VMware vSphere is the virtual platform for our company, where we host all the virtual machines.
Manager for Middleware at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Provides good virtualization and used to host virtual machines
Pros and Cons
- "We use the solution's vMotion feature to migrate VMs from one host to another across different environments and data centers."
- "It is not easy to upgrade VMware vSphere from an old version to a new version."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
We use the solution's vMotion feature to migrate VMs from one host to another across different environments and data centers.
What needs improvement?
It is not easy to upgrade VMware vSphere from an old version to a new version. We have to work with the support to upgrade the solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution an eight out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution a seven out of ten for scalability.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of the solution is not easy, but it's also not very complex. If you don't have experience working with VMware vSphere, it's pretty hard for you.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
VMware vSphere is a more mature and stable virtualization tool than Microsoft Hyper-V.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSphere saved us a lot of costs and easily deployed the server from templates. We use the solution to make capacity changes, increase the memory, and increase the CPU. The reason we use VMware vSphere is its high availability feature.
VMware vSphere integrates well with our existing IT security measures. We have all the agents on the VM and a central console for the security, patching for the security, and monitoring. My team has less than 1,000 VMs, and we have three resources working to support their virtualization.
I would recommend VMware vSphere to other users because it is the best virtualization solution in the market. From what I know, most companies use VMware vSphere.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT systems engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Allows for easy management of snapshots for virtual machines and good web console
Pros and Cons
- "The web console is the most valuable feature for me. Because no matter what happens with the server, I can still get to it with the web console."
- "There is room for improvement in Google Cloud. The reason thing there was, like, when I type something in the terminal and then immediately, I need to go to edit the certain like file for Node.js, for the server, or for Kubernetes. So I have to do it from the terminal to the editor."
What is our primary use case?
This solution has a very comfortable interface for snapshots for my virtual machines. That's very comfortable.
For example, if I want to make templates to create a certain type of virtual machine, I have it in vSphere. Moreover, it includes things like deployment, implementation of different templates, snapshot deleting snapshot, restoring a machine to snapshot or administrative administration things.
What is most valuable?
The web console is the most valuable feature for me. Because no matter what happens with the server, I can still get to it with the web console.
What needs improvement?
There is room for improvement in Google Cloud. The reason thing there was, like, when I type something in the terminal and then immediately, I need to go to edit the certain like file for Node.js, for the server, or for Kubernetes. So I have to do it from the terminal to the editor.
And for some reason, each time I had to switch, I had to literally switch between the terminal and the editor. I wish I could have it on one screen to have the terminal and on the other to have the editor. This would greatly improve my experience with this solution.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for a couple of years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. It is very stable, and I have never had any major problems with it.
There are over a few hundred users using this solution in our organization.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a solid eight out of ten. It is scalable enough for my needs, but there is always room for improvement.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was very easy and intuitive.
If I didn't understand something, this solution provides tons of information,e explanations, courses, and instructions on their website. We also live in a reality of chatbots and AI, so everything is very easy to set up.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise you to check out the VMware website and watch some of the initial and fundamental courses. The web console is very intuitive, but it can be helpful to see how it works before you start using it.
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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VMware vSphere
January 2026
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Owner at a construction company with 501-1,000 employees
Stable solution and easy to setup
Pros and Cons
- "I like stability and the organization of the different functions into the I#M feature which is also quite useful, quite stable."
- "In future releases, I would like to see less pricing. The license can be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is virtualization. All the clients who want to virtualize can use vSphere to do it.
What is most valuable?
I like stability and the organization of the different functions into the I#M feature which is also quite useful, quite stable. I would prefer the old solution because before, you had to install software on your client's desktop to administrate the environment. Since five or seven years, it's not needed. You can do everything through your web interface. And I prefer when it was more reactive, so when you have a client instead of using your desktop. But it's a good solution, quite stable and quite efficient.
What needs improvement?
In future releases, I would like to see less pricing. The license can be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used this solution for over 15 years. So it's one of the first products we've used with a client.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution. Around 20 to 30 customers are using this solution.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support are good. However, it could be faster and more qualified.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. It is intuitive-- Next. Next. Next. Next. Finish. Easy. Great.
