- DRS (compute and storage) is one of the best features for practical purposes.
- HA is a great feature, but if you keep hosts patched, HA doesn’t come into play. It’s not a day-to-day feature you use.
- Ability to vMotion across clusters. We took smaller clusters and consolidated them into one mega cluster because of the ability to vMotion from other clusters live into newly-created clusters.
Virtualization Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
We can consolidate machines that aren't using computer resources into an environment where they can all exist without performance degradation.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
The consolidation. Pre-VM, we had pain transporting applications from one physical machine to another. Now, we can consolidate machines that aren't using computer resources into an environment where they can all exist without performance degradation.
What needs improvement?
I'm excited to see in 6.0 the enhanced vMotion capabilities to connect our Phoenix, AZ and Culpepper, VA datacenters. It will have the ability to geo-vMotion instead of just metro-vMotion machines.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Now, it's much better than used to be. HA doesn’t even come into play, but you must manage the environment to maintain that.
There’s some bugs (zero uptime bug, and RAM disk issue), but those were resolved. They were hiccups/annoyances.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Phenomenal. Multiple 32-node clusters and 6.0 can support 64 nodes. Don’t know if we will get that large because it gets unwieldy, and will be hard to vMotion all of that off one host onto another and patch within a reasonable amount of time. It’s so condensed in clusters that it makes it hard to maintain.
How are customer service and support?
Periodically used as sounding board for things we want to do. Not high marks, though, because first-level support is not knowledgeable. I would rather rely on peers in blogs, forums, etc. Also, sometimes they're not communicative.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
How was the initial setup?
Involved in the beginning with v2.5, not overly difficult (in ESXi had to come up with some scripts, because at the time it didn’t have a GUI).
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Consider the scale of environment, especially if you're in a position to have closeted datacenter. It’s self-contained and cost-effective.
What other advice do I have?
vSphere is great, I’ve made a career of it.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

CIO at a insurance company with 51-200 employees
I have central management of all our servers and can deploy a server quickly with low hardware cost and high ROI.
Valuable Features
The management piece of it, being able to see what all my servers are doing from one central place.
Improvements to My Organization
Higher return on investment, reduced cost of hardware, and central management which is key. The most important part is that it's nimble – I can deploy a server in minutes.
Room for Improvement
The product is perfect the way it is for us, for our needs.
Stability Issues
Very stable – extremely so.
Scalability Issues
Easy to scale – able to scale out as we need.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Depending on what technical level you are on, they are responsive and very knowledgeable. Any time I have to use them a solution is forthcoming within 24 hours.
Initial Setup
Somewhere in the middle – you have to know what you’re doing and have some knowledge. One thing with these products, is that the more you use them the easier it is.
Other Solutions Considered
We looked at Microsoft, and we looked at the viability of the product, technical support, and ease of use. VMware was chosen because of its ease of use, and the product itself.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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VMware vSphere
June 2025

Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: June 2025.
861,490 professionals have used our research since 2012.
System Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
We're able to manage our infrastructure of 12,000 users from a central location, although the web client, which uses HTML5, could be better.
What is most valuable?
We're able to centrally manage our infrastructure.
How has it helped my organization?
Its ability to tie into Veeam is really slick – that makes using Veeam really easy.
What needs improvement?
I'd like to see a different client. I know they are doing the HTML5 stuff with the web client, which has potential, but it could be better.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I think it’s great – we've never had any issues and we've been using it for a long time, about five years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think it's really good, it's good for our size and for our future growth. Our company has around 12,000 users.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven’t had a lot of interaction because I haven’t really needed to, but when I have they’ve been responsive and support has been good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No. Our parent company has Hyper-V and it’s no good.
How was the initial setup?
It’s pretty straightforward, not complex at all.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I would highlight compatibility with hosts, ease of use, consistency, reliability – all things that are better than Hyper-V.
What other advice do I have?
Peer reviews are significant, but you can tell the most from firsthand experience.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
vSphere Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
It's given us automation capabilities for server provisioning and management of configurations, although the main feature suite should include those from vCloud and vRealize.
Valuable Features
It only breaks predictively.
Improvements to My Organization
- It's saved us costs for power and cooling.
- It's given us automation capabilities for server provisioning and management of configurations.
Room for Improvement
I'd like to see more trickle down features from vCloud/vRealize to the main feature suite.
Stability Issues
Tentatively favorable – we haven’t had a lot of outages just wary about future upgrade ability.
Scalability Issues
I would go with unknown at this point – we're kind of small, at best were medium sized, so we're not sure what our scaling needs will be. It is not close to the maximum.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Good technical support – response time was good/ average.
Initial Setup
Can be straightforward, but it can be complex, depending on the size and what you're trying to do.
Other Advice
It's easier to deploy if you have someone very knowledgeable. Use peer reviews; they're very important.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager of Corporate Systems at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's a stable product, scales out well, and provides us with the ability to recover from hardware failures.
Valuable Features
DRS and vMotion are the most valuable features.
Improvements to My Organization
Recovery from hardware failures is easier than before, growth is much easier, and it's very easy to scale out.
Room for Improvement
I don’t know that I'm looking for any improvements. I'm looking to use additional features that are already out there, and different additional products that they have out there.
Stability Issues
Good – rarely have any problems.
Scalability Issues
Very easy to grow out and scale.
