Countdown to vSphere 7 end of support

October 2025 marked the official end of support for VMware vSphere 7.x.

For many organisations, this is more than a technical milestone, it’s a strategic inflexion point. Delaying action could expose your business to compliance breaches, operational instability, and spiralling costs.

Why acting now matters

When support ends, so do critical updates, patches, and security fixes. Without these safeguards, your infrastructure becomes vulnerable to cyber threats and performance degradation.

Regulatory compliance is another concern as unsupported software can put you at odds with industry standards, increasing audit risk.

The hidden costs of delay

Waiting until the last minute rarely saves money. In fact, it often leads to:

• Emergency consultancy fees due to compressed timelines.
• Downtime during peak periods impacts productivity and customer experience.
• Limited vendor availability, as demand spikes close to the deadline.
• Missed optimisation opportunities, such as leveraging funding programmes or modernising architecture.

These costs aren’t always visible on the balance sheet until it’s too late. A rushed migration can also lock you into suboptimal solutions, reducing flexibility for future cloud strategies.

Your assessment case: A strategic brief

Think of your migration plan as an assessment case - a briefcase packed with clarity and confidence. Inside, you’ll find:

• Current-state analysis of your VMware environment.
• Cost modelling for staying versus migrating.
• Risk mitigation strategies to avoid downtime and compliance issues.
• Funding opportunities that can offset migration costs.

This structured approach transforms uncertainty into a board-ready plan, enabling informed decisions without panic.

Options on the table

You’re not limited to a single path. Organisations are exploring:

1. Staying with VMware under new subscription models.
2. Migrating to AWS or other cloud-native platforms for agility and scalability.
3. Hybrid strategies that balance familiarity with future flexibility.

Each option carries different costs, performance, and compliance implications. The right choice depends on your business priorities, and that’s where an impartial assessment adds value.

Next steps

Don’t wait for the deadline to dictate your strategy. Start with a no-cost assessment to evaluate your environment, model your options, and build a defensible plan.

Acting now means avoiding last-minute chaos and turning disruption into opportunity.

Ready to take control of your VMware strategy?

Broadcom’s changes have created uncertainty in VMware estates, but you don’t have to figure it out alone. Through the Cloud Community, you’ get a privileged pass straight to a no-cost, no-obligation, board-ready assessment worth £15K.

These assessments give organisations the evidence needed to modernise and migrate confidently, ensuring they avoid overspending and maximise the return on their cloud investment.

Assessments are funded by AWS to help our community VMware customers evaluate the impact of changes to the VMware business model, by providing data-driven plans that identify cost savings, optimise licensing, and reduce migration risks.