What about the implementation team?
For the deployment process involves materials, equipment, licenses, and the availability of the client team.
It took about one or two hours for one server; it's okay. The deployment was super quick.
A team of engineers and admins is required to deploy and maintain the solution. We have a team of ten people.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing model is yearly-based. It is quite expensive. Moreover, there are extra costs to the standard licensing fees.
What other advice do I have?
I would definitely recommend using the solution. I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
I would advise to be sure that the functionality brought by VMware aligns with the good functionality because there are other products in the market like ISPs, KV M, Oracle, Microsoft, and some other stuff. And VMware is a well-known product. But to be sure that the functionality provided by VMware is needed.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Managing Director at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Useful for virtual machine virtualization and works as a hypervisor
Pros and Cons
- "The tool's most valuable features are CPU virtualization and RAM allocation, which are better than those of other hypervisors."
- "VMware vSphere requires a lot of paid add-ons that need to be integrated into it."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for virtual machine virtualization and as a hypervisor.
What is most valuable?
The tool's most valuable features are CPU virtualization and RAM allocation, which are better than those of other hypervisors.
What needs improvement?
VMware vSphere requires a lot of paid add-ons that need to be integrated into it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is highly stable. It is stable as long as there are no hardware and software issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
My company has hundreds of customers who use the product.
How are customer service and support?
I am very satisfied with the tool's technical support.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's deployment is straightforward. To implement it, you need to plan, deploy, and migrate the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's licensing is costlier than other hypervisors.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the overall product an eight out of ten. It doesn't have any significant security features, and you can only get it through add-ons.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
TEM Practice at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Hosts virtual services and allows you to move servers from one system to another
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of the solution are the overall virtualization technology and the new features that allow you to move servers from one system to another."
- "It would be good if the licensing cost of the solution could be cheaper."
What is our primary use case?
VMware vSphere is a very stable solution that can be used to host your virtual services. If you want to host a virtual machine, VMware vSphere is the best tool available on the market.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of the solution are the overall virtualization technology and the new features that allow you to move servers from one system to another. The solution's newer technologies allow you to do network-level isolation.
What needs improvement?
It would be good if the licensing cost of the solution could be cheaper.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSphere for five to ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution's scalability is also good because you can scale using your required hardware. At the same time, the VMware vSphere and VMware vCenter combination can allow you to scale up to a decent level. Around 100 users were using the solution in our organization.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's technical support was good and fast enough. The technical support team was able to help us with most of the problems we experienced.
How was the initial setup?
The installation and initial setup of the solution were simple because we had a team of people already familiar with VMware. Learning a newer version was never difficult for them. They could easily streamline into the newer versions and use them effectively. So, the learning curve was not that high for the team.
What was our ROI?
The biggest benefit we had with VMware vSphere is that we could provide effective service to our end customers. I was able to support multiple operating systems on VMware, which was the biggest value of the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
VMware vSphere on-premises is still cheaper than the cloud. It's the kind of technology you can always count on.
What other advice do I have?
VMware vSphere has helped us provide better services to our customers because we were able to provide them with stable service. The availability of our systems increased by using VMware products. The solution's security was adequate, but we were not using it extensively.
The solution's High Availability is definitely the factor that comes into the picture because you cannot have downtime in today's IT world. VMware becomes a core strength of the product. It gives you the required availability, scalability, and stability for the environment.
I have always been looking for a seamless cloud migration strategy, which has already been implemented. Now, you can easily migrate systems from on-premises to AWS or Azure cloud. It is easy to integrate VMware vSphere with other products.
Many people using the infrastructure on-premise sometimes want to use the additional capacity in the cloud for additional functionality. The version I used earlier did not have the functionality to move the server from on-premises to the cloud seamlessly. In the newer version, they already have established that part.
Overall, I rate the solution an 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.
Technical Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Easy-to-deploy product with user-friendly GUI
Pros and Cons
- "It is easy to deploy and find troubleshooting articles as well."
- "There could be an inbuilt dashboard for reporting purposes."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product for server virtualization.
