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Ask Google AIAzure VMware Solution (AVS) lets organizations run VMware workloads inside Microsoft Azure. It has been a popular choice for companies that want the flexibility of the public cloud without rebuilding their VMware environment from scratch.
That convenience is changing. Microsoft has updated how VMware licensing works within AVS, and the change affects both new and existing customers.
One thing should be clear from the start: Microsoft is not shutting down Azure VMware Solution. The service continues. What is changing is how customers obtain their VMware license. (The latest updates on Azure)
For any organization that already has to rethink VMware licensing, this is also a natural moment to ask a bigger question: is VMware still the right long-term platform, or is it worth comparing alternatives?
What Is Changing with Azure VMware Solution Licensing?
Previously, AVS came with VMware licensing bundled in — customers paid Microsoft, and the VMware software license was included in the price.
That is no longer the case for new deployments. Since October 16, 2025, new AVS deployments and expansions require customers to bring their own portable VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) license, commonly called VCF BYOL (Bring Your Own License). Customers now purchase a VCF subscription directly from Broadcom and attach that entitlement to their Azure VMware Solution environment. (Portable VMware Cloud Foundation Licensing Reference)
Existing customers have their own transition windows:
- October 31, 2026: License-included Pay-As-You-Go AVS deployments must move to portable VCF licensing to remain compliant.
- August 30, 2027: License-included Reserved Instances must be exchanged for VCF BYOL reservations, or the affected workloads must move off AVS. If a reservation expires before this date, its license-included benefit ends at expiry. (Portable VMware Cloud Foundation Licensing Reference)
Some industry coverage has framed this change as Microsoft “ending” VMware licensing in Azure. That framing overstates it. AVS itself continues — what’s changing is that customers now source their VCF entitlement from Broadcom instead of getting it bundled through Microsoft. (Microsoft Ends VMware Standalone Licensing) (Microsoft is discontinuing VMware licenses within Azure)
Because requirements can vary by contract type and deployment history, organizations should confirm which rules apply to them against Microsoft’s current documentation or with their account team.
Why This Matters Beyond Azure
This isn’t only an Azure issue. It’s part of a bigger shift in how VMware is licensed everywhere, following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware and its push toward the broader VMware Cloud Foundation bundle. (ETTAYEB — "Microsoft ends license-included Azure VMware Solution, and Broadcom’s VCF becomes the only door in")
For IT leaders, the real question isn’t simply “is VMware expensive.” The more useful questions are:
| Can we predict our virtualization costs over the next three to five years? |
| Which VMware capabilities do we actually use? |
| Does our current setup fit where we want our private or hybrid cloud strategy to go? |
| How dependent are our operations on a single virtualization vendor? |
| What would it take to migrate some or all of our workloads? |
| Should we evaluate alternatives before signing our next long-term commitment? |
For many organizations, staying with VMware will still be the right call. But this is a good checkpoint to compare options rather than renew automatically.
What Should You Look for in a VMware Alternative?
Replacing an enterprise virtualization platform is bigger than swapping the hypervisor. A credible alternative should be evaluated across the full infrastructure stack, including:
| ✓Enterprise virtualization and high availability | ✓Software-defined storage and networking |
| ✓Centralized management | ✓Backup and disaster recovery |
| ✓Security | ✓Scalability |
| ✓Hardware and workload compatibility | ✓Migration capabilities |
| ✓Technical support | ✓Operational simplicity |
| ✓Licensing predictability | ✓Three-to-five-year total cost of ownership |
Migration matters most. A platform can look attractive on paper, but if moving production workloads is risky or disruptive, the business case falls apart quickly.
Where Does Sangfor HCI Fit?
Sangfor Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) is one option worth evaluating. It brings together server virtualization (aSV), software-defined storage (aSAN), virtual networking (aNET), and security virtualization (aSEC) in a single integrated platform. (Sangfor HCI Brochure)
That integration matters for mid-market and large enterprise teams: it can reduce the number of separate compute, storage, networking, and security tools they need to manage, often through one console.
Sangfor is a large, established technology vendor. Founded in 2000 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (300454.SZ) since 2018. Sangfor today serves more than 100,000 customers across 100+ countries and regions, supported by more than 7,000 employees and 70+ branch offices worldwide. Sangfor holds the highest rating in Gartner Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer” for Full-Stack HCI and is recognized by G2 as a Regional Leader for Asia Pacific.
While Sangfor’s deepest roots and strongest customer base remain in Asia Pacific, the company has been actively expanding into the Middle East (including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman), Europe (including Germany, Italy, and Turkey), and Latin America (including Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia) — giving enterprise customers in these regions local support as they evaluate options beyond VMware.
For VMware customers, the practical questions are: Can Sangfor HCI run our required workloads? Can it simplify day-to-day operations? Can existing VMs be migrated safely? And what does the three-to-five-year cost actually look like? Those questions matter more than comparing feature checklists or license prices in isolation.
How Can Organizations Migrate from VMware to Sangfor HCI?
Migration is usually the biggest worry when evaluating a VMware alternative. It doesn’t have to mean moving everything at once — a phased approach lowers risk.
