The solution acts as the basis for doing virtualization.
Senior Information Technology Consultant at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
Stable, scalable, with good customer support and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
- "I definitely like the stability, performance and ease-of-use."
- "NSX is a product of VMware vSphere and it would be nice to see the solution have full integration capabilities with it."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I definitely like the stability, performance and ease-of-use.
I have no issues with the solution's scalability or user-friendliness. I consider these to be perfect. We have had a fantastic, problem-free solution for the past 14 years when it comes to fault tolerance and disaster recovery. It has everything one needs.
What needs improvement?
VMware vSphere has a limited scope and necessitates the adding of additional products. This involves further complexity and expense. NSX is a product of VMware vSphere and it would be nice to see the solution have full integration capabilities with it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSphere since 2007.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is certainly scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is nice. We are talking about a great organization, which offers much staff, support and white paper.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward, perfect.
This process for the initial server lasts ten minutes. There is also the console, which involves two parts, one being the server itself. This is where the CD-ROM goes, something which is now on a USB key and does not involve the undertaking of any activity.
Deployment lasts half a day, at which point everything is up and running.
The real question is whether the person wishes to have one server or a hundred. The use of 200 machines will take longer. What I am talking about is small, basic installations.
What about the implementation team?
If a person is trained, then he will be able handle the deployment and maintenance on his own. This is not complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our customers incur a yearly licensing fee, one of three or five years, in fact.
What other advice do I have?
We consider the solution to be obligatory.
The solution's use can range from ten users to thousands.
I would definitely recommend the solution to others. I am a big fan of it.
I rate VMware vSphere as a twenty out of ten. I give it a perfect ten rating.
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
Founder Director at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
A solid platform that's constantly innovating and has very helpful technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The latest innovation always comes from VMware."
- "The installation is complex and you need to have a good understanding in regards to what you are doing when you are setting it up."
What is our primary use case?
We provide basic VMware virtualization platforms basically for private clouds and hybrid clouds.
These are being used in the case of server consolidation for reducing the hardware sprawl and also, for a lot of the monitoring solutions now, so that companies can have their own virtual machines. For that, many of the clients need a virtualization platform. That's where we recommend vSphere.
What is most valuable?
It's the de facto leader in the virtualization market as of now and it's been the pioneer and it's got the maximum breadth of the features available across the virtualization sphere.
It has got almost all the features that one can expect to find in a solid platform. It has good features performance-wise and offers a very small footprint. They're top-class security-wise.
The latest innovation always comes from VMware.
The stability is very good.
The scalability is excellent.
What needs improvement?
While they have got enough integration as of now, they definitely need to get more cybersecurity integration as that is always beneficial.
The installation is complex and you need to have a good understanding in regards to what you are doing when you are setting it up.
The solution is relatively expensive. It's a big downside.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for six to seven years. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is excellent in terms of stability. There aren't issues around bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. the performance is reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is top-notch. There is nothing to complain about. It scales quite well.
We have about 50 to 60 customers that use the solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
The tech support is world-class and we are very happy with their level of service.
How was the initial setup?
Virtualization is always a challenge. It's never a straightforward task as there are so many variables and parameters to consider. There's nothing straightforward about virtualization. Having said that, vSphere is so widespread and available, that you get access to the knowledge and the resources you need to implement it very easily. In that sense, you don't really have to struggle too much regarding the installation. You get a lot of help, however, you need to know what you're getting into and what you're doing.
We have about three to four engineers who support VMware and then a couple of guys managing customers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The biggest pain when it comes to VMware is that licensing costs are pretty high.
The product itself has been around for so many years, I'm sure they can offer much better terms.
The licensing is paid on a yearly basis.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution at a ten out of ten.
I'd recommend the solution. Most people cannnot ignore VMware unless they are looking for something very, very, very, very minimal. It's best in class.
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
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chief Technology Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Stable, scalable, easy to install and has good tech support
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is very simple."
- "The integration with containers should be addressed."
What is our primary use case?
While we work with the latest version, we also support customers when it comes to backing up their older versions, meaning we work with a variety of different ones.
Many of our customers have their core infrastructure on vSphere platforms. They make use of the solution for their virtual environments when it comes to their educational and healthcare institutions.
What is most valuable?
We consider the virtualization of CPU and storage resources to be a valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
The integration with containers should be addressed. While they have started to integrate with Tanzu, the integration is not that good at the moment.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSphere for 15 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
As the solution has been around for a while, it's quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is easy to scale.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have take advantage of technical support. It is very good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very simple.
Its duration depends on how big the environment is. Huge ones may take several weeks for implementation, while smaller ones would take several days.
What about the implementation team?
Once the solution is deployed, there is a need for specific maintenance, as there are security vulnerabilities which must be considered, or new features or versions that may be put out.
We provide all the maintenance for the customers. As we also have services organizations, we manage some of these environments on the customers behalf.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
As the vSphere platform allows for a variety of additions, it is quite good. There is enterprise plus, enterprise and standard, so the pricing is not too bad.
