We primarily use the solution for the analytics we can get.
Information Technology Security Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Easy to set up with good reliability and a great user interface
Pros and Cons
- "There are no issues with the level of scalability you can achieve."
- "There should be a bit more flexibility in terms of the hardware we can use with the product."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
It works well with other VMware solutions.
The user interface is great.
There are no issues with the level of scalability you can achieve.
The stability is good.
The initial setup is straightforward.
What needs improvement?
There should be a bit more flexibility in terms of the hardware we can use with the product. There needs to be better compatibility.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've used the solution for a long time. We've used the solution for more than a decade.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution offers good reliability and performance. The stability is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
You can easily scale the solution as needed. It's great in the sense. There are no issues around scaling.
We have about 35 users at this time.
The solution doesn't use up a lot of space, however, I can't say if we plan to increase usage or not just yet.
How are customer service and support?
We've never contacted technical support in the past. I can't speak to how they are in terms of the level of service they provide.
How was the initial setup?
The solution is easy to set up. It's not a complex or difficult process at all.
The deployment doesn't take too long. It took us about ten days or so.
We have four engineers that can handle deployment and maintenance tasks.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the implementation ourselves. We did not use an integrator or consultant for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We have an on-premises setup. There aren't any extra costs involved.
What other advice do I have?
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been satisfied with its general capabilities so far.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Database Administrator at a government with 1-10 employees
Setup is simple; offers stability and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "This solution is very stable. It's scalable and simple to set up."
- "Archiving, exporting, and backing up need to be improved for this solution, because they're slower than expected."
What is our primary use case?
We're using VMware vSphere for our server services. We're using it primarily for hosting services. As an example, our mail server: Zimbra Mail is hosted on that virtual environment. Our web server, our DNS server, and all our public servers are also hosted in that environment.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement for VMware vSphere is the archiving tool, because sometimes we are using the VMware OVF Tool for backups, but archiving is not very fast when we are backing up the virtual machines. It needs improvement.
What we'd like to see in the next release is for the exporting process to be improved, because what we've observed is that when exporting VMware graphically, sometimes the process stops. We have to use the command-line utility: OVF Tool which is more reliable, so we'd like VMware vSphere to have a better and faster exporting process.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using VMware vSphere for five years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
VMware vSphere is a very stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
VMware vSphere is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We have not contacted the technical support of VMware, because whenever we found difficulties, we either Google or check forums for solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for this solution is simple.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed this solution myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing can still be improved for this product.
What other advice do I have?
I've been using the VMware Workstation for eight years, while the VMware vSphere, I've been using for five years.
This solution is deployed on-premises on a physical server for hosting services. Our public server is on a virtual environment.
I'm very satisfied with VMware vSphere.
Deployment of this solution took one day for the supervisor cluster and the virtual machine.
I can't say exactly how many users are using VMware vSphere in our organization, but it's more than 1,000. We have a virtual mail server with 1,000 accounts. We have a website with approximately 200 to 300 visits per day. We also have an internet proxy used regularly by all the internal users to access the internet. We have not measured usage for the DNS server. We have no statistics for it.
We have plans to use other tools from VMware like the vCenter. We have not yet explored it sufficiently, so we use it more. We have plans to use the vMotion to move virtual machines.
My advice to people who plan to use VMware vSphere is to first pay more attention to the materials, e.g. the physical server, because all the virtualization performance resides and depends on that physical server. This means it has to have a good dimension, a good amount of memory and disk space, and a good network controller card. You have to choose a server which is physically robust, strong, and powerful, so you can deploy with the best performance in your virtual environment.
I'm rating VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
October 2025
Learn what your peers think about VMware vSphere. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: October 2025.
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Deputy director at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
User-friendly, easy to implement and offers excellent technical support
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to use and very user-friendly."
- "The solution could be cheaper and less expensive."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is server virtualization software. VMware is totally for virtualization.
What is most valuable?
We only use it for a few of its features, such as DRS, vMotion, and fault tolerance. We aren't using the NSX, cloud-based, or any other features.
The solution is 100% stable.
The scalability is very good.
We find the user interface to be very nice.
The initial implementation process is simple.
It's easy to use and very user-friendly.
