Your VMware bill has tripled. Your VCSP partner has lost their contract. And general support for vSphere 8.x ends in October 2027. If you're a Swiss SME running on VMware, the question is no longer "should we migrate?" but "how do we migrate without breaking everything?".
What CloudStack actually replaces
| VMware | CloudStack + KVM |
|---|---|
| vCenter | CloudStack Management Server |
| ESXi | KVM (built into the Linux kernel) |
| vSAN | Local NVMe or Ceph |
| NSX | Built-in networking (VPC, VLANs, Virtual Router) |
| Annual licence | CHF 0 (Apache 2.0) |
CloudStack is not a newcomer. Open source since 2010, an Apache project since 2012, it powers the clouds of KDDI, Leaseweb, China Telecom and Orange, among others. In Switzerland, it's still little known — but that's exactly what creates the opportunity.
The built-in migration tool
Since version 4.19, CloudStack includes a VMware → KVM migration tool directly in the interface:
- Menu: Import-Export Instances in the admin interface
- Supported sources: existing VMware clusters or external vCenter (IP + credentials)
- What is preserved: disks and MAC addresses
- Under the hood:
virt-v2v, Red Hat's conversion tool, proven in production
In practice: you point CloudStack at your vCenter, select the VMs to migrate, and the tool handles disk conversion and import. Some preparation work is needed — installing virt-v2v on KVM hosts, mapping source/destination networks, and injecting virtio drivers for Windows VMs.
Three typical scenarios
SME (10-30 VMs) — The simplest case. A single physical server is enough. The first VMs can be migrated over a weekend for disks under 100 GB. Downtime per VM ranges from a few minutes to over an hour depending on volume size.
Mid-size company (50-200 VMs) — Two to three servers in a cluster. Progressive migration over 2-4 weeks, in batches. Critical VMs migrate last, after validation of the first ones.
Hybrid — You keep VMware for critical legacy workloads and migrate the rest to CloudStack. CloudStack can manage existing VMware hypervisors as a source, allowing a transition without artificial deadlines.
What changes — and what doesn't
What doesn't change for your users:
- VMs keep running
- Applications see no difference
- MAC addresses are preserved
What changes for your IT team:
- The admin interface (CloudStack UI instead of vCenter)
- Networking needs to be reconfigured in CloudStack (VLAN mapping, firewall rules)
- Backup tools need to be adapted (VMware solutions like Veeam/VADP are no longer compatible)
- No more licence files to manage
- No more annual renewal to negotiate
- Full API access for automation
What it really costs
Let's take an SME with 30 VMs on 2 VMware servers:
| VMware (before Broadcom) | VMware (after Broadcom) | CloudStack + KVM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual licences | ~CHF 15,000 | ~CHF 45,000-75,000 | CHF 0 |
| Support | included | included | optional (ShapeBlue or community) |
| Migration | — | — | one-off |
Over 3 years, the difference amounts to tens of thousands of francs — not counting the risk of the next price hike. Documented increases since the Broadcom acquisition range from 350% to 1,200% depending on configuration.
What about sovereignty?
Migrating from VMware to CloudStack means moving from a proprietary stack to a 100% open source stack. Your data stays on your hardware, in your premises, under Swiss law. No dependency on a cloud provider subject to the Cloud Act, no dependency on a vendor that can change its terms overnight.
For regulated sectors — healthcare, finance, legal — this argument carries as much weight as the price.
Next step
Want to see what CloudStack looks like in practice? Our trial programme gives you access to a complete infrastructure for 30 days for CHF 500, deductible when ordering a Box.