Step 1: Assess
Review existing VMware hosts, VMs, applications, operating systems, dependencies, storage, networking, backup policies, and uptime requirements. Sort workloads by complexity and business importance.
Step 2: Pilot
Build and validate the target Sangfor HCI environment, then move a small group of lower-risk workloads first. This lets teams confirm application compatibility, performance, networking, backup, and operating procedures before touching production-critical systems.
Step 3: Migrate in phases
Sangfor supports several migration approaches through the Sangfor Cloud Migration Tool (SCMT), including agentless and agent-based methods for different workload and downtime needs. Once the pilot succeeds, production workloads move in planned phases based on business priority and maintenance windows. (Sangfor VMware Migration Guide)
The takeaway: evaluating an alternative does not require an all-at-once “rip and replace.” Organizations can test the platform, validate workloads, and build a migration roadmap before making a broader commitment.
Don’t Compare Licensing Costs Alone
A fair comparison looks at the three-to-five-year total cost of ownership, not just the software license price. That includes:
| Platform and virtualization licensing | Servers, storage, and networking |
| Backup and disaster recovery | Management and security tools |
| Support | Migration and training |
| Day-to-day administration | Scaling and future renewals |
Because Sangfor HCI combines compute, storage, networking, security, and management within one hyperconverged platform, organizations can evaluate whether consolidating infrastructure simplifies both operations and overall economics. (Sangfor HCI Brochure)
The goal isn’t the lowest license price — it’s the platform with the strongest combination of technical fit, operational simplicity, predictable cost, and long-term value.
What Should VMware and AVS Customers Do Now?
There’s no need to rush a decision, but waiting until the next renewal or transition deadline narrows your options.
A practical starting point: review current VMware contracts, AVS commitments, and renewal dates. Confirm which VCF BYOL requirements apply to your deployments, then compare the three-to-five-year cost of staying on VMware against realistic alternatives.
From there, identify workloads that could migrate, shortlist candidate platforms, and run a proof of concept using representative applications. Most importantly, build a migration roadmap before a licensing deadline forces the decision.
A Licensing Change Can Also Be a Strategy Checkpoint
The AVS licensing transition doesn’t mean every organization needs to drop VMware. For some enterprises, continuing with VCF will remain the right technical and business decision.
But it does create a natural checkpoint. If your organization already needs to rethink how it licenses VMware, it may also be worth asking whether your existing virtualization strategy is still the best fit for the next three to five years.
For enterprises exploring VMware alternatives, Sangfor HCI is one option worth evaluating — combining virtualization, storage, networking, security, and management with documented VMware migration paths, backed by a growing global support network spanning Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.
Rather than asking only “How do we adapt to the latest VMware licensing change?”, it may be worth asking: “Before we commit to another VMware licensing cycle, is there a better long-term fit for our business?”
That evaluation can start with an assessment of your existing VMware environment, followed by a proof of concept and a phased migration plan for the workloads that make sense to move.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Azure VMware Solution (AVS) continues to operate. What’s changing is the licensing model: new deployments now require customers to bring a portable VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) license purchased from Broadcom.
VCF BYOL means customers bring their own portable VMware Cloud Foundation license to Azure VMware Solution. The VCF entitlement is purchased from Broadcom rather than bundled into new AVS node purchases. This has applied to new AVS deployments since October 16, 2025.
License-included Pay-As-You-Go deployments must move to portable VCF by October 31, 2026. License-included Reserved Instances must be exchanged for VCF BYOL reservations, or affected workloads moved off AVS, by August 30, 2027. Customers should confirm which rules apply to their specific contracts with Microsoft.
Organizations are evaluating alternatives to assess licensing predictability, infrastructure costs, operational complexity, vendor dependency, migration options, and their long-term virtualization strategy.
A strong alternative should offer enterprise virtualization, high availability, software-defined storage and networking, centralized management, security, backup and disaster recovery, scalability, migration capabilities, reliable support, and predictable long-term costs.
Yes. Sangfor HCI is an enterprise virtualization and hyperconverged infrastructure platform that integrates compute virtualization, software-defined storage, virtual networking, security, and centralized management — used by more than 100,000 customers across 100+ countries.
Yes. Sangfor provides documented VMware migration approaches through the Sangfor Cloud Migration Tool (SCMT), including agentless and agent-based methods. Organizations should assess workload compatibility and migration requirements before moving production systems.
Not necessarily. The AVS licensing change is a useful trigger to compare the cost and technical fit of staying on VMware against alternatives. A proof of concept and a three-to-five-year TCO assessment can help determine the best path forward.
Sources
- Microsoft Learn — Portable VMware Cloud Foundation Licensing Reference for Azure VMware Solution
- Microsoft Azure — Azure VMware Solution Update
- The Register — Microsoft ends one of the last ways to buy VMware without big bundles
- Techzine — Microsoft is discontinuing VMware licenses within Azure
- Ettayeb — Azure VMware Solution BYOL/VCF Analysis
- Sangfor HCI Brochure
- Sangfor — VMware Virtual Machine Data Migration