Technical support has been very good. They are helpful and responsive.
What needs improvement?
The solution could be cheaper and less expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for five to seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have found the solution to be extremely stable. The performance and reliability are great. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is thoroughly a scalable solution. It's easy to expand it if you need to.
There isn't a specific number of users. We are using it for hosting services.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is excellent. We have no complaints at all.
How was the initial setup?
The installation process is quite simple, quite straightforward. It's not overly complex or difficult. I'm certified and find the process very easy.
What about the implementation team?
We did not need the assistance of outside help. I can easily handle the implementation myself.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You do have to purchase a license in order to use the solution.
The solution should base its prices on what the market can handle. Right now, it's a bit expensive.
The price is a little bit higher when you go for the enterprise edition. The Standard edition is quite low and the enterprise edition is quite high.
What other advice do I have?
I have two clusters, version 7 and version 6.7. Both are there.
I'm not using the cloud-based version and other stuff, so I couldn't comment on it. On the on-premises version, however, it's a very good solution. It has a nice interface and nice everything and is a very stable product. We have never faced any issues yet.
I'd recommend the solution to others 100%.
I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Manager at KIRLOSKAR PNEUMATIC CO. LTD.
Built-in backup, effective backup and recovery features
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of VMware vSphere are backup and recovery."
- "The setup is easy. However, the configuration expansion can be difficult. The full implementation took three to four days. This included the move from physical servers to virtual ones."
What is our primary use case?
VMware vSphere is used for server virtualization. We are using Microsoft Active Directory, file, and Linux servers
How has it helped my organization?
The built-in backup and hyper-converged systems have helped our organization.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of VMware vSphere are backup and recovery.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware vSphere for approximately 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. However, sometimes it goes down, which can be time-consuming because it requires some complex scripts only the support team know.
I am the only person doing the maintenance of this solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
VMware vSphere is scalable.
We have approximately 500 users using the solution.
How are customer service and support?
The support has been good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have used Microsoft previously and we have found VMware to be more mature.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy. However, the configuration expansion can be difficult. The full implementation took three to four days. This included the move from physical servers to virtual ones.
What about the implementation team?
We used a reseller for the implementation and had a good experience.
What was our ROI?
When you spend on this solution you will get it back.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay for the solution on an annual basis. There are no additional fees other than the standard license.
What other advice do I have?
It's quite stable, has good support available, and is a mature product.
I rate VMware vSphere a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Cloud Professional Architect at FPT Software
It's straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines
Pros and Cons
- "The fact that vSphere is an on-premise solution is beneficial for the user. It's easier to manage the infrastructure. It's more straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines."
- "VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications."
What is our primary use case?
We need virtualization for our company, or sometimes our customers leverage virtualization solutions instead of using physical machines.
What is most valuable?
The fact that vSphere is an on-premise solution is beneficial for the user. It's easier to manage the infrastructure. It's more straightforward to scale and configure virtual machines.
What needs improvement?
VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability and stability, vSphere is excellent. We lack volume when we need to bundle a considerable number of physical machines to facilitate virtualization. There are a lot of competitors like Nutanix or others, but VMware is the number one solution for me.
How are customer service and support?
We don't contact VMware support often, but I sometimes have trouble understanding their manuals, so I ask them for help.
How was the initial setup?
It's easier for the user to deploy vSphere or the vCenter, but it's complex when setting up network virtualization.
What was our ROI?
I think VMware is a good investment. We use VMware to maintain our internal system.
What other advice do I have?
I rate VMware vSphere seven out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Founder & Technology Advisor at EUC Solutions
Easy to set up and maintain, feature-rich, professional support
Pros and Cons
- "It is the number one virtualization-layer platform available, and a lot of people trust it."
- "To manage it properly, you have to know this product really well."
What is our primary use case?
The primary reason our customers use vSphere is to consolidate their workloads and realize the other benefits that virtualization provides. For example, they create HA or VM-level HA to facilitate DR.
Essentially, our clients use vSphere for all of the reasons that people use a virtualization layer.
I am a virtualization technician, doing software technology consulting for virtualization and VDI.
How has it helped my organization?
