The Department of Defence has mandated a move off VMware that applies to every part of the organisation with exposure to the VMware ecosystem, iTnews reports. The directive's timing coincides with the quantum of a $178 million licence renewal becoming known, following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware in late 2023 and its switch to subscription licensing and significant price rises. While cost is one driver, sovereignty concerns — flagged by Europe's CISPE trade association over running cloud infrastructure on VMware-controlled software — are also understood to be in play. A source described the migration as a genuine operational challenge: staff have spent entire careers on one virtualisation design, and the department faces a training and change-management burden. Defence declined to detail scope, exceptions or progress.

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