We utilize VMware vCenter for monitoring hosts, migrating virtual machines, and monitoring server performance.
IT Manager at a non-profit with 51-200 employees
Ensures comprehensive management capabilities with good scalability and high stability for efficiently overseeing virtualized environments
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable aspect for us is the ability to monitor all servers simultaneously and effortlessly move them between hosts."
- "Consolidating these plugins into a unified environment with customizable options to enable or disable features would be highly beneficial."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Our infrastructure management has been greatly enhanced, particularly with features like vMotion being crucial for our operations.
The management and monitoring capabilities have significantly influenced our operational efficiency, proving to be highly beneficial for our needs.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable aspect for us is the ability to monitor all servers simultaneously and effortlessly move them between hosts. Additionally, adjusting server specifications such as CPU, memory, or storage capacity, whether increasing or decreasing, is incredibly convenient and beneficial for our operations.
The scalability features provided by VMware vCenter supported the growth of our organization.
What needs improvement?
There are numerous scattered versions of plugins compatible with VMware, which can be challenging to manage. Consolidating these plugins into a unified environment with customizable options to enable or disable features would be highly beneficial. Additionally, the ability to work with hardware beyond the compatibility list would add further value to the platform.
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July 2026
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with it for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is exceptionally high, providing a seamless experience. I would rate it a perfect ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable given that I have sufficient hardware resources. If I decide to add more hardware, I can do so easily, but it's essential to select the appropriate hardware services before making any purchases. We have more than one hundred and fifty users. I would rate it seven out of ten. It is continuously in use, running throughout the entire day.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we utilized hardware, primarily within a Microsoft environment. However, we transitioned to VMware due to its capability to move servers without downtime. This flexibility makes it incredibly user-friendly and adaptable.
What about the implementation team?
Our deployment was done by a third-party system integrator. The process was completed within a few hours.
What was our ROI?
In terms of return on investment, VMware proves to be cost-effective, especially when considering the long-term perspective. Evaluating its cost-effectiveness requires a considerable duration due to its long-term impact.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is significantly high. I would rate it ten out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend it to others considering implementation, particularly if they have a sufficient budget. However, for those with budget constraints, there are alternative solutions, including open-source options, albeit not as comprehensive as VMware. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
VMware Administrator at Ingram Micro Saudi Arabia
Provides high avaibility and efficiently manages patch updates
Pros and Cons
- "The product's emphasis on high availability and DRS aligns with our priorities, making vCenter an integral component in our virtualized environment."
- "They could provide an easier way to learn NSX and troubleshooting processes for the product."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for managing a large-scale virtualized infrastructure, specifically overseeing ten ESXi hosts. It helps us upgrade the databases for all the hosts through one console. It includes virtual machine creation to packet updates, and with additional tools like vCenter Lifecycle Manager, we can effortlessly handle patches and host migrations.
What is most valuable?
The product's emphasis on high availability and DRS aligns with our priorities, making vCenter an integral component in our virtualized environment.
What needs improvement?
They could provide an easier way to learn NSX and troubleshooting processes for the product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The platform is 200% stable.
How are customer service and support?
We have not contacted the technical support team thus far. We have not encountered any significant issues or bugs in our production environment. We have been managing the product easily over the past six to seven years.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. If someone were to approach me for guidance, I am confident that, given their interest and willingness to learn, I could teach them how to install and manage the product. It would probably take around typically within one or two days for the process.
However, learning and troubleshooting NSX may be more complex due to a perceived lack of proper educational materials and documentation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. From my experience, the per-core licensing model adds to the overall cost. They offer different licensing packages, including standard and enterprise. One notable aspect is the potential hidden costs associated with a few features. Using distributed switches or advanced tools may incur unexpected expenses. It's essential to thoroughly understand the licensing structure to avoid such hidden costs and ensure alignment with the organization's needs.
What other advice do I have?
I advise others to create an account on the VMware Partner Portal, where they can access trial versions of vCenter. Utilize the 60-day trial period to explore and test the hypervisor. Later, make a purchase decision depending on the budget and business use cases.
I rate it a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vCenter
July 2026
Learn what your peers think about VMware vCenter. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: July 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.
System Administrator at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Has a valuable process cloning feature and manages virtual infrastructure efficiently
Pros and Cons
- "The product has improved our system's proactive support for in-built AI tools."
- "One notable area for enhancement revolves around cost considerations, as introducing features such as DDoS protection or data compression could reduce expenses."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for VMware is in our IT environment, specifically within our data center for our Enterprise Application Testing (EAT) server.
How has it helped my organization?