This is a solution that is normally very straightforward. It doesn't give you many surprises. It's very stable. However, one should have good knowledge when it comes to it because sometimes, you have to use the command line for troubleshooting. For unseen problems, you sometimes need to dig deep to troubleshoot.
What is most valuable?
vSphere is a robust and feature-rich virtualization platform. It is the number one virtualization-layer platform available, and a lot of people trust it.
Many other platforms now provide similar features but VMware was the first to provide enhanced recorders, DRS, fault tolerance, vMotion, and others. They pioneered these features and they are very stable.
VMware also provides software-defined storage, vSAN, which is built into the kernel. This is a plus point.
Other good features include DRS, HA, fault tolerance, vSAN, and vCenter is a very good management interface.
This platform is easy to maintain.
What needs improvement?
To manage it properly, you have to know this product really well. For the most part, it is very easy to use.
For how long have I used the solution?
I began working with VMware vSphere in 2007 or 2008 when it was version 3.x.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is the most stable virtualization platform available.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In the three years that I have been running my consultancy, I've found that VMware is always part of a large project. Most of the time, I have had a good experience with it.
We have done multiple enterprise services projects using this solution. For example, we were working on a Horizon View PoC for a client.
vSphere is scalable; you just have to add to your cluster and it will increase. You can scale up or scale-out, like any other software. Basically, you can add to it as much as you want to.
I trust VMware products and I definitely want our installed base to increase. I want to enhance my own knowledge and skillset, as well. As we move forward and expand, I am equipping myself with more cloud knowledge and focusing on new technologies. One new product that I am looking at is Carbon Black. Throughout this, I will continue to promote VMware because they are a vendor that I trust.
How are customer service and support?
The VMware support is very professional. Most of the time we've used them, they were very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
As a technology consultant working for customers with varying requirements, I work with other virtualization platforms. Two of these are Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very easy and there is nothing difficult about it. Initially, some people get stuck when they are setting up the supporting services, like DNS, but other than that, the setup is plain and simple.
The length of time required for deployment depends on whether your disk is an SSD. If so, then the copying will be fast. Also, if you have more memory then it will install quicker.
Regardless of how it is set up, you have to build the basic infrastructure to put in most of your workloads. Sometimes, you manage an existing one but most of the time, we have to deploy a VMware infrastructure.
A single person can basically manage it, although this depends upon the deployment size. If it's a huge deployment, then it requires a good design and it requires proper planning. You need to know your capacity requirements, for example.
If you understand the environment and the design then maybe you can segregate the work into two or three people. Sometimes if it's a small project, a single person can do it. It all depends on the files and complexity of the solution you are providing to the customer.
What about the implementation team?
We deploy this product ourselves.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing model is not complex.
It is a perpetual licensing but there is also an annual maintenance cost. The price of the solution depends on the features that you want. You can have a very basic setup or you can choose a more advanced set of features. The more features that you want and the more extensive your requirement is, the more you have to pay.
What other advice do I have?
In Pakistan, for the most part, organizations are still catching up in terms of the cloud. There are no large data centers because cloud providers do not exist locally. Neither AWS nor Azure has a presence.
The closest data centers to us are Singapore and Dubai. As such, the cloud is not very popular yet and most of our customers have on-premises deployments. We do expect this to change.
My advice for anybody who is implementing this product, or any piece of software, is to have a reasonable level of knowledge in advance of the deployment. That is key in IT.
If you are a consultant, as opposed to an end-user, then you need to have a deep knowledge of the product because there are circumstances where you have to go beyond the normal configuration. Sometimes you have issues that can only be resolved if you are well-equipped with the knowledge.
I also recommend that people plan their deployment. VMware is a wonderful product and it will definitely provide you with the functionality to meet your technical requirements. You will be a very satisfied customer while using it, but the key is to know the product and plan things properly.
Overall, this is a good product and I do not feel that there is much missing. It is the best virtualization platform available.
I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
VMware Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Has valuable features for daily use and a straightforward installation
Pros and Cons
- "We have the possibility to move workloads to different locations."
- "There are some limitations with the solution regarding migrating."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case for the solution right now is for a project regarding Telecom Italia. We are working with the telecom. It is mostly regarding the private cloud. The main reason for having all of these products and solutions altogether is to reach the cloud director and to have the private cloud for Telecom Italia.
