For years, VMware was synonymous with virtualization. Thanks to this platform, thousands of companies were able to consolidate their servers and build modern data centers. But times are changing – with rising licensing costs and VMware’s shifting policies, more and more businesses are looking for alternatives.

One solution rapidly gaining market share is XCP-ng – a fully open-source hypervisor derived from the XenServer project. Today, it successfully competes with commercial giants, offering enterprise-grade stability and performance.

Why are so many companies choosing to migrate to XCP-ng? Here are the five main reasons – explained in detail, with practical examples.

1. Lower costs and no expensive licenses

VMware – Costs growing faster than the business

VMware has always been known as a stable and reliable solution, but also one of the most expensive on the market. The cost of a license depends on the number of hosts, processors, and features (e.g., HA, vMotion). On top of that, you need paid support subscriptions. For many small and medium-sized companies, annual VMware expenses reach hundreds of thousands of PLN.

XCP-ng – Open source without hidden fees

XCP-ng is free – entirely open source. You get access to all features without additional licenses. If you wish, you can purchase paid support from Vates, but it’s optional.

Business impact:

• Significant reduction in infrastructure costs
• Greater predictability of the IT budget
• Ability to reinvest savings into application or service development

2. Full independence and no vendor lock-in

The VMware problem

VMware is a powerful ecosystem – but one that ties you in for years. Migrating to another environment is complicated and often hindered by the closed nature of the platform.

Additionally, ownership changes (e.g., the Broadcom acquisition) have raised concerns among customers who are unsure about future licensing policies or availability.

XCP-ng – freedom and flexibility

By choosing XCP-ng, you gain:

• Full control over your infrastructure
• No risk of sudden licensing policy changes
• The freedom to choose your technical support partner (e.g., Hawatel), not just one global vendor

This approach provides strategic independence – crucial in an era when IT is the backbone of business.

3. Easy migration from VMware

The most common question from clients is: “Will switching from VMware be difficult?”

Good news: migration is not only possible but increasingly simple. XCP-ng offers tools that make it easy to transfer virtual machines from VMware (e.g., V2V – Virtual to Virtual).

How the migration process looks:

• Analyze the current infrastructure
• Export virtual machines from VMware
• Import them into the XCP-ng environment

Test and configure

As a result, most applications can continue running without downtime or with minimal disruption. This means companies don’t have to fear a “revolution” – the transition is gradual and controlled.

4. Enterprise-level scalability and performance

XenServer as the foundation

XCP-ng is based on the proven XenServer project, used for years in thousands of production environments. That means it has offered enterprise-level stability and features from day one.

Features businesses appreciate:

• High Availability – automatically restarts virtual machines on another host in case of failure
• Live Migration – move VMs between hosts without downtime
• Snapshots and Backups – easily secure your data
• Large cluster support – from a few to hundreds of hosts

Real-world performance

Companies that switched from VMware to XCP-ng report that application performance and system responsiveness not only remained stable but, in some cases, even improved – especially thanks to greater configuration control and the lack of licensing constraints.

5. Support and active community

VMware – professional but closed

VMware provides enterprise-class support, but it’s expensive and ties you to a single vendor.

XCP-ng – two sources of support

XCP-ng offers professional support from Vates for customers who require a guaranteed SLA, while also benefiting from an active open-source community – forums, discussion groups, and rapid development of new features.

This unique combination gives you access to both commercial expertise and the global knowledge of open-source practitioners.

Typical scenarios where companies choose XCP-ng

While every organization has its specific needs, several recurring situations lead businesses to adopt XCP-ng as a VMware alternative:

• Rising VMware costs – organizations expanding their infrastructure find that licensing and support expenses outweigh the benefits, prompting them to look for a more cost-effective option.
• Software houses and IT firms – companies that need to quickly deploy multiple testing and production environments for clients benefit from a flexible, license-free solution.
• Public sector – government institutions and local authorities increasingly choose open-source technologies for transparency, security, and independence from commercial vendors.
• Medium and large enterprises – organizations developing SaaS applications or systems serving thousands of users that require enterprise-level scalability and stability.

These examples show that XCP-ng performs well across diverse environments – from small IT teams and software houses to public sector entities and large enterprises.

Considering migration from VMware?

Want to reduce virtualization costs and free yourself from expensive licenses?

Contact Hawatel – we have extensive experience designing and implementing environments based on XCP-ng. We’ll help you plan your migration, execute it safely, and ensure the continuity of your business systems.