Ending High Virtualization Costs: Why 2026 is the right time to switch

Many virtualization customers will face a pivotal decision in the coming months. Should they continue to rely on a proprietary platform with rapidly increasing license fees? Or is it time to take a new path and break free from vendor lock-in? With SUSE Virtualization, an open source–based alternative is now available—one that not only reduces costs but also enables companies to run VMs, containers, and AI workloads on a single, unified platform.

Over the past year, many IT leaders have been caught off guard by unexpectedly steep price increases for their existing virtualization platforms. Infrastructure that runs business-critical workloads has suddenly become significantly more expensive. New licensing models mean that, in some cases, customers are now paying several times what they did before.

As a result, IT teams must rethink how to keep operations running efficiently, while at the same time meeting rising technological demands. Alongside traditional virtual machines, cloud native applications and AI workloads now need to be delivered as well. Operating separate technology stacks for these requirements would only drive IT costs even higher.

Looking for a way out of the cost trap

Replacing one proprietary virtualization product with another may provide short-term financial relief. In the long run, however, a more economical and future-proof approach is to move away from legacy technologies and adopt a modern, cloud native virtualization strategy.

That is exactly why we developed SUSE Virtualization, a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution based on the open source Harvester project. SUSE Virtualization brings virtualization and container orchestration together in a single platform.

Technologically, the solution is built on a fully cloud native architecture: the KVM hypervisor for virtualization, KubeVirt for VM management within Kubernetes, and SUSE Storage (Longhorn) for software-defined, highly available storage. The stack is complemented by a modern Kubernetes networking layer as well as integrated automation and lifecycle management capabilities.

This enables organizations to manage virtual workloads and containerized applications through a centralized management interface. With SUSE Enterprise Support, customers receive a fully supported, production-ready platform with guaranteed update cycles, security patches, certified hardware support, and 24/7 technical assistance—including SUSE Rancher integration for multi-cluster management and consistent operations across all locations.

Why SUSE Virtualization can be the right choice for organizations looking to switch

• Financial freedom through open source: With a fully open source virtualization stack, organizations no longer need to worry about unexpected price increases during renewals. Instead, they can significantly reduce their total cost of ownership without sacrificing essential enterprise capabilities.

• Enterprise features—built in: SUSE Virtualization includes key capabilities required for running critical workloads in production—such as live VM migration, integrated security and data protection mechanisms, and microsegmentation without the need for costly add-ons.

• Gradual migration of existing workloads: SUSE supports organizations in transitioning away from their existing virtualization platforms. We recommend a three-step migration approach—starting with low-risk development environments, followed by stateless applications, and finally moving business-critical databases.

• A smooth entry into the cloud native world: Does your IT team have strong virtualization expertise but limited experience with cloud native technologies? SUSE Virtualization provides an accessible starting point. Often described as “Kubernetes with training wheels,” the platform helps administrators gradually build skills for modern application architectures.

• Ready for edge and AI innovation: With SUSE Virtualization, organizations can immediately take advantage of the broader Kubernetes ecosystem—for example, by running demanding AI workloads with vGPU support or deploying highly available edge solutions in environments with limited space.

How BTC benefits from switching to SUSE Virtualization

One organization that has already migrated critical workloads to SUSE Virtualization is BTC AG. Over the past few years, the IT service provider has developed multiple smart metering platforms for leading energy suppliers. In doing so, BTC is accelerating the nationwide rollout of smart meters and actively supporting Germany’s digital energy transition.

Today, the virtual machines that power these platforms run on a hyperconverged infrastructure based on SUSE Virtualization. This provides BTC with a scalable and cost-efficient foundation for handling the rapidly growing volumes of data in the energy sector.

“SUSE has given us the ability to scale the smart metering platforms as needed to connect one million smart meters by 2030,” says Timon Schnell, System Manager – Shared Service Managed Platform Services at BTC IT Services GmbH. “The economic aspects are also very easy to plan for us and our customers. With the additional virtualization solution from VMware, it would have been almost impossible for us to predict how the costs for the platforms would evolve over the coming years.”

Read more about BTC AG’s strategy. 

Register now for our SUSE Virtualization webinars

Learn more about why moving to a modern, cloudnative virtualization platform makes sense. In February we will kick off a webinar series focused on real-world use cases for SUSE Virtualization. Registration for the first two sessions is now open.

February 12 – Virtualization Reimagined: Why SUSE is the Right Choice for Your Future

March 12 – Seeking a VMware Alternative? How to Successfully Switch to SUSE