Topgolf Escaped a 400 Percent VMware Increase by Moving 12,000 Virtual Machines
Topgolf's VMware costs were going to increase by 400 percent under Broadcom. To avoid that, the sports entertainment company moved 12,000 virtual machines to VergeIO's VergeOS and says it has saved over $11 million so far. Scott Forehand, Topgolf's global infrastructure manager, told Ars Technica that the company's VMware connection “ran very deep” — the condition that usually makes a price increase hard to refuse. It refused anyway, and put a dollar figure on the decision.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
Four hundred percent is the kind of renewal notice that makes almost any migration look reasonable. The number I'd want next is what it costs to run 12,000 VMs on the new platform once the easy comparisons are gone.
The harder half is the part Topgolf's own manager points at: a VMware footprint that “ran very deep.” Deep roots are what make an exit costly in ways a savings headline won't show.