On August 27, 2024, Broadcom announced the consolidation of VMware’s product ecosystem under a unified platform and subscription model: VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0. If you’re currently running a vSphere environment, you’re likely asking yourself, What does this change mean for my strategy, and should I make the move to VCF?
The answer lies in your current environment, licensing, operations, and larger IT roadmap. Below, you’ll find insights into the strategic drivers behind the shift, key considerations for IT leaders, and guidance on determining whether migration to VCF makes sense for you.
The Future of VMware: Broadcom’s Vision for VCF 9.0
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is not just one product. It’s an integrated infrastructure platform that brings together vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and the Aria Suite Lifecycle into a unified stack.
Broadcom positions VCF as the core of the VMware ecosystem. The shift to a unified platform can enable you to streamline operations more effectively, accelerate the adoption of AI and hybrid solutions, and provide more resilient and scalable infrastructure. Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, sees VCF as the culmination of VMware, saying,
"Most of you continue to be weighed down by your legacy infrastructure, and you're afraid to move forward. How do you let go of your IT path so you can build for the future?
Well, I can tell you for sure, the answer is not to run straight to public cloud as you did 5, 10 years ago. If you're going to do cloud, do it right: embrace VCF 9.0 and stay on-prem. VCF 9.0 is the culmination of 25 years of VMware technology and innovation. And this is the platform for the future."
Tan’s message underscores Broadcom’s intent to make VCF the backbone of on-prem and hybrid cloud modernization. For many IT teams, that means greater control over workloads, predictable costs, and a clearer path to integrating AI capabilities without a disruptive migration.
With VCF 9.0, enterprises gain a unified framework for compute, storage, and networking, so they can simplify operations, improve compliance automation, and enhance performance for modern applications.
5 Key Capabilities in VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0
- Unified Private Cloud Operations
Manage fleet-wide health, patching, and compliance from a single console. VCF 9.0 provides a consistent and reliable view of operational status across your entire environment, simplifying oversight for hybrid and on-premises workloads.
- Streamlined Cloud Consumption
Give developers a single interface to consume infrastructure as code. With support for Terraform providers, REST APIs, and VCF Automation blueprints, teams can provision and manage resources without juggling multiple tools or plugins.
- Run Virtual Machines and Containers Side by Side
Deploy bare-metal-speed VMs and fully managed Kubernetes clusters on one platform. Integrated Argo CD and native CI/CD hooks enable seamless movement of containerized applications from repository to production.
- Built-In Sovereignty and Security
Apply data residency tags, geo-fencing policies, and automated certificate rotation directly at the cluster level. VCF 9.0 ensures data remains compliant with sovereign policies while maintaining full operational control.
- Embedded Cost Visibility and Control
Built-in chargeback, showback, and cost management dashboards translate infrastructure usage into actionable financial insights. Business units can budget, scale, and manage infrastructure spend with real-time clarity.
What These Changes Mean for Existing VMware Customers
If you’re running VMware today, Cloud Foundation 9.0 changes what your next few years of IT planning will look like. Licensing, lifecycle management, and automation are all being reshaped under Broadcom’s new model. Understanding what’s new and what’s going away can help you decide whether to stay the course, upgrade, or explore alternatives. The following sections break down what these updates mean for your existing VMware environment, so you can make informed, confident decisions moving forward.
Lifecycle Management and Automation
With VCF 9.0, VMware refines lifecycle management and automation to simplify upgrades, reduce downtime, and maintain consistency across environments.
- Image-based lifecycle management is now mandatory for new clusters, replacing baseline (VUM-based) management for greater reliability and version control.
- Live Patch extends to more ESXi components, including the vmkernel, user-space, and NSX, allowing updates without rebooting hosts or migrating virtual machines.
- Mixed hardware cluster support enables administrators to manage multiple hardware vendors within the same cluster using unique image definitions.
- Global image management allows teams to apply and monitor compliance across multiple clusters or hosts from a single console.
- Reduced Downtime Update (RDU) streamlines vCenter patching and upgrades through the vSphere Client, CLI, or APIs, minimizing service interruptions.
- Lifecycle Manager automation supports centralized image application, compliance checks, and staged remediation across hybrid environments.
- Intelligent recommendations ensure hosts and vCenters remain aligned with supported versions, reducing upgrade risk and configuration drift.
Security Advancements
If you’re still running standalone vSphere environments, VCF 9.0’s security changes reflect VMware’s push toward built-in, automated hardening.
- TPM 2.0 Revision 1.59 support enhances hardware-based trust and encryption integrity for virtual machines.
- Custom Secure Boot certificates allow organizations to use their own PKI infrastructure for tighter control over trusted workloads.
- Embedded NSX and HA components now update automatically through the ESXi base image, ensuring critical networking and availability layers stay patched.
- Expanded Live Patch coverage reduces downtime by allowing kernel and NSX updates without rebooting hosts.
- Forensic snapshots and virtual hardware enhancements strengthen compliance, investigation, and data integrity.
Resource and Performance Optimization
VMware continues to refine how infrastructure resources are used, especially for memory- and GPU-intensive workloads.
- Memory Tiering with NVMe enables admins to expand available memory by using PCIe-based Flash as a secondary memory layer, lowering the total cost of ownership and improving VM density.
- Fast-Suspend-Resume (FSR) now performs dramatically faster for GPU-enabled virtual machines—reducing suspend times from ~42 seconds to ~2 seconds for certain workloads.
