VMware vSphere Foundation Reviews

We deploy various technologies like Python, Node.js, and other applications on our on-prem infrastructure. We mainly use VMware for testing purposes.

Our production environment is on the cloud, while our UAT (User Acceptance Testing) environment is on VMware. All the deployments and changes are tested on VMware first.

The product has remained largely the same. I previously used VMware ESXi, and while it's now a licensed product, the core features haven’t changed much.

Compared to older versions, the current version provides better visibility into hardware usage, including bare-metal usage. It helps us see whether our configuration is adequate and prompts us with questions if there are potential issues, asking whether we want to proceed.

The visibility feature is very helpful. These features have improved the IT efficiency significantly. 

You can have the best product in the world, but if it’s not accessible to customers, it doesn’t matter. That’s my main concern.

People might be confused about where to purchase the product like vSphere. I don't even know who handles this.

Broadcom hasn't advertised much since the merger. So, are the same vendors who used to work with VMware still handling purchases? No one really knows.

The only obstacle is the purchase of the product. If you're trying to buy a product and you can't find vendors that provide support or product details, then who will help with the purchase?

The only challenge was procurement. Other than that, everything has been smooth. No issues.

I’ve been working with VMware since 2015. After the Broadcom acquisition, the process of purchasing products became more difficult. We no longer had clear contacts from Broadcom, and it was challenging to place orders or even know who to reach out to for support. Before this, I had no issues with VMware.

I work with version 8. 

I would rate the stability a six out of ten.  It still has room to improve.

Since, I haven’t explored the product in-depth yet.

Since we use it in our UAT environment, I don’t think any issues with scalability would currently affect our business. If we were using it in production, that might be a different story.

I would rate the scalability a six out of ten. I need more time to explore. I want to understand all the options it offers and how they can benefit our business.

Some VMs are used by all employees if they are in the repository. Other VMs are for project-oriented deployments, and only about ten to fifteen members access those.

We plan to increase the usage of vSphere Foundation in the future.

At my current company, I work with Intel severs, Dell, and VMware. As a technical professional, I provide solutions for organizations. I work with both physical hardware and cloud technology.

It’s easy to set up. No issues at all. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, with ten being the easiest. 

It took around 45 minutes to deploy it. It was pretty quick. 

For deployment, we took backups of VMs, like email backups. While doing that, we exported the VMs as well.

For us, with only two servers, one person was enough.

We don’t need a large team for maintenance. If it's something specific to voice, we might need an expert, but for VMware, we don’t need a dedicated person to manage it.

I haven't needed any support for installation or anything.

There will be organizational value because after upgrading, there are many features we still need to explore and engage with the business. Once that happens, we'll see the value. We haven't seen a direct return on investment yet.

The purchasing process became more complicated after the merger with Broadcom. We don’t have the same level of access to Broadcom representatives as we did with VMware. It’s difficult to know who to contact for support or where to submit orders.

I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, with one being very cheap and ten being very expensive. It's quite expensive because you can get a cloud instance at a lower cost for the same configuration.

The price could be lower.

I was working on VMware ESXi. It's an open-source tool. We wanted to upgrade our infrastructure. So, it was an upgrade.

We had a lot of data on other options, but this one was user-friendly.

So user-friendliness was the crucial factor for me.

I would rate it a six out of ten. If the pricing and procurement process are addressed, it could be a good product. Those are the main concerns. There’s competition like Microsoft Hyper-V, which is cheaper than VMware.

Our primary use case for VMware vSphere Foundation is virtualization.

The most beneficial features of VMware vSphere Foundation for IT infrastructure are its licensing, scalability features, and user-friendliness.

The area where VMware vSphere Foundation has room for improvement is in its licensing.

I have more than ten years of experience reselling these VMware solutions.

I'd rate the stability of VMware vSphere Foundation at ten out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of VMware vSphere Foundation on a scale from one to ten.

I rate VMware's technical support at eight or nine out of ten. I have not seen any troubles with technical support or any long-term waiting as mentioned by my clients.

Positive

Regarding the initial setup, VMware vSphere Foundation is a straightforward solution, although it can be a bit complex.

The pricing and licensing of VMware vSphere Foundation is quite expensive. I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, where ten is expensive.

Based on my experience, I would wholeheartedly recommend VMware vSphere Foundation to others as it is my number one choice.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.