The product has improved our system's proactive support for in-built AI tools. It automatically identifies potential issues and helps customers with feedback.
What is most valuable?
The product's most valuable feature is the ability to clone and snapshot the process for POC.
What needs improvement?
vCenter's demo functionality needs enhancement. One notable area for enhancement revolves around cost considerations, as introducing features such as DDoS protection or data compression could reduce expenses. We have an infrastructure comprising around 200 VMs that require approximately 20 terabytes of storage for efficient data management. The deduplication and compression features help organizations manage large numbers of servers, streamline operations, reduce storage requirements, and navigate capacity upgrades more seamlessly.
Nowadays, all the products have cloud functionality. Thus, they could introduce a hybrid cloud system and a unified licensing model. We have to buy several SLM licenses for different components, including a demo. Instead, they could include all functionalities in one license.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vCenter since 2010.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the platform's stability an eight out of ten. Whenever we encounter any technical issues, the support team resolves them.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
VMware vCenter is suitable for medium enterprises. We use the product for user acceptance testing and for providing cyber security for product and test environments. Thus, we are using a substantial number of 18 servers in our business infrastructure.
However, Nutanix is more scalable than VMware. We can host as many clusters as required using it.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple. However, Nutanix has a simpler process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The platform is highly-priced. It is suitable for medium enterprises. We use the product for user acceptance testing and for providing cyber security for product and test environments. Thus, we are using a substantial number of eighteen servers in our business infrastructure.
However, Nutanix is more scalable than VMware. We can host as many clusters as required using it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have evaluated Microsoft Hyper V, Nutanix, and other vendors along with VMware vCenter. Among them, Nutanix is more preferable.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vCenter provides excellent flexibility in terms of managing virtual infrastructure. We can provision services anytime. We can easily create a distribution suite and manage networks. I rate the platform's efficiency for multicluster operations an eight out of ten.
I rate the overall product an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director - IT Strategy Lead at Globe Mobile
User-friendly platform with robust disaster recovery features
Pros and Cons
- "The user-friendliness and stability are the product’s most valuable features."
- "The scalability could be enhanced."
What is our primary use case?
In my previous company, we used the product primarily for virtualizing our compute resources, including active directories and databases, to support our contact center business. In my current role, we use it similarly for virtualizing DNS servers and compute requirements for our environment.
What is most valuable?
The user-friendliness and stability are the product’s most valuable features. Over the past five years, we've experienced minimal issues, even during upgrades and migrations.
What needs improvement?
We've been exploring a hybrid cloud setup but found the solution complex and expensive. Additionally, scalability could be enhanced to accommodate our requirements better during increased demand.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using vCenter for approximately ten years now.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
Due to the complexity of hybrid cloud solutions, we consulted VMware experts. We also considered proposals from public cloud providers, which proved more cost-effective.
What other advice do I have?
I emphasize its robust disaster recovery capabilities. In our experience, we encountered minimal impact when one node went down due to hardware issues. Once the hardware was fixed, the recovery process was seamless. Overall, vCenter has proven to be a solid product that has served us well.
I rate it a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager of Computing and Storage at CBO
Easy-to-deploy platform with valuable monitoring features
Pros and Cons
- "The platform is very effective for managing virtual infrastructure. It has improved our virtual infrastructure and virtual machine deployment in several ways."
- "The product's technical support services could be better."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product to manage different hosts.
What needs improvement?
The product's technical support services could be better.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vCenter for three years. At present, we are using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the platform's stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We can add many hosts to the vCenter, and it performs well. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support team needs improvement.
How was the initial setup?
For the deployment, we utilize the vSphere hypervisor system. It takes an hour to complete.
I rate the process a ten out of ten.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The platform has reasonable pricing.
What other advice do I have?
The platform is very effective for managing virtual infrastructure. It has improved our virtual infrastructure and virtual machine deployment in several ways. It provides a centralized platform for managing hosts and enables seamless VM migrations using vMotion.
The monitoring feature is the most valuable part of our daily operations. We have also seen improvements in troubleshooting and performance monitoring, especially when hosts encounter issues. Overall, it's beneficial for maintaining optimality.
It has enhanced our virtual environment management. Specifically, it has improved our ability to create and manage virtual machines efficiently.
The product is good, stable, and easy to deploy. I rate it an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head of IT department at Monetars
User-friendly interface with an ability to manage virtual infrastructure
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to create and manage virtual infrastructure."
- "They could provide flexibility and cost-effectiveness for product licensing."
How has it helped my organization?