- Intelligent vSphere DRS for GPU workloads allows administrators to reserve GPU capacity for future use, improving planning and performance for AI/ML applications.
- vGPU visibility tools in vCenter make it easier to monitor GPU utilization and eliminate the need for manual tracking across large environments.
Application Performance and Licensing Efficiency
VCF 9.0 modernizes configuration control, ensuring environments stay aligned with supported versions.
- vSphere Configuration Profiles replace legacy Host Profiles, simplifying cluster configuration and compliance tracking.
- NSX integration through Configuration Profiles enables admins to apply transport node settings alongside other host configurations, creating a single source of truth for networking policies.
- Custom Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) allows organizations to define CPU and GPU compatibility baselines across mixed hardware generations, improving workload mobility.
- Lifecycle Manager’s recommendation engine automatically checks interoperability across vCenter and ESXi versions, reducing the risk of unsupported configurations during upgrades.
For existing customers, these improvements mean less manual tuning and fewer upgrade surprises.
Cost and Licensing Considerations
Broadcom’s move to a unified VMware Cloud Foundation model simplifies licensing and operations, but it also changes the structure of costs. Instead of purchasing separate licenses for vSphere, vSAN, and NSX, customers now license the entire VCF stack under a single entitlement.
For some organizations, this consolidation will streamline renewals and improve license management. For others—particularly those running smaller, specialized, or non-standard deployments—it may mean higher costs to maintain the same level of functionality they had before.
Key takeaways for current customers:
- Budget planning will need to adjust. Costs are now tied to cores and capacity under VCF’s bundled structure.
- Smaller environments may see price increases, especially if they previously licensed only select VMware components.
- VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) offers a lighter alternative for those not ready to adopt the full stack, though advanced capabilities like NSX and vSAN require VCF.
- Operational efficiency may offset costs over time, as unified management and automation reduce administrative overhead.
Vendor Dependence
VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 deepens integration across compute, storage, networking, and management, creating a more unified platform experience. While this brings operational consistency and tighter lifecycle control, it also increases customer dependency on VMware’s ecosystem:
- Shift to subscription-only licensing: All future VMware Cloud Foundation entitlements and upgrades require subscription licenses. Existing perpetual licenses can continue to run, but cannot be upgraded under the new model.
- Unified stack design: Core components like NSX and vSAN are now embedded within the VCF framework. This simplifies updates and compatibility but limits the ability to replace or decouple specific components.
- Migration complexity: Moving workloads to non-VMware platforms typically requires re-architecture and data conversion, as VCF’s automation and management tooling are purpose-built for its own stack.
- Strategic planning: With fewer modular options, customers may have less flexibility to negotiate contracts or adopt mixed-vendor architectures in the future.
Should You Upgrade to VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0?
If you are a current VMware customer, upgrading to VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 makes sense for organizations seeking infrastructure modernization, unified management, advanced automation, and support for AI/ML workloads. However, considering alternatives is worthwhile if you want to optimize long-term costs, avoid vendor dependency, or leverage features in emerging open-source or hybrid cloud virtualization platforms.
When to Upgrade to VCF 9.0
- Need for unified operations: VCF 9.0 integrates vSphere, vSAN, networking, and advanced services through a unified interface and orchestration, facilitating easier infrastructure and application deployment.
- Modernization and automation: If your IT roadmap includes private cloud adoption, Kubernetes, AI/ML, built-in security, and ransomware recovery, VCF 9.0 delivers strong capabilities.
- Cost predictability and transparency: The new model offers more granular control over resource allocation, immutable VM snapshots, enhanced scalability, and improved cost visibility compared to earlier VCF versions and public cloud alternatives.
- Lifecycle alignment considerations: You may need to upgrade if your current vSphere, vSAN, or NSX versions are nearing end of life or lack compatibility with new hardware.
When to Consider Alternative Virtualization Platforms
- Budget and licensing considerations: With VMware/Broadcom’s licensing changes, some organizations have found substantial cost advantages by switching to platforms such as Microsoft Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV, Proxmox VE, Red Hat Virtualization, or OpenStack.
- Avoiding vendor dependence: If vendor flexibility is a priority, open-source or multi-hypervisor strategies can provide more control over long-term architecture decisions.
- Simpler needs or specific integration: Smaller environments or workloads focused on VDI, dev/test, or specific application stacks may be better served by lighter or more specialized virtualization solutions.
- Migration strategy: For organizations pursuing cloud-native transformation, platforms built around hybrid or container-first models may align better with future goals.
How VLCM Can Support Your VCF Strategy
At VLCM, helping you Get IT Right means making sure every technology decision aligns with strategy, budget, and long-term goals. As a VMware partner, we help you determine whether VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 is the right move for you.
Our team can:
- Assess readiness: Evaluate your current VMware environment and identify compatibility with VCF 9.0.
- Review contracts and renewals: Examine existing VMware agreements, terms, and timelines to uncover cost and licensing implications.
- Plan migration or optimization: Design a migration or modernization roadmap that minimizes risk, disruption, and downtime.
Whether you’re planning to modernize or optimize your current virtualization environment, VCF 9.0 represents both an opportunity and a decision point that benefits from expert guidance. Connect with VLCM’s VMware experts to evaluate your environment, explore your options, and plan your next steps with confidence.