Reducing Complexity, Lowering Risk, and Taking Back Control
In today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape, organisations are under increasing pressure to modernise infrastructure while maintaining resilience and controlling costs. We are no different here at Meridian IT, which is why we recently took an important step forward by migrating our own business-critical workloads from VMware to HPE VM Essentials (VME) — and the results have been equally as transformative, as they have been unnoticeable – in all the right ways.
This wasn’t just seen internally as technology refresh. It was a strategic move to simplify operations, reduce financial risk, and regain control ahead of a key VMware/Broadcom licensing renewal.
Why We Reassessed Our Virtualisation Strategy
Like many organisations, we have historically utilised VMware as a core part of our infrastructure. However, with changes introduced following the Broadcom acquisition, we faced several challenges:
- Rising and less predictable licensing costs
- Reduced flexibility in licensing models
- Challenging routes to purchase
- Growing operational complexity across environments
Rather than accept these constraints, we saw an opportunity to reassess our long-term strategy — and to lead from the front by modernising our own internal platform.
Why HPE VM Essentials?
HPE VM Essentials stood out as a compelling alternative, offering:
- A simplified virtualisation stack
- Tight integration with HPE infrastructure
- A modern, API-driven management layer
- More transparent and predictable licensing
- A clear path towards true hybrid cloud operations
Critically, it allowed us to maintain enterprise-grade performance and resilience, without the overhead and rigidity we were experiencing.
The Migration Approach
We approached the migration pragmatically and in phases:
- Assessment of workloads
We identified business-critical systems and prioritised them based on complexity, dependencies, and risk tolerance. - Validation and testing
Proof-of-concept migrations were carried out to validate compatibility and identify any boot or driver-related challenges early. This included testing interim configurations to ensure successful system startup and confirming that required drivers and integrations could be applied pre, or post-migration. - Phased migration
Workloads were migrated in controlled waves, using a repeatable process that accounted for platform nuances. Where required, interim configurations were used to bring systems online before finalising optimal settings, ensuring minimal disruption and consistent outcomes. - Operational alignment
IT teams were upskilled through workshops, demonstrations, and hands-on experience, ensuring they were confident in managing the new environment and its operational differences. - Data protection and recovery integration
Backup and recovery capabilities were validated within VME, including integration with supported tooling and plugins to enable cross-platform restores and maintain operational resilience.
- Post-migration optimisation
Following migration, systems were optimised to align with VME best practices, including right-sizing and reconfiguration for performance and stability.
The result was a seamless migration with minimal disruption to business operations.
Key Outcomes and Benefits
- Seamless User Experience
One of the most immediately noticeable things was… nothing!
- Users didn’t notice a thing. It just worked for them
We’re big believers at Meridian IT that “If you do something right, sometimes it will seem like you’ve done nothing at all!”
- Financial De-Risking
Moving to HPE VM Essentials has allowed us to:
- Avoid a costly VMware/Broadcom renewal
- Shift to a more predictable cost model
This has significantly reduced financial risk in our infrastructure strategy.
- Enterprise-Grade Performance Maintained
Importantly, this transition didn’t come at the cost of performance or resilience. Our business-critical workloads continue to operate at the highest levels of availability and reliability; our backups work as they did before with Veeam and the interface is refined, but familiar to our engineers.
Leading by Example
At Meridian IT, we believe in being the Expert Practitioners in what we do. By migrating our own core systems first, we’ve:
- Proven the viability of HPE VM Essentials in a real-world enterprise environment
- Built hands-on expertise we can bring directly to our customers
- Developed a repeatable, low-risk migration approach using multiple migration tools including Veeam and Zerto
What This Means for Our Customers
Many organisations are now facing the same VMware/Broadcom challenges we encountered. Our experience demonstrates that there is a credible, enterprise-ready alternative available today.
Whether you’re looking to:
- Reduce costs
- Simplify your infrastructure
- Avoid vendor lock-in
- Or modernise your platform
We can help guide you through a similar journey — backed by real-world experience, not just theory – and what’s more VME is only $1 for the first year!
Final Thoughts
Our migration to HPE VM Essentials marks a significant milestone in our infrastructure strategy. It has enabled us to:
- Simplify operations
- Reduce financial and operational risk
- Put us in a strong position for future innovation
Most importantly, it reinforces our commitment to delivering practical, outcome-driven solutions — starting with our own environment.
If you need to review your VMware estate, then please reach out to Dan Shipman-Toon – [email protected] to discuss a right-sizing assessment.
