Our Take
Free software lowers switching friction, but hardware scarcity and partner skepticism suggest HPE is solving the wrong problem.
Why it matters
VMware customers are actively seeking alternatives after years of price increases and licensing changes. HPE's migration incentive targets the cost barrier, but resellers report that hardware availability and multi-year purchasing cycles matter more.
Do this week
VMware buyer: audit your current hardware refresh timeline and reseller's access to VM Essentials inventory before committing to migration in the next 12 months.
HPE's one-year free software play
HPE announced a promotion offering one year of free VM Essentials virtualization software to customers evaluating a migration away from VMware. The company also promised three years of free VM Essentials licenses to 600 reseller partners who achieve HPE's Private Cloud with Virtualization competency by year-end (support costs remain the partner's responsibility).
The move targets what HPE identifies as a real friction point. "One of the big things we see is that as customers are going through this journey on transforming their operating model, you end up with double expenses," according to Fidelma Russo, HPE's executive vice president and CTO (per The Register). Running both VMware and a replacement platform simultaneously during migration is costly.
Survey data shows appetite for the switch. Multiple third-party surveys have documented significant numbers of VMware customers planning to reduce or eliminate VMware use over the next few years. But migration cost and time remain barriers.
The real blocker isn't software cost
Partner reaction splits sharply. Nth Generation, a major HPE reseller, told CRN it expects "VM Essentials sales pipeline to as much as quadruple and sales to grow at about that rate" due to the promotion. Co-president Dan Molina said the free licensing would "drastically lower the risk of moving to VM Essentials."
But Dean Colpitts, CTO of Members IT Group (a Canadian managed services provider that HPE dropped from its reseller program after 19 years), disagrees. He told Ars that the promotion will not drive much sales volume because "all our clients work on three, four, or five-year life cycles and generally roll that purchase into their initial buy." Software cost is not the binding constraint for his customer base.
The actual constraint, per Colpitts, is hardware. "The biggest issue I'm seeing right now that is affecting VM Essentials sales and adoption is that the high prices and constraints of DRAM are affecting customers' ability to obtain new hardware to migrate onto." He cited a lack of available hardware for permanent migrations and for temporary brownfield reimaging of existing equipment.
Colpitts called the promotion "a step in the correct direction" but criticized HPE for limiting it to 600 partners. He argued HPE should give all partners free VM Essentials "to facilitate getting [VM Essentials] into customer sites and displacing the competitors" and urged the company to move faster: "They need to fling [VM Essentials] as far and as fast as they possibly [can] to immediately gain traction and draw ISVs to them."
What to do now
If you are evaluating a VMware exit, the free software year is a real benefit but not the whole story. Clarify your hardware refresh schedule and your reseller's ability to source equipment on your timeline. The promotion removes one cost barrier, but supply and purchasing cycles may impose harder constraints.
If you are an HPE reseller without the competency badge, you will not qualify for the three-year partner discount. Review HPE's Private Cloud with Virtualization competency requirements now if you plan to pitch VM Essentials migrations this year.