What is most valuable?
VMware vSphere has a user-friendly GUI. It is easy to deploy and find troubleshooting articles as well.
What needs improvement?
There could be an inbuilt dashboard for reporting purposes. At present, we have to use another paid solution for the same.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vSphere for the last ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the product's stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the product's scalability a ten out of ten. We have a huge environment with VMware infrastructure for multiple users.
How are customer service and support?
We encountered some delays with the responses from the technical support team. The resolutions could be more informative.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used Citrix before. It could be more stable. Comparing both the solutions, VMware is better than Citrix.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is straightforward. It takes around four to five hours for end-to-end configuration. We have 60 to 70 engineers to manage the deployment.
What was our ROI?
The product helps us save around 20% to 30% of costs.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. I rate the pricing a three out of ten. They have multiple products with extra services. It increases the cost.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend VMware vSphere and rate it an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Head of Service and Storage Infrastructure at a manufacturing company with self employed
Strong performance, works well with large infrastructures but it is quite expensive
Pros and Cons
- "We primarily use vRealize to troubleshoot any issues that may arise with our virtual machines, which is the main reason why we believe this solution is excellent."
- "They must work on the price, as well as the technical support."
What is our primary use case?
It is primarily our server virtualization solution. We have approximately 2,000 servers, all of which are running VMware vSphere.
How has it helped my organization?
In terms of the benefits, I'll take you back to 2010, when we first implemented this solution. We only have physical servers, and we have a lot of projects because my company works in the energy industry.
We have many projects that could not be completed on physical servers because we have 2,000 servers.
If we were to do all of these projects on a physical server and our data center, we would have to travel all over the country. As a result, VMware aided us in server consolidation.
It aided us in server consolidation, and with VMware, we were able to provision applications for our customers very quickly. As a result, the time to manage was extremely short. So that is the advantage that we can find with VMware.
What is most valuable?
The product is extremely powerful.
We have had a module called vRealize for three years. We primarily use vRealize to troubleshoot any issues that may arise with our virtual machines, which is the main reason why we believe this solution is excellent. When a user has a problem, it does not have to be that his application is very slow or that it can't work. Using vRealize, we can determine which part of the solution is causing the problem and resolve it.
What needs improvement?
The cost is an area that could be improved. Today, there are many hypervisor solutions on the market that are less expensive and provide the same functionality. They share the same characteristics. I believe that one area where VMware can improve is in pricing, as we have found VMware products to be on the expensive side at times.
I'm only considering the VMware solution, with the cloud solution. I would like to see cloud integration, such as cloud service and cloud feature, in the vSphere license. That's exactly what I'm looking for.
In terms of cost, I believe there is room for improvement. They must work on the price, as well as the technical support.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using VMware vSphere for approximately 12 years.
Last year, we made some upgrades, and are now using the most recent version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of stability, we don't have any major issues with that product.
It is very reliable, and the product is very stable.
It is a strong product, and it is dependable. Most of the time we have not had any problems with this product. It doesn't happen very often, I believe the product is very good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
VMware vSphere is a scalable product. We had about five host servers, we gradually increased to 10, and now we have approximately 40 host servers running long VMware vSphere. It is simple to add a new server to the clusters.
We are a group of four administrators who are working on a solution. However, with VMware vSphere, we place software for the company, such as customers.
When I refer to the company, it's not the outside customers, I am referring to employees in company fields such as HR and accounting. We have 5,000 people working in our company, and they are all using the VMware vSphere software that we provide to them.
It is used on a daily basis because we are constantly confronted with the extension of results such as CPU, RAM, and storage. We use vSphere on a daily basis.
How are customer service and support?
We are pleased with VMware's vSphere global support.
If you give me a notation, on 10, 20, or something like that where the scale is set at 20, I will give them a 14 out of 20, because I believe they are no longer as good as they once were. The VMware support is now of lower quality. I will give them a 14 out of 20.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We started with VMware.
I already have VMware and Nutanix in my infrastructure.
How was the initial setup?
It wasn't difficult. I think I learned it about a month after I started, and I was able to deploy VMware vSphere.
