“What exactly are we paying more for?”

This blog dissects the hidden cost layers inside modern VMware subscription models—costs that rarely show up in initial proposals but surface brutally during renewals, audits, and DR expansions.

This is not an anti-VMware article.
It is a financial reality check.

From CAPEX to Subscription Shock

Historically, VMware aligned well with enterprise accounting:

• One-time license purchase
• Predictable support renewals
• Hardware refresh cycles aligned to depreciation

Today, VMware has moved decisively into subscription-first licensing, often bundled and core-count driven.

For Indian enterprises, this introduces three problems:

Cost Is Now Tied to Hardware Design, Not Usage

A modern dual-socket server with high core counts may:

• Run the same number of VMs as before
• Consume the same power
• Deliver the same business value

Yet licensing costs increase purely due to CPU core density.

This penalizes:

• Consolidation
• Performance optimization
• Modern hardware refresh strategies

CFOs are essentially paying more for efficiency.

Bundling Forces Payment for Unused Capabilities

Subscription bundles often include:

• Features not deployed
• Add-ons never enabled
• Tools overlapping with existing investments

On paper, bundles look “value rich.”
In reality, they create shelfware inside subscriptions—paid monthly, unused perpetually.

This is one of the least visible cost leaks.

The DR Multiplier Nobody Budgets For

Disaster Recovery is where VMware costs silently double or triple.

The Common Assumption
“DR is cheaper because it’s passive.”

That assumption no longer holds.

Modern VMware licensing often requires:

• Full licensing at DR sites
• Same core-based calculations
• Active subscription coverage even if DR is idle

So what actually happens?

Production: Paid & expected → Paid
DR: “Standby” → Paid almost fully
Test DR: “Occasional” → Paid permanently

Enterprises suddenly discover that DR is not an insurance cost—it’s a parallel infrastructure cost.

This is usually the moment CFOs get involved.

DRaaS vs Traditional DR Licensing

Many Indian enterprises now compare:

VMware-based DR replicas
vs
Hypervisor-agnostic DRaaS models

The difference is stark:

• DRaaS charges for actual protection, not theoretical capacity
• Licensing does not explode with core counts
• DR drills do not incur additional penalties

ExtremeCompute DR Cost Rationalization Review
A side-by-side DR cost breakdown—no migration required to start.

Conclusion: Cost Control Is the New Performance Metric

In 2026, enterprise infrastructure excellence is no longer measured only in uptime.

It is measured in:

• Cost predictability
• DR reliability
• Vendor optionality
• Audit resilience

VMware did not fail enterprises.
But unchecked dependency is now expensive.

The smartest organizations are not exiting emotionally.
They are exiting selectively, calmly, and on their own terms.