Let’s face it: pointing out the flaws in post-Broadcom VMware is low-hanging fruit. Everybody’s doing it. But with Broadcom embodying the platonic ideal of ‘things that haven’t aged well’ with their promise to not increase prices, and then increasing those prices up to five to ten times what organizations paid previously within a few months of acquisition, I thought it was worth highlighting that there is a viable escape route for businesses that can’t accept these corporate takeover shenanigans any longer.
1. Licensing that doesn’t require an 18 page whitepaper to understand
Yes, really. At this time of writing, explaining vSphere licensing alone takes VMware 18 pages.
For VM Squared, it takes only one. And, spoiler warning: it’s a short page.
2. Software features that weren’t tacked on as an afterthought
VMware has the kind of ecosystem that is an interesting study in evolution, but not exactly a fun place to hang out. The company’s 20 year acquisition strategy has led to a hodgepodge of software that tries to be everything to everyone, resulting in unnecessarily complexity, resource usage and interoperability challenges.
VM Squared is built from components that cover the most common virtualization requirements for organizations. It won’t water your plants or walk your dog. It does what it says on the tin, and it does it well.
3. Multi-tenancy out of the box, no extra licenses needed
Sure, you can manage multi-tenancy (to an extent) with VMware. Just be sure you can afford the extra costs involved. And all the extra resources vCloudDirector (which you won’t be able to buy without joining the partner program) needs to run.
With VM Squared, you get multi-tenancy at no additional cost.
4. An included marketplace for cloud apps and images
Much like the multi-tenancy situation, you’ll need to buy additional software for a marketplace, which will set you back $350 per core a year. Plus, storage costs will rise above the included minimum; $210K per TiB a year for vSAN. That’s painful. Want a firewall with that? Add another $120 a year per core!
Amplifier, our image and app marketplace, is, on the other hand, included in VM Squared by default. We include a firewall too; we think that every solution should have a firewall in 2024.
5. A management stack that doesn’t consume resources like a paper towel dropped into the deep fryer
A complete VMware management stack is a beast when it comes to infrastructure demands. The mandated VMware Validated Design for vRealize, NSX and vCenter in vCloud Foundation alone has grown to 170 CPU cores, more than 512GB of RAM and in excess of 10TB disk space.
VM Squared has the advantage of not being built on cobbled-together legacy software, and requires far, far fewer resources to run.
6. Manage everything from a single dashboard, not a horde of disparate interfaces
You need multiple specialists within your organization if you want to keep the virtual lights on with VMware. And every extra feature you add requires their own user interfaces, upgrade schedules and compatibility requirements. With this kind of complexity, time is a resource your team definitely won’t have.
Compare this with VM Squared, where everything is managed through a single, clean, intuitive dashboard. Take a look at it in action to see what I mean.
7. Greater security through a small attack surface and one-click updates
With a proprietary tangle of 20+ year old code, VMware is subject to a slew of CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) every year including a recent VM sandbox escape and 9.9/10 severity unauthenticated access to Aria (formerly vRealize). VMware’s complex stew of ancient code creates more room for human error, which isn’t helped by an increasingly small number of staff who have to maintain the sprawling code base. Then there’s the complexity-induced configuration slip-ups from the customers on the other end.
At SoftIron, security is at the foundation of everything we do. It’s why we design and manufacture our own hardware for our private cloud platform, HyperCloud. VM Squared is no different, and with a small attack surface and one-click software updates included as part of your license, staying up to date with security patches is easy. A single, clean dashboard to manage your solution is not only easy to use, it reduces your attack surface and keeps your data safe.