Customer Service and Technical Support
It depends on the issue, sometimes we call the support and talk to them but many times it's just an issue of going on to forums and see how other people are dealing with the issue.
Initial Setup
Very straightforward – no problems setting up.
Other Solutions Considered
Potential vendors have got to provide a benefit which is hopefully not an additional cost. Or, at least be able to make up for that cost somewhere else.
Other Advice
Peer reviews, are very important. I prefer to start with those before I contact the vendors.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Asst. manager System Operations with 1,001-5,000 employees
Along with the features of clustering and High Availability, it's also reduced our total cost of ownership and operational time.
What is most valuable?
The clustering and High Availability features are very useful and valuable.
How has it helped my organization?
After implementing VMware alongside some HP solutions, the total ownership cost was reduced significantly, and operational time was also reduced, which resulted in increased productivity and efficiency.
What needs improvement?
Management features for multi-vendor products for complex environment need work.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have six years of core experience in design and configuring VMware solutions.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
No issues encountered.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No issues encountered.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No issues encountered.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
9/10.
Technical Support:9/10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We started virtualization with Microsoft Hyper-V v2, but VMware products are more stable and scalable.
How was the initial setup?
It's straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The first implementation was done by a vendor team, and after that we completed three upgrade project cycles in house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost of licensing is bit on the high side.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We also looked at Microsoft Hyper-V v2.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager of Technical Support at a retailer with 501-1,000 employees
I'm able to single-handedly manage 22 virtualized servers on one set of hosts, and the DR helps me bring systems back up.
Valuable Features
As a manager, it’s easier for management, as I don’t have a lot of physical servers with them possibly failing. I’ve been slowly getting all the servers virtualized by adding more hosts.
Improvements to My Organization
The disaster recovery solution is so much better to use, to bring systems back up. I’m one person, so I’m managing 22 servers on one set of hosts, and it’s so much easier when I can do it on just one.
Room for Improvement
I don’t think we're large enough to use it like some other firms do, so v5 is perfectly fine for me. We’re running v6 now, but we really don’t even need that.
Use of Solution
I’ve been running it for more than a year now.
Stability Issues
We have to get another host because of growth, and I had some issues with my backup software in the beginning, and since then, it’s been running great.
Scalability Issues
We’re growing only because we’re realizing that we need to switch from physical to virtuals, plus we are launching a few new products causing for new products. Now we’re going from two to three hosts. They’ve been great so far.
Customer Service and Technical Support
I would’ve said it was excellent until the last case. vSphere was running a bit slow, and the last case it took the guys weeks to get back to me. It was a minor issue. and perhaps that was why. The diagnostic logs were sent, and it took weeks before they got back to me.
Initial Setup
I had help, but I would say it was fairly straightforward. At that time, I hadn’t even been to a class, so it was very new to me.
Implementation Team
We had two vendors come in, and one was quoting a SAN that was ridiculously expensive (I don’t remember who), but the other vendor, which was BPI information systems, came in with a cheaper SAN solution, because that’s where your cost is. We ran it and we’ve had no problems. My environment’s probably smaller than an enterprise, however.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
The cost of hardware and maintenance is something we always look at. I was am one person, and it was getting too complicated to keep the physical servers running for, so we needed to switch to virtualization.
Other Solutions Considered
I reviewed Hyper-V, but everybody uses VMware. We really only looked at VMware though as consultants recommended it. I knew I wanted to go there.
Other Advice
The support could be a bit better. I would do the same thing that I do.
I don’t have a very big network because I’m so busy, but I count on my consultants and information system networks a lot. After, I’ll research a lot on the internet to back up what we’re doing.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
System Engineer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It performs reliably and performs VM snapshot consolidation well without unnecessary tweaking by me.
Valuable Features
VM snapshot consolidation. It does that extremely well.
Improvements to My Organization
Reliability, it just runs without you worrying about it all the time. I don’t have to tweak it, don’t have to really do anything. It’s easy to use as well.
Room for Improvement
I really don’t have much to complain about as we don’t need very much, so we really are happy where we are right now. However, they could do with bringing back the regular GUI.
Stability Issues
Fairly stable, doesn't crash, and does what it needs to do. It’s great.
Scalability Issues
We’ve only scaled a little bit. We’re not super large, but it definitenly is somewhat easy to scale up. The hardest part is the physical connectivity to disparate networks, which VMware can’t really control.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Excellent, it’s very smooth. You call with your problem, you get to the right person quickly, and they dive in and resolve the issue quickly. If it’s not a VMware issue, they’re very good at letting you know where the issue resides at.
Initial Setup
It’s fairly easy to set up. There’s always a little bit of a question of what comes first, the host of the virtualization of the vCenter server, but it’s not too hard to figure out.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
I’d highly likely to recommend VSphere, but the only thing that’s prohibiting the switching is cost, as it definitely is expensive.
Other Advice
We always look at responsiveness, availability, and willingness to work on a partnership when choosing a provider. I believe we continuously still look at updates, and sadly we still have some Hyper-V. It’s hard to cost justify switching over for vSphere, as Windows Data Center is just so cheap. But vSphere is definitely better if you ignore costs.
If I’ve never worked with a product, and I’m comparing apples to apples across the board, I definitely have to look at what peers are saying in helping me reach my decision.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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