How has it helped my organization?
Our organization has seen plenty of benefits from this solution. We have the possibility to move workloads to different locations. For the end-users and customers, it's beneficial because they can run whatever they want in a matter of minutes or hours instead of providing a data center for themselves and running whatever they need. Thanks to all the solutions altogether, it is possible to move the workload and it has high availability in different time zones and different regions.
What is most valuable?
There are plenty of features we have found valuable. It has multiple features that we are using every day during our jobs.
What needs improvement?
vSphere itself can handle lots of things, but I can say when it comes to other products, we have lots of other availability, lots of other visibilities with the data center that we have. The areas that could be improved are dependent on the project that we are working on and the use cases.
There are some limitations with the solution regarding migrating. For example, some features like EVC we have in vSphere, but still, it is not possible to migrate VM from Intel to AMD, or we still have some limitations even if we have EVC for VMs.
These are the features that maybe would be really useful for lots of customers that don't want to have downtime, and at the same time they want to be modernized, go through the new technologies now, cloud and everything.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VMware for seven years or so.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable. With respect to the very traditional workload that we had, one server for one application, one physical server, I can say there are lots of improvements when we are using VMware itself. In the traditional way of doing the work, it was not possible to utilize the CPU, utilize the memory that you are using. But here, we have lots of options like over-commitment of CPU and memory. We can manage our workloads anytime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easily possible to scale the solution and upgrade depending on which products we are using on-premise. We can have a path to scale, to upgrade, to do everything.
How are customer service and support?
Usually when I had to utilize customer support for the solution, it was satisfying based on the priority of raising the ticket.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment was straightforward, but again it depends on the use cases. For example, in one project we were working on the deployment and using automation from the customer themselves. They wrote their automation, and it was a little complex to match what they need based on their automation and how we could deploy the products for them.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Founder at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees
Higher availability with excellent technical support and great stability
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is helpful and always available."
- "If they improve on the knowledge base and documentation, it would be extremely helpful."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for the virtualization of the environment. We've converted more than 90% of our environment from physical to virtual.
What is most valuable?
The higher availability and the vMotion, I would say, are what makes it very interesting as you avoid systems being down. It provides, if you cluster, high availability, and your services can move from system to system to avoid downtime.
The solution is stable.
The scalability is great.
Technical support is helpful and always available.
What needs improvement?
There are certain issues that can be improved. No solution is perfect, even though it's working for most of us most of the time. There are certain issues that crop up and some of them are not due to VMware. It could be due to the hardware it is running on. Therefore, it would be ideal if they could provide more knowledge on the fault tolerance and the high availability as some things are just assumed and then users find later that the use cases are different. Sometimes you may assume something applies to a use case only to find that it doesn't. If they improve on the knowledge base and documentation, it would be extremely helpful.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2012. It's been a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the product is good. I haven't dealt with bugs or glitches. It's reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. You can increase the number of servers. You can increase the number of computer resources, storage, CPU, memory. It's up to you how huge you want your clusters to be.
This is an enterprise solution. It is not used by users. It is an enterprise technology solution. Therefore, we won't be adding more users.
Almost all the engineers in the organization are using the solution. I would say maybe 15 engineers are actively using it.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is always there. They're always available. When you have an issue, you just log a call with them and set up a service request. They assist you directly. An engineer will be assigned to assist.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have other tools, such as Oracle VM, which we are using in other areas, however, VMware is used more than the Oracle VM.
How was the initial setup?
For the initial setup, you need to do design work with someone who understands VMware, who is actually certified by VMware. You need someone certified to do it.
Deployment is not a problem. As long as you take time doing your design, the deployment will not take long. You can do it within a week.
If you have one certified engineer, the implementation will go fine.
In terms of the management of the solution, we have about four engineers who are looking after it.
What about the implementation team?
You cannot do it by yourself. You need a certified engineer. That's a requirement from VMware and it's so that the environment is stable to avoid unnecessary scraping.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You do need a license. Most of these vendors also offer what they call the free version of the software. If you want more support, more features, you have to go for the paid versions. That said, you can still get the free or community version of it.
What other advice do I have?
I'd recommend the solution to other users. It's a good technology. They're pioneers in the industry.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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