What other advice do I have?
The solution is mostly deployed on-premises, although we also have cloud deployments.
This product is suitable for a company of any size.
The solution rates competitively against Nutanix and Microsoft. Overall, I feel it to be a pretty proven platform, although the underlying platform, or the management and features that surround it, are of secondary importance. BDI is the main focus.
I rate VMware vSphere as an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Principal Consultant at a mining and metals company with 1-10 employees
Great ability to redistribute loads, re-spin failed processes and monitor resource utilization
Pros and Cons
- "The ability to monitor resource utilization."
- "Inability to get to a single hypervisor environment to support a container environment."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for integrating data feeds from multiple applications.
What is most valuable?
The ability to redistribute loads, to re-spin failed processes, monitor resource utilization, and such are all valuable features in VMware. In industrial IoT, most elements end up being terrestrial. With VMware, especially when you're working with niche products, you can manage the integrated solution and multiple systems from a single pane of glass.
What needs improvement?
We're moving towards containerization and it was unclear what I'd have to do to support containerized environments alongside multiple systems of Linux and Windows. My aim was to get to a single hypervisor environment in which I could support a container environment as one of the array of other applications. Whether due to a lack of training or information, I was unable to get to that. Some people look at VMware as being an alternative to containerization, enabling them to dispense with solutions like Kubernetes and Docker in order to do away with VMware. That's not the reality and I'd like to have a transparent platform that can support all of them.
Aside from cost, I'd like to see some simplification in the solution. The main issue is manageability or scalability of skilled resources, the degree to which the product delivers a stable environment that can be managed by a less technical person.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very easy to scale, especially when you are trying to scale resource availability and the management of the solution. You need to have a degree of transparency across all those environments.
How are customer service and technical support?
I haven't personally had any contact with technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've deployed Docker as a standalone using Linux, multiple servers, etc. I'm currently learning Kubernetes so that I can create a new island in the chain and do a container, but I still have the other systems that continue to run in environments best suited to VMware.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward for a computer savvy guy. I haven't experienced any bugs or glitches. Our customers are generally small to medium size organizations.
What other advice do I have?
For now, I would go with VMware for the Windows and Linux environment and do Kubernetes as a new island in the chain for containers. For most organizations, the ideal is the number of other users of a solution, because they're the ones that find the problems before you. Going off into some experimental environment may sound great and you might have a good initial experience, but if you're going to be the only person walking the minefield, it may not be a good ending.
I rate VMware nine out of 10.
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.
Head Tim Infrastructure, and IT Security at a financial services firm with 201-500 employees
Helpful load balancing, reliable, and responsive technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The most important feature is the ability to balance the servers with Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). It is a very useful feature and should be mandatory for vSphere to have but it is only available in the enterprise edition. It should be available in all versions."
- "We are provided with a mini dashboard that has been improved in the latest version but it still could be better. The monitoring is now available on the vCenter dashboard and the vROps has been added to the basic version that had to be purchased separately before. A complete dashboard has always been provided with some competitors, such as Nutanix."
What is our primary use case?
Previously, we were using the conventional physical server but we now use the enterprise version of VMware vSphere to virtualize all of our servers. All of the servers in our company are now virtualized servers. In 2016, we do not know that virtualized servers can be monitored, we have implemented monitoring for the virtualized systems and management allowing us to create DR for the solution.
What is most valuable?
The most important feature is the ability to balance the servers with Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). It is a very useful feature and should be mandatory for vSphere to have but it is only available in the enterprise edition. It should be available in all versions.
What needs improvement?
We are provided with a mini dashboard that has been improved in the latest version but it still could be better. The monitoring is now available on the vCenter dashboard and the vROps has been added to the basic version that had to be purchased separately before. A complete dashboard has always been provided with some competitors, such as Nutanix.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for approximately seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is reliable.
How are customer service and technical support?
We have purchased the platinum technical support and they are responsive. They answer emails and telephone calls quickly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Hyper-V previously.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy but the security configuration is complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are on a perpetual license for VMware vSphere and the price can be expensive compared to other solutions, such as Hyper-V. They should lower their price.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have evaluated Nutanix.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others. I advise those wanting to use the solution to test it out and compare it to competitors.
I rate VMware vSphere 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.
Director Of Technology Operations at a transportation company with 1-10 employees
Responsive support, reliable, and has a good remote management interface
Pros and Cons
- "The virtualization, the remote management user interface, and the web console are most valuable."
- "The biggest room for improvement would be just simplicity. It is very intuitive, but it needs somebody with a lot of IT background."
What is our primary use case?
It is largely for workload virtualization.
How has it helped my organization?
Instead of having so many servers, we have got just two server nodes that are configured in high availability. We are running all our application servers, databases, and Linux and Windows systems on two servers. We've got about 12 virtual machines. If we didn't use VMware, we would have needed to buy 12 physical servers.
What is most valuable?
The virtualization, the remote management user interface, and the web console are most valuable.
