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VMware vCenter pros and cons

Vendor: VMware
4.3 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

VMware vCenter excels in centralized management, allowing administrators to handle virtual machines efficiently across multiple ESXi hosts.
The integration with VMware and third-party software is smooth, enhancing scalability and resource allocation.
VMware vCenter's DRS, high availability, and vMotion features are valuable for optimizing performance and ensuring seamless migration during maintenance.
The platform provides effective tools for performance monitoring, resource usage tracking, and optimizing virtual environments.
VMware vCenter significantly improves infrastructure management through virtualization, enabling remote operations and efficient resource scaling.

CONS

VMware vCenter requires purchasing additional VMware products for centralized management, contributing to higher costs.
The pricing and licensing model of VMware vCenter is expensive and has increased significantly, making it a drawback for smaller organizations.
There are complexities and bugs in the Fault Tolerance feature, making it difficult to manage and not ideal for customer offerings.
The technical support services of VMware vCenter need improvement, with room for faster response times and better support quality.
VMware vCenter has limited monitoring features and faces issues in transitioning to Broadcom, affecting scalability and upgrade management.
 

VMware vCenter Pros review quotes

Gaurav Sharma. - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 18, 2025
The integration of vCenter server with any software, whether from VMware or a third party, is smooth and straightforward.
SivaKuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 30, 2024
The performance monitoring tools within vCenter help track resource usage, identify performance bottlenecks, and optimize the efficiency of virtual environments.
AN
Apr 26, 2024
The DRS, high availability and manageable switches are the most valuable features of VMware vCenter
Learn what your peers think about VMware vCenter. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PurwandiPurwandi - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 12, 2024
It has significantly impacted our organization by facilitating troubleshooting and monitoring processes.
reviewer985575 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 23, 2024
The alerting mechanism is very good. VMware vCenter simplifies infrastructure management with its intuitive interface.
Bhaskar Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
May 27, 2024
I can say that the product is stable because we have been using the tool for the last fifteen years in our company, and there has been no issue.
KM
May 23, 2024
The initial setup is a very user-friendly process. Installation and configuration are easy.
Gus Thompson - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 1, 2024
The initial setup is straightforward even for complex environments with around 100 hosts.
Genesis Dapoza - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 1, 2024
We typically manage VMs after the OS is installed. vCenter simplifies VM management by allowing for the configuration and operation of VMs once an OS, like Windows, is installed.
Hoang Long Nguyen - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
The high availability feature is particularly valuable when a host goes down or experiences high usage, as it automatically migrates VMs to other hosts to balance performance.
 

VMware vCenter Cons review quotes

Gaurav Sharma. - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 18, 2025
There is a feature called Fault Tolerance (FT), which has been part of vCenter servers since the product's inception. However, it has a lot of complexity, and when my team tested it, we found it difficult to manage. It also has some bugs. Consequently, we decided not to offer any fault tolerance features to our customers.
SivaKuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 30, 2024
vCentre licensing cost is on the higher side as well.
AN
Apr 26, 2024
The licensing model of VMware vCenter can be improved
Learn what your peers think about VMware vCenter. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: August 2025.
867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
PurwandiPurwandi - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 12, 2024
Enhancing the product's capabilities on the backend could be beneficial.
reviewer985575 - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 23, 2024
If VMware integrates some features of their other solution into VMware vCenter, operational managers might find it beneficial. Many organizations prefer to maintain separate solution sets based on specific needs and data requirements.
Bhaskar Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
May 27, 2024
There have been some ongoing conflicts since VMware was taken over by Broadcom.
KM
May 23, 2024
We face some upgrade patch management issues.
Gus Thompson - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 1, 2024
It could display the status of the storage space in terabytes, the number of VMs, etc.
Genesis Dapoza - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 1, 2024
Sometimes, vCenter management can be difficult if you forget the password. You can't change or recover the password easily. We then have to reinstall vCenter, which means reconfiguring everything. That's a challenge we've encountered.
Hoang Long Nguyen - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 22, 2025
The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter.