GoKawiilTopgolf cuts $11.3 million in costs by migrating off VMware to VergeOS
Topgolf has moved 12,000 virtual machines from VMware to VergeIO's VergeOS platform after Broadcom's pricing changes threatened to quadruple its VMware costs. The sports entertainment company's global infrastructure manager Scott Forehand says the migration has already eliminated over $11.3 million in combined infrastructure costs, with the full transition off VMware expected by mid-December. Twenty Topgolf venues still run VxRail with VMware Cloud Foundation during the ongoing switchover.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The move illustrates how Broadcom's post-acquisition licensing overhaul of VMware—ending perpetual licenses and bundling products into pricier SKUs—is pushing even deeply entrenched enterprise customers to rivals. Forehand's comments suggest the savings reflect Topgolf's unusually large scale, so smaller organizations may not see comparable returns from similar migrations. The case could encourage other long-time VMware customers facing steep license increases to evaluate alternative hyperconverged infrastructure vendors.
- Topgolf saved over $11.3 million by migrating 12,000 VMs from VMware to VergeIO's VergeOS.
- The shift was driven by Broadcom's plan to raise Topgolf's VMware costs by 400 percent.
- Topgolf expects to be fully off VMware by the second week of December, with 20 venues still transitioning.
Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-10-13
Published there as: “Topgolf saved over $11.3 million after leaving VMware”
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