Many organizations are actively searching for a VMware alternative to escape rising licensing costs, and this is the perfect time to rethink networking. While a VMware exit presents an opportunity to save licensing fees, it raises a crucial question: Why stop at just the hypervisor?

Most IT teams focus on the hypervisor when evaluating alternatives, but networking remains one of the data center's most expensive and rigid components. Proprietary switches, standalone firewalls, and costly VPN appliances add unnecessary expenses, management complexity, and vendor lock-in. This raises an important consideration-if your organization is already undertaking a major infrastructure change, wouldn't this be the ideal time to extend those cost savings into networking?

Two Projects or One? Addressing the Concern of "Double Work"

Some IT teams hesitate to reevaluate networking while replacing VMware because they believe it will create double the work. This assumption stems from experiences where networking and virtualization were seen as separate projects requiring separate teams, budgets, and timelines.

However, treating these as independent initiatives can actually extend project timelines, increase costs, and create integration challenges. Virtualization and networking are deeply intertwined, and modern approaches to infrastructure merge these functions to simplify operations.

By evaluating software-defined networking (SDN) as part of the VMware alternative search, organizations can:

• Reduce migration complexity by aligning network and virtualization strategies from the start
• Eliminate redundant hardware purchases by consolidating network functions into a software-defined solution
• Lower total infrastructure costs by reducing licensing fees across both virtualization and networking

Rather than being "double work," evaluating SDN alongside a VMware replacement ensures a more efficient transition and more significant long-term savings.

Isn't SDN Expensive?

Another reason IT teams hesitate to embrace SDN is cost. Many legacy standalone SDN solutions are priced per core or per port, requiring additional software licenses and dedicated virtual appliances that consume CPU and memory resources, which drives up hardware costs.

This pricing model and lack of efficiency eliminates the savings SDN is supposed to deliver by making networking costs scale with the environment, much like traditional networking hardware. IT teams that have previously researched SDN may have dismissed it due to the high cost of standalone solutions.

However, the landscape has changed. Some VMware alternatives now integrate a full SDN capability directly within the hypervisor at no additional cost. This changes the financial equation, allowing organizations to:

• Eliminate separate SDN licensing fees that traditionally made SDN prohibitively expensive
• Remove the need for dedicated SDN controller VMs that consume valuable CPU and memory resources
• Deploy SDN without additional hardware since it runs natively within the virtualization platform

With this approach, SDN is no longer an expensive, standalone project. Instead, it becomes a built-in infrastructure feature-just like storage and virtualization.

The Key to Maximizing Cost Savings: An Integrated Approach

Organizations that take a holistic approach to their VMware replacement strategy-one that includes networking-will see greater long-term savings.

To maximize cost reductions and avoid the pitfalls of separate licensing, separate hardware, and separate management, the ideal solution must:

• Integrate SDN directly into the hypervisor instead of running as a separate virtual appliance
• Include SDN at no additional charge rather than requiring separate per-core or per-port licensing
• Support standard networking hardware so organizations can phase out proprietary switches and appliances as it makes sense

By choosing a VMware alternative that integrates SDN, organizations can consolidate infrastructure, simplify management, and lower virtualization and networking licensing costs in one move.

A Smarter Transition That Lowers Costs

Replacing VMware is a major decision. Rather than limiting cost savings to just the hypervisor, IT teams should take this opportunity to rethink networking.

Modern virtualization solutions that integrate SDN directly within the hypervisor eliminate the historical objections of high cost and complexity. Instead of treating SDN as a separate project, organizations can deploy it as part of the VMware alternative-without additional fees or hardware requirements.

VergeOS, with its integrated VergeFabric, is an example of how a VMware alternative can include full SDN capabilities at no extra cost. With routing, firewalling, VPN, and multi-site connectivity built into the hypervisor, IT teams can eliminate dedicated networking appliances, reduce complexity, and avoid additional licensing fees.

Organizations can maximize infrastructure savings and future-proof their IT environment by modernizing virtualization and networking. Learn more about alternatives to proprietary networking in this blog.