What needs improvement?
The biggest room for improvement would be just simplicity. It is very intuitive, but it needs somebody with a lot of IT background.
The way VMware manages storage is not the best. Nutanix manages storage a little bit differently, but we are not using Nutanix. VMware needs to find a way to manage storage properly. There should be storage aggregation and better management of storage.
We tried to install drivers for 100 Gigabit Ethernet Mellanox, and it was very difficult to put third-party hardware and upgrade the servers. We had to roll back because it just wouldn't boot.
Its price definitely should be improved. Its pricing is on the expensive side.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution since 2017.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We tried to plug in more hardware, but the drivers were not seamless. We are using the OEM version for HPE because we are using HPE. It could be because it is yet to work with HPE hardware. HPE hardware works with Mellanox, but it just couldn't take Mellanox. We downloaded the Mellanox drivers from their website, but it just couldn't boot, so we had to roll back.
We have three administrators. The number of users varies over time. We started with 24, and because of COVID, we've reduced the number of people who can work in the office to about five.
How are customer service and technical support?
They are very responsive.
How was the initial setup?
Its initial setup is very straightforward. It is very easy to install.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
They can do better by giving better pricing. Their pricing is on the expensive side. As a matter of fact, we are considering switching to OpenStack.
We only work with perpetual licenses. As a company, we don't do subscriptions.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution any day. I would rate VMware vSphere a nine out of 10. It is excellent.
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 Account Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Simple to manage, user-friendly, and good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is user-friendly and easy to manage."
- "The installation can take a long time, they need to improve on the simplicity and length of the installation."
What is our primary use case?
This solution is used as a virtual and a clustered environment. We provide a minimum of two central storage server clusters and the maximum we have is for approximately four server clusters.
What is most valuable?
The solution is user-friendly and easy to manage.
What needs improvement?
The solution could improve by providing better information on what other products it is compatible with. For example, we have customers that do not like AMD Chipsets used with VMware but it is not a technical issue, they need to bring more awareness.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSphere for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have found the stability to be good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
we have approximately 50 customers using the solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
The customer service is good.
How was the initial setup?
The installation is straightforward because it comes with the appliance, you only have to deploy the appliance. The installation can take a long time, they need to improve on the simplicity and length of the installation.
All the customers who have the VMware have the vSphere because there is no single installation.
What about the implementation team?
We have five technicians for the installation and maintenance of the solutuion.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
There is a perpetual license for this solution and the support is a yearly subscription.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others. If you use VMware, then you need to use vSphere to manage the clusters.
I rate VMware vSphere 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. Partner
IT Manager at a legal firm with 51-200 employees
Scalable with a straightforward setup and good stability
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is quite good and very responsive."
- "The cost could always be lower."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the product as a server. Most of the work we do for our clients.
What is most valuable?
The product works very well for us. Over the last decade, it's been extremely dependable.
The initial setup is very straightforward.
The stability has been very good.
Technical support is quite good and very responsive.
The solution can scale well.
What needs improvement?
The product meets our needs pretty well. I can't recall noticing any missing features. It's pretty complete.
Our hopes are that it continuously keeps improving.
The cost could always be lower.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for about ten years or so. It's been about a decade. We've had it a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is excellent. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's extremely reliable and the performance has been good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is very, very scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so without any issues.
Our clients have users that vary anywhere from hundreds to thousands. Quite a few people are on it.
How are customer service and technical support?
We've dealt with technical support in the past and I would rate them very highly. They are helpful and responsive. They get us answers. We're quite satisfied with the level of support we receive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We didn't previously use a different solution. We've basically used this product since day one.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You can save quite a bit using this solution.
What other advice do I have?
We're just customers and end-users. We don't have any business relationship with VMware.
We use the latest version of the solution. I can't speak to the exact version number.
We're very happy with the solution overall. I'd rate it at a nine out of ten.
Using this product is a no-brainer. It's a really easy product to use. If you're looking at simply a VM or anything similar or anything cloud-based, it's pretty much exactly what you need.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2026
Product Categories
Server Virtualization SoftwarePopular Comparisons
Hyper-V
Proxmox VE
Red Hat OpenShift
Nutanix AHV Virtualization
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Oracle VM
Citrix XenServer
XCP-ng virtualization platform
IBM PowerVM
Virtuozzo Hybrid Server
OpenVZ
ISPsystem VMmanager
Buyer's Guide
Download our free VMware vSphere Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- VMware ESXi or VMware Workstation?
- What is the biggest difference between KVM and vSphere?
- VMware vs. Hyper-V - Which do you prefer?
- How does VMware ESXi compare to alternative virtualization solutions?
- VMware has been positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for four years. Agree/Disagree? Why?
- Proxmox vs ESXi/vSphere: What is your experience?
- Oracle VM vs. latest VMWare?
- Which is the most suitable blade server for VMware ESXi?
- What do each of the VMware and Citrix products do?
- What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?
















