Legacy VM Footprints are Holding Back Digital Transformation

Enterprises in 2026 are under increasing pressure to modernize applications, adopt hybrid cloud architectures, and streamline operations—but their expanding and aging VMware footprints have become a major obstacle. As VMware licensing models evolve and operational costs climb, reducing or restructuring this footprint has become just as critical as adopting new platforms.

This has driven a surge of interest in migrating off—or strategically shrinking—VMware environments to lower licensing overhead, regain architectural flexibility, automate routine operations, and move toward container-ready platforms without sacrificing performance, data consistency, or business continuity.

The VMware footprint itself has become a barrier to modernization—one that enterprises can no longer afford to ignore.

New Realities Driving VM Footprint Reduction

Across industries, several trends are reshaping how organizations approach infrastructure modernization and workload mobility:

Rising pressure to optimize virtualization licensing

Many enterprises are reevaluating costs associated with traditional virtualization platforms. According to Channel Dive, 86% of organizations are actively reducing their VMware footprints in 2026. As IT budgets tighten, cost to value scrutiny is accelerating this trend.

Hybrid cloud architectures are becoming the standard

Organizations using and designing hybrid cloud models require infrastructure that supports workload mobility without locking the organization into a single platform. With only 4% of organizations successfully migrating off VMware in the last year, according to Tech Radar, the obvious solution is to modernize.

Modernization efforts frequently include positioning the data center to support containerized environments, especially platforms like Red Hat OpenShift, which integrate application modernization with operational consistency.

Automation is enabling scale

Modern IT teams increasingly rely on automation to manage the scale and complexity of large VM environments. Automated runbooks, orchestrated workflows, and integrated replication frameworks reduce risk while enabling faster, more predictable migrations. The complexity of the task is perpetuated by a lack of skills, with 1 in 3 enterprises operating with a deficit of knowledge in the area.

3 Non-negotiables for Selecting a Migration Solution

When selecting a migration and modernization strategy, enterprises should evaluate potential solutions against several criteria:

1. Automation and scale, and operational efficiency

Automated orchestration reduces manual work, shortens migration windows, and increases the repeatability of core operations. Integration between storage systems and virtualization platforms is essential for scaling migration activities to thousands of VMs.

2. Hybrid cloud and container alignment

Solutions must support an organization’s trajectory toward hybrid cloud models and containerized platforms. Infrastructure that provides a clear path to OpenShift and cloud-native technologies offers greater long-term value.

3. Cost simplification

Organizations increasingly seek to reduce licensing dependencies and streamline operational overhead. Solutions that lower total cost of ownership while modernizing the underlying infrastructure provide significant strategic advantage.

The ROI of Digital Transformation at Scale

A validated reference architecture combining Hitachi VSP One Block with VMware Live Site Recovery (VLSR) offers a comprehensive, low-risk approach to large-scale VM migration that directly aligns with enterprise modernization goals.

This validated solution empowers IT teams to modernize infrastructure with confidence. Using the solution, enterprises gain:

• Reduce VM footprints by disentangling from aging clusters, moving them in controlled phases, and decommissioning unused capacity
• Spend less time on manual processes with automated orchestration, simplified operational complexity, and minimized human error during large-scale migrations
• Decrease licensing and operational costs by consolidating environments and preparing for container-ready architectures
• Increase operational efficiency through automation that reduces manual effort and human error
• Consolidate workloads onto a resilient, future-proof platform

By combining VSP One enterprise automation and performance with VLSR, enterprises can migrate large VM environments at scale, maintain business continuity, and lay the groundwork for hybrid cloud transformation.

The Hitachi Vantara Advantage

For organizations looking to reduce costs, modernize applications, and embrace hybrid cloud benefits, this reference architecture demonstrates a proven, low-risk approach to large-scale VM migration while preparing the enterprise for next-generation workloads.

Learn more about Hitachi Vantara’s seamless integration across VMware’s entire ecosystem, offering new levels of availability and elasticity that modern workloads demand.