HPE pushes its Morpheus virtualization platform as VMware costs rise, but many enterprises aren’t ready to unplug just yet
- HPE pushes Morpheus as VMware virtualization costs rise under Broadcom
- Socket-based pricing offers cost predictability for high-core system deployments
- Morpheus aims to compete but VMware remains deeply rooted in enterprise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has looked to address growing rumblings from its customers about rising VMware licensing fees following Broadcom’s acquisition of the virtualization company in 2023.
HPE is actively responding to these concerns, especially from those seeing major increases in virtualization costs, by pushing its Morpheus platform at its recent HPE Discover 2025 event.
HPE acquired Morpheus in 2024 and has since worked to develop it into a viable option for companies looking to reduce or end their reliance on VMware.
A choice of editions
Morpheus is being integrated into HPE’s broader Private Cloud offerings, with two editions available to suit different needs.
The VM Essentials edition is geared toward smaller environments and supports management of local KVM clusters and VMware clusters through vCenter.
This edition has a much lower entry cost, priced around $600 per socket, and unlike Broadcom’s per-core licensing, which some say penalizes scale, HPE’s per-socket model remains fixed regardless of hardware configuration.
This could appeal to those with high-core-count systems and help organizations better keep on top of their infrastructure costs.
For more advanced deployments, there’s Morpheus Enterprise. This includes profiling and cost calculator tools to help compare cloud and on-prem options. This version is priced at about $2,500 per socket.
HPE’s goal appears to be giving customers a clearer path away from VMware, starting small and scaling up.
Whether that’s enough to make a dent in VMware’s deep entrenchment across enterprise environments remains to be seen, but HPE is clearly making the case.
ServeTheHome’s Patrick Kennedy writes, “We know many folks are struggling with virtualization licensing costs. It seems like HPE sees the need. It was actually neat to see that HPE is aggressively trying to move customers off of VMware and the Morpheus booth was certainly busy today. For folks who are still looking for solutions, this might be one to look into especially if you are a HPE shop.”
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