Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in the adoption of VMware among public schools as a solution for distance learning. However, since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, prices have increased significantly, creating financial constraints for educational IT departments. This has resulted in delayed or abandoned projects, including curriculum improvements and virtual machine creation. The situation is particularly challenging for schools with limited resources, which may be forced to redirect IT staff towards migration projects, sacrificing other essential tasks.
The Rising Cost of VMware
When the pandemic hit, public schools were among those that turned to VMware as a solution for distance learning. Thousands of school districts adopted virtualization, and the technology became a staple in many educational institutions. However, the situation has changed since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware. The platform now features higher prices and a business strategy that favors big spenders. This has created unique problems for educational IT departments juggling restrictive budgets and multiple technology vendors with children’s needs.
According to an IT director at a public school district in Indiana, which had started using VMware’s vSAN and vSphere virtualization platforms in 2019, the district was priced out of VMware after Broadcom’s acquisition. The quote received by the district was "three to six" times higher than expected, which came as the school district is looking to manage changes in education-related taxes and funding over the next few years. As a result, the district’s migration from VMware is taking IT resources away from other projects, including those aimed at improving curriculum.
The Indiana school district has been trying to bolster its technology curriculum through a summer employment program for upperclassmen that teaches how to use real-world IT products. However, the district can no longer provide virtual machines for creating test environments due to the high cost of VMware. This has created a learning "barrier," as the IT director put it.
Compatibility Problems and Migration Challenges
Migrating off of VMware hasn’t only resulted in delayed projects but also brought complications for the Indiana school district’s HCI hardware. The district’s IT director reported that Dell won’t provide long-term support for the hardware if it’s not running VMware, despite reportedly touting a "10-year lifespan" on the devices when the district first bought them. This has forced the IT team to repurpose the hardware without Dell support.
The Indiana district is now using the unsupported hardware, and the IT director described their situation as "flying blind." The district had already invested $250,000 in the system over six years, making it impossible for them to afford a new stack of server hardware with new support.
Consequences for Educational Institutions
The consequences of Broadcom’s pricing strategy are not limited to the Indiana school district. Mohammad Haque, co-founder and CTO at Propeller, which sells a fully managed virtual desktop infrastructure platform built on Amazon Web Services, has seen schools being forced to redirect IT resources towards migration projects. "Projects are being re-prioritized and/or scrapped," Haque said via email.
Haque also noted that schools that had not yet adopted virtual desktops are either delaying these projects or dropping the plan/effort completely. Others that have already deployed virtual desktops are prioritizing migration projects to move away from VMware before their current contract/subscription ends.
Case Study: Idaho Falls School District 91
The situation is not unique to the Indiana school district. In Idaho, VMware was part of Idaho Falls School District 91’s IT setup since at least 2008. The district operated about 80 VMs running on four ESXi hosts, all managed centrally through vCenter. However, after Broadcom stopped selling perpetual licenses for VMware and bundled VMware products into a smaller number of SKUs, the prices became too high.
Donovan Gregory, the district’s IT SysNet administrator, told Ars that Broadcom’s initial renewal quote was nearly triple their previous cost and higher than Scale, Nutanix, or other alternatives they evaluated. The main driver for their move to Scale Computing was the pricing shift.
After a two-month migration, Idaho Falls School District 91 hasn’t used VMware since late August. One of the biggest migration challenges the district faced was finding new software providers that could support its move to Scale Computing. Gregory explained that three of their major software providers initially claimed their systems wouldn’t run in a non-VMware virtual environment.
Conclusion
The rising cost of VMware has created significant financial constraints for educational IT departments, forcing schools to redirect resources away from other essential tasks. The situation is particularly challenging for schools with limited resources, which may be forced to sacrifice curriculum improvements and other projects. As the technology landscape continues to evolve, it’s essential for educational institutions to carefully consider their options and make informed decisions about their technology investments.
The case studies presented above demonstrate that the consequences of Broadcom’s pricing strategy are far-reaching and have a significant impact on educational institutions. It’s time for schools to explore alternative solutions that offer more flexibility and affordability. By doing so, they can ensure that their students continue to receive the best possible education, despite the challenges posed by the rising cost of VMware.