This solution is being maintained by four administrators. We have 2,000 virtual machines, also known as VMs, and 40 host servers. We are a group of four people who do all of the patching and maintenance work.
What about the implementation team?
We had a consultant to help us with the initial setup.
What was our ROI?
Yes, I have seen a return on investment, but I am not the appropriate person to tell you about it. Our company is large in size. There are people working on it, doing economic studies to see if we can get a return on investment. What I can tell you is that there is a return on investment. But I can't tell you the specifics right now.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This solution is quite expensive, but it provides the same functionality as its competitors.
Today, you have the Nutanix Hypervisor, which I believe is AHV and is also very good. However, because our infrastructure is so large, we have Nutanix servers that are similar to Hyperconverged, but we run VMware on them. However, we have some other sites where we have installed the Nutanix Hypervisor, which is AHV. And it is effective. And it's free if you buy the Nutanix bundle.
The license is expensive. It is powered by the CPU. The more CPU' you have, the more you have to buy.
What other advice do I have?
I'll say that if you want the vSphere solution for all virtualization, you should first look at the size of your infrastructure. If it is small, you don't have to go to, as I previously stated, Hyper-V or another solution. However, if you are starting with a medium or large size, you should use a solution like VMware because its performance is very strong. And, because we have a large infrastructure, we can see that it works very well. This is my advice to anyone looking for server virtualization software.
I would rate VMware vSphere a seven out of ten. It has been difficult for me to find a VMware engineer to work on my project. They don't seem to be very close to the customers, in my opinion. That is the main reason I gave this score of seven 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.
IT INFRASTRUTURE CONSULTANT at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
A robust virtualization platform renowned for its comprehensive features, high stability and strong support
Pros and Cons
- "It stands out as a comprehensive and advantageous solution, providing a full package that effectively caters to our needs for managing our private cloud."
- "It would be highly beneficial for VMware to collaborate with local hosts and partners in countries like those in Africa to establish specific pricing that would align with the economic conditions of countries in Africa, ensuring suitability and compatibility with our consumption capabilities."
What is our primary use case?
We use it exclusively for internal purposes within our company, managing our office infrastructure as a private cloud solution.
How has it helped my organization?
It stands out as a comprehensive and advantageous solution, providing a full package that effectively caters to our needs for managing our private cloud.
What is most valuable?
The most significant aspects for us are the invaluable features of High Availability and vMotion in VMware. Additionally, the seamless sharing of resources and numerous other robust features make it highly commendable. Specifically, the capability to implement a load balancer between hosted environments without any downtime is particularly appreciated, underscoring the platform's reliability and advanced functionality.
What needs improvement?
The current concern revolves around the pricing as it might be less affordable for certain regions. In countries like Tunisia and many others in Africa, there seems to be a challenge regarding the cost of licensing.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with it for ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is robust and stable, rating it a perfect score of ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It offers good scalability. I would rate it eight out of ten. It's a small organization, with one hundred users.
How are customer service and support?
It boasts robust support. I've collaborated with local partners in Tunisia, and their operations, coupled with same-day support, have proven highly responsive. I would rate the support experience a solid ten out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have experience working with Hyper-V, and when comparing stability, VMware surpasses it across various generations. While Hyper-V has shown improvement in newer versions, it hasn't reached the level of stability that VMware consistently delivers.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is relatively straightforward. I would rate it eight out of ten.
What about the implementation team?
For deployment, it typically takes around two to three days with minimal configuration. One person is often sufficient for handling such setups. It's worth noting that if we opt for solutions like Analytics or other complex configurations, the need for additional personnel may arise, but for straightforward deployments, a single person can effectively manage the process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I find it highly expensive. I would rate it ten out of ten. It would be highly beneficial for VMware to collaborate with local hosts and partners in countries like those in Africa to establish specific pricing that would align with the economic conditions of countries in Africa, ensuring suitability and compatibility with our consumption capabilities.
What other advice do I have?
In instances where organizations operate on robust infrastructures and budget constraints are not a significant concern, my usual recommendation is VMware. This is especially true for financial companies that prioritize investing in and managing critical software solutions without financial constraints. Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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