The VxRail Problem: What Happens When Your HCI Provider Walks Away? 

If you’re facing issues with your VxRail support provider telling you it’s over, there may be more options to get over the headache than you realize. 

When Dell launched their joint VxRail venture with VMware, now Broadcom, it was hailed as the simple solution for deploying your own private cloud using the best of breed software technology from VMware and best in class Dell hardware in the emerging standard of hyper-converged infrastructure. It all made complete sense for Dell customers who were also heavy users of the virtualization giants’ software, both technologically and commercially, with VMware now a subsidiary of Dell through the EMC acquisition.

Dell did a great job of positioning this combination of leading technologies with some of their largest customers globally. Global banks, telecommunications providers, financial services institutions, national healthcare providers etc. all bought into this concept and built out their next generation private cloud infrastructure on this “turn-key” solution to underpin their mission critical applications and services.

Fast forward to November 2023 and the relationship between Dell and Broadcom took a turn for the worse for well documented reasons. The writing was truly on the wall for such a highly integrated solution like VxRail.

The Current VxRail State of Play

What we’ve seen over the last year and a half was a gradual decline in interest of both OEM parties in VxRail, with little concern for customer impact. There appears to be less and less enthusiasm from Dell around supporting VxRail as conditions that facilitated a “single throat to choke” sales and support model i.e. Dell controlling VMware, have been much more difficult to maintain with Broadcom since the takeover. After all, why would Broadcom offer such a privileged level of access to its precious support and professional services resources to “just another OEM”?

It seems that whatever post-Broadcom-acquisition agreements that ensured that VMware technology continued powered VxRail are clearly under pressure, evidenced by Michael Dell‘s recent commentary around the VxRail “not being a thing”.

That is very unwelcome news to countless existing customers who still rely heavily on VxRail for their day-to-day operations.

So, What Next for Your Trusted VxRail Platform?

So, what does this mean for VxRail customers? Well, it seems your hardware provider is now saying that they no longer prefer the solution that you’ve chosen (at their recommendation) for your private cloud solution. A solution which has already been bought and paid for, possibly on a five-year life cycle.

Dell are essentially telling you: “If you could just re-buy the hardware for those workloads, in greater quantities to run less efficient platforms, and migrate all workloads to those platforms entirely, that would be great. Thanks!”

This is a bit rich, by anyone’s standards. Let’s not even mention the potential environment and ROI impact of decommissioning perfectly capable hardware. Another example of hubris in action from organisations who think they own their customers.

At Origina we understand the challenge for VxRail customers. They are being asked to step away from a totally integrated hardware and software stack, wrapped in predictability and stability, and into complete uncertainty. These customers have a lot of difficult and expensive decisions to make regarding how they might run their mission critical applications on top of the VxRail technology powered by VMware software in their immediate future.

Nobody is under any illusion that the medium-term strategy for organisations will be to migrate workloads off the VxRail platform, but that won’t be a straightforward proposition for several reasons:

1. The level of investment in large scale VxRail estates is usually significant, and the business case for ripping and replacing hardware to do the same work less efficiently is hard to make. Tight organisational budgets require full lifecycle value to be realised, otherwise budget is being “stolen” away from innovation.
2. Organisations need to ensure that their migration strategy and execution is given the time and space needed to ensure minimal service impact for customers. This could potentially be a 2-to-3-year problem for VxRail customers who wish to move off the platform due to the mission critical nature of the on-prem applications and services that are deployed on the platform.

Unfortunately, Broadcom has little to no interest in the platform anymore, so what are your options?

Assessing Your Alternative Options

In most cases we see customers already having taken the decision to split their combined OEM hardware & software support from Dell, bringing their own VMware licenses to the VxRail platform and often exploring Third-Party Hardware Support (TPHS). This was a very attractive option for customers with large ELAs over the last 4 to 5 years. In situations like this we see Origina’s role as stepping in where Broadcom was previously and delivering software support for the VMware Stack on top of the VxRail.

We’ve seen this situation play out over the last 12 months for several organisations who came to us looking for support. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to successfully help these customers to continue utilising their VxRail technology, even after that tightly integrated Dell and Broadcom relationship had broken down. Origina offer support for the VMware Stack within VXRail deployment; we’ve partnered successfully with both TPHS providers, and even Dell Technologies themselves, to deliver a service continuity solution for VxRail customers.

Initially, these customers had questions about the VxRail life-cycle management capabilities that were part of the “turn-key” value proposition of the solution. Stepping away from that fully integrated hardware/software support solution and vendor support with Broadcom did mean that their operational model needed to change, but the reality was that bringing platform software support to Origina was far less disruptive than a large-scale migration of the platform on an accelerated timescale onto an unknown and untested alternative.

Origina May Be the Answer for Your Organisation

Origina have successfully enabled customers to transition their life cycle management model to a more standardized approach using VMware software only, moving away from any dependence from the proprietary components within the VxRail stack.

Customers continue to highly value the stability of VxRail, which has evolved over the years into the robust product it is today. However, long-time clients, such as those who adopted EMC’s early EVO:RAIL, will remember that this reliability took time to mature. Dell’s shift toward the Dell Automation Platform will likely trigger a similar cycle, requiring several years of market maturity to match VxRail’s current stability. We can help you maintain a stable VxRail environment during this transition period.

If you’re interested in looking at Origina’s concierge level VMware support to stabilise your VxRail environment while you plan your future technology roadmap, reach out to us today. Join countless customers who are successfully running some of the largest VMware environments globally with Origina support. Our goal is to help more customers gain independence from OEM vendors and give them the flexibility and choice to create the roadmap that’s right for their organisation.

Feeling vexed by your lack of VxRail support? Talk to Origina today.