Microsoft offers incentives to switch from VMWare to Windows Server 2016

[Batu69]

"Customers who switch workloads from VMware to Hyper-V can get free Windows Server Datacenter licenses"

 

As of late, Microsoft’s modus operandi has been one of partnerships and promotions, especially when dealing with would-be competitor products in the cloud solutions arena. Instead of going head-first at a competing product, Microsoft under the helm of new CEO Satya Nadella is more about promoting the best solutions that also happen to work with current Microsoft platforms.

 

However, there are times when Microsoft feels it has a superior product compared to what’s currently available and doesn’t mind tempting customers to give them a shot. Accordingly, the Windows Server team is taking its shot at luring VMWare customers today by announcing a new migration offer that would help former VMWare users move over to Windows Server 2016.

 

Beyond touting its six-year-long position at the top spot for Gartner x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure Magic Quadrant analysis, the Server team believes a free Windows Server Datacenter license offer that will run through the rest of 2017 and well into 2017 could have VMWare customers second guessing their current solution.

 

More specifically,

Quote

“From September 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017, customers who switch workloads from VMware to Hyper-V can get free Windows Server Datacenter licenses when buying Windows Server Datacenter + Software Assurance. That ultimately means customers only pay for Software Assurance, which provides multiple benefits.”

 

Putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak, the Windows Server team has launched a Microsoft vs. VMWare TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) comparison tool. The seemingly aggressive comparison move will not only help customers calculate the various Windows Server 2016 tools versus their VMWare counterparts but offer a bit of transparency about Microsoft’s solutions.

 

Windows Server 2016 vs VMWare comparison tool

While it would seem a risky move to openly compare oneself to an industry leader, the Windows Server team appears confident about the comparison tools, especially pitted against VMWare’s own TCO comparisons option and for good reason.

Quote

We are launching our tool following the new licensing model for Windows Server and System Center 2016, which is based on per-core licensing. (By the way, VMware recently launched a new TCO comparison tool. Their main assumption is based on a density comparison from a woefully out-of-date document that compares vSphere 5 to Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 which is three releases and six years ago. Furthermore, this document does not reflect rich new capabilities, many of which VMware still hasn’t caught up to in ESX 6.0. We would strongly recommend you take that into consideration when interpreting their results).”

 

Again, Microsoft hasn’t been making a lot of competitive waves as of late and perhaps for good reason as many of its software and services are transitioning to offer more support for what customers are actively choosing to use alongside the company’s current solutions. When Microsoft sees an opportunity to tout what it believes to have a superior product, it seems the company is ready to go all in on that chance.

 

For anyone interested or considering switch, visit the Windows Server Blog to follow the seemingly straightforward 5-step process to receive a free Windows Server Datacenter license.

 

Article source

[straycat19]

That just isn't going to happen in large organizations who have invested much time and money in setting up their VMWare virtual systems.  We still have Novell running data servers because Microsoft couldn't figure out how to move the data with permissions over to Windows servers.  They said we would have to rebuild the servers and permissions from scratch.  That may be well and good if you only have 2 or 3 but if you have 115 that isn't going to happen.  And our VMWare servers and systems have been running flawlessly for years.  Microsoft's TCO doesn't count the money already invested and the reliability that we have had, and it definitely doesn't count all the times Microsoft had to come on site to unfuck their servers at our expense.