The implementation of vCenter has significantly impacted our IT team's productivity positively. It provides a centralized and efficient tool for managing our virtualized environment.
What is most valuable?
The platform has a user-friendly interface. It is easy to create and manage virtual infrastructure.
What needs improvement?
They could provide flexibility and cost-effectiveness for product licensing. Currently, the licensing model allows for the coverage of two virtual machines with a single license when running Windows Server. However, for smaller environments with fewer servers, it might not provide significant benefits.
For efficient reliability and scalability, they could provide additional functionalities supporting multi-location setups and dedicated role-based services. The ability to seamlessly manage and switch between different locations needs improvement. Additionally, there could be more features for dashboard automation.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The platform is stable. The users can connect to the servers and work on the shared files.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. We can purchase one license for VMware’s essential kit for deploying around three servers in one environment.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup required considerable effort and careful planning to ensure it aligned precisely with the direction of the infrastructure to make configurations as flexible as possible for future requirements. While this approach was time-consuming, it proved crucial to avoid potential mistakes or limitations in decisions made during the setup. It helps with adapting to future changes, implementing upgrades, and integrating new solutions seamlessly into the virtualized environment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We utilize the basic licenses of the product. However, they offer much better licensing plans for larger companies.
What other advice do I have?
The platform helps us create a full backup of the virtual machine for disaster recovery. We have setups in two locations, it ensures availability through a dedicated connection for information exchange.
I recommend it to others for its ease, security, reliability, and stability. It offers various types of licenses. Additionally, the simplicity of administration efficiently manages both large and small environments.
I advise others to learn and understand the configuration and maintenance process. It is suitable for organizations considering the deployment of virtual infrastructure on-premise, especially in the context of private cloud setups.
I rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT infrastructure lead at 0
Stable platform with efficient performance monitoring features
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of VMware vCenter for our organization include its centralized management capabilities and the ability to handle virtual machines across multiple ESXi hosts efficiently."
- "VMware vCenter is an expensive product. Its price needs improvement."
What is our primary use case?
We use the platform to administer virtual machines deployed on several servers.
How has it helped my organization?
Implementing VMware vCenter has significantly improved our organization's IT infrastructure management. It has added to our knowledge base as well. Before deploying vCenter, our teams faced challenges in manually managing desktops.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of VMware vCenter for our organization include its centralized management capabilities and the ability to handle virtual machines across multiple ESXi hosts efficiently. We log into the center that acts as a single pane of glass, helping us oversee all physical hosts and dependent components, combining all the resources.
What needs improvement?
VMware vCenter is an expensive product. Its price needs improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vCenter for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable platform.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable platform.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of VMware vCenter was a complex process for our organization. The deployment process involves installing the vCenter Server software on a Windows-based machine.
What about the implementation team?
As an end user, we engaged with a distributor or partner to facilitate the implementation. They conducted knowledge-sharing sessions and administered the platform for our team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product's three-year license package is inexpensive.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vCenter helps us optimize infrastructure by resource provision, performance monitoring, and managing user access from a single console. Its performance management plays an instrumental role in day-to-day center operations.
In case of any system downtime from users' back-end or availability issues, it reallocates to another host. It is a good solution that was internally built and developed over time. I advise others to use it if cost is not an issue.
I rate it a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Senior Solution Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
A feature-rich product that is very good for centralized management and has high availability
Pros and Cons
- "It's a very good tool for centralized management."
- "We have to buy more VMware products to leverage the centralized management."
What is our primary use case?
The product has broad use cases. Our customers use it for mission-critical production environments, general hosting, or for private cloud environments,
How has it helped my organization?
It's a very good tool for centralized management. It is a powerful tool, but it's a very basic tool. We can leverage its full power only when we include other tools like vROps. The solution is feature-rich, but it is not rich enough. We have to buy more VMware products to make it more valuable.
What is most valuable?
The product is strong in host profiles and standardization. It is much easier to manage than Hyper-V. The high availability has contributed to the efficiency of our operations. I rate it a nine out of ten. It is really good. As a basic tool, it is fine.
What needs improvement?
We have to buy more VMware products to leverage the centralized management. It doesn't come with Network Insight and vROps. The only challenge we're currently having is Broadcom buying VMware. It will be a big challenge because we don't know what is changing from a licensing perspective, from perpetual to subscription. Many of our customers are planning to migrate away due to the uncertainty.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been reselling the product for 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool is stable enough.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is adequate. Many customers do not scale beyond the limits of the tool. Our customers are small, medium, and large businesses.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is not the best. Other partners are more responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The tool is easy to deploy if someone has the right skills. If someone has skills, it's pretty easy. One person is enough to deploy the solution. It is easy to maintain.
What was our ROI?
The return on investment is pretty good.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive. The price could be improved. Our customers pay for monthly and annual licenses. With Broadcom buying VMware, everything is going to be subscription-based. The license and support costs are typically bundled together.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The product is on par with Prism Central. However, Prism Central is a little bit less complex.
What other advice do I have?
The vendor must bundle more software into vCenter. Network Insight and vROps must not cost us additionally. It should be bundled with the solution. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
Administrator at Herzliya
A simple network built on a machine with restore and backup
What is our primary use case?
VMware vCenter is a simple network built on a machine.
What is most valuable?
The tool is simple to install and has backup and restore features.
What needs improvement?
The solution could provide more automation.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution’s scalability is very good. 100 users are using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
I take support from VMware in Israel. They are fast and knowledgeable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I work with NetApp. It's simple to clone volume, and restore.
What other advice do I have?
I highly recommend the solution because it is stable.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Associate Vice President at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
You can gain clear visibility into your entire setup without needing to switch between multiple platforms
Pros and Cons
- "The alerting mechanism is very good. VMware vCenter simplifies infrastructure management with its intuitive interface."
- "If VMware integrates some features of their other solution into VMware vCenter, operational managers might find it beneficial. Many organizations prefer to maintain separate solution sets based on specific needs and data requirements."
What is our primary use case?
We use VMware vCenter to monitor, administer, manage, and add virtual machines. You can add a virtual machine or make configuration changes through the vCenter interface. Within vCenter, you can navigate through ESXi hosts and manage single or multiple clusters, providing visibility into their status. If any issues arise, vCenter can give error messages for troubleshooting. Additionally, you can oversee the addition of new clusters and perform various tasks related to adding, installing, and managing virtual machines. You can monitor the status of virtual machines, including whether they are powered off or in a failed condition, as well as their utilization. In essence, VMware vCenter enables management, administration, and day-to-day tasks related to virtualization.
What is most valuable?
The alerting mechanism is very good. VMware vCenter simplifies infrastructure management with its intuitive interface. You can gain clear visibility into your entire setup without needing to switch between multiple platforms. Unlike Jira, which is used for issue tracking and project management, vCenter provides a comprehensive view of your infrastructure's current state and any alarm situations. Additionally, you can configure thresholds to receive alerts tailored to your needs.
What needs improvement?
If VMware integrates some features of their other solution into VMware vCenter, operational managers might find it beneficial. Many organizations prefer to maintain separate solution sets based on specific needs and data requirements. They are clear that while certain tools like VMware vCenter handle basic daily administration and monitoring tasks, more advanced functionality may require different solutions.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vCenter for 12 years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable and user-friendly, integrated with a suite of tools. Managing infrastructure becomes much more straightforward. Users can easily monitor and understand what is happening within their entire infrastructure. I can use a good number of APIs for integration.
How are customer service and support?
The VMware vCenter ecosystem has a delivery phase followed by a maintenance phase. Depending on the scenario, your mock and first tenant teams may engage with the VMware support team for support.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward because we have a proven technology for over a decade.
The setup process involves obtaining a license and deploying a virtual or physical appliance for VMware vCenter. Once deployed, you can begin integrating it with your ESXi hosts. After integration, vCenter can manage the virtual machines associated with the ESXi hosts. It allows you to view and manage clusters, facilitating various management tasks.
VMware vCenter's deployment time depends on various factors, such as the volume of resources, the number of physical nodes, and clusters in the environment. Once vCenter is deployed, you can easily add the configured resources. While the initial setup may vary depending on the complexity of the environment, typically, configuring vCenter should not take more than a day. This process involves discovering and understanding the environment to ensure smooth integration with VMware infrastructure.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Server monitoring encompasses various solutions. For instance, managing tools like SolarWinds offers one approach. Additionally, Elastic provides a solution tailored for mobility monitoring.
What other advice do I have?
VMware provides visibility into the deployed infrastructure but does not directly address security concerns. For security-related tasks, VMware offers a separate solution called VMware NSX. NSX provides micro-segmentation and visibility into East-West traffic to enhance security measures.
Maintaining VMware vCenter is cost-effective. VMware provides regular security updates. It's important to consistently apply these updates and patches to ensure the security and stability of the environment. Additionally, there may be optional add-ons available for specific requirements or enhanced functionality.
I recommend the solution.
VMware vCenter has several advantages: ease of use, site integration, simplicity, and excellent visibility into virtualized environments. It offers straightforward management and scalability.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
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