The Hypervisor Tax
Post-Broadcom licensing has moved to subscription bundles and higher core minimums. Renewal cost climbs for the same workload, and the negotiating position weakens each cycle.
The Problem
“EBS runs fine, but I'm boxed in on every side — a VMware bill that climbs every renewal since Broadcom took over, an Oracle licensing exposure I've never fully closed, and a platform that still can't touch AI or anything modern. I'm paying more each year to stand still.”
— What we hear from IT leaders running EBS on VMware
Our Solution
Get EBS off VMware/on-premise and onto OCI without re-implementing it — a lift-and-shift that retires the hypervisor tax, closes the Oracle-on-VMware licensing gap, and plugs the application into OCI's AI, integration, and analytics stack.
Phase 01
Assess
Phase 02
Replicate
Phase 03
Cut Over
The Case
Three Pressures, One Move
Each of these is a business case on its own. Together they are the reason most EBS estates on VMware are being re-platformed now rather than at the next hardware refresh.
Licensing Exposure
Oracle's position on soft partitioning means clustered VMware hosts can pull far more of the estate into scope than intended. On OCI the boundary is defined by the platform, not by an audit argument.
A Platform That Can't Extend
On-premise EBS has no practical path to AI services, managed integration or modern analytics. Every initiative needs its own infrastructure project before it can start.
RackWare Partnership
Not Just EBS — the Whole Workload
OptimalSols is a RackWare partner. EBS is usually the anchor application, but the same replication tooling lifts everything else sitting on that VMware estate — so you exit the hypervisor entirely instead of shrinking the footprint and keeping the bill.
Agentless Replication
Workloads are replicated to OCI while they keep running in production, with incremental syncs until cutover.
Rehearsed Cutover
Test migrations run as often as needed against the real target, so the production window is a rehearsed step rather than a first attempt.
Full-Estate Offload
Databases, middleware, custom applications and supporting servers move alongside EBS in the same programme.
What OptimalSols Owns
▸Discovery, dependency mapping and wave planning
▸OCI landing zone, networking and security design
▸EBS technology stack, database and custom-code validation
▸Licensing review before and after the move
▸Performance tuning and DR design on the target
▸Run-and-maintain handover to Optimal360 Managed Services
Migration Path
Five Stages to Cutover
The application does not change. What changes is what it runs on — so the programme is an infrastructure exercise with functional validation, not a re-implementation.
★ Production stays live until the final sync. Rollback remains available through cutover.
The Plan
VMware Offload in 8 Weeks
A typical single-instance EBS estate, from kickoff to production on OCI. Larger estates run the same eight-week pattern in waves.
Week 1-2
ASSESS
Discovery & Sizing
Estate inventory, dependency map, EBS and database version review, Oracle licensing position and OCI target sizing.
Week 3
BUILD
Landing Zone Live
OCI tenancy, compartments, networking, identity, backup and DR topology built and hardened. RackWare replication configured.
Week 4-5
REPLICATE
First Full Sync
Workloads replicated to OCI from the live estate, then kept current with incremental syncs. Production stays untouched.
Week 6-7
VALIDATE
Test & Rehearse
Functional, integration and performance testing on the target. Cutover rehearsed end to end with a documented rollback.
Week 8
CUT OVER
Live on OCI
Final sync in the agreed window, production switched to OCI, hypercare through the first close, then handover to managed services.
★ One cutover window. The VMware estate can be decommissioned from week 9.
After the Move
The Same EBS, on a Platform That Extends
Once EBS is on OCI, the modernisation backlog stops needing an infrastructure project in front of it.
A Staged Path, Not a Big Bang
Lift-and-shift first, so the cost and licensing pressure is resolved quickly. Modernisation — Fusion analytics, integration, AI services — follows on the new platform at your pace, not as a precondition of the move. Ongoing support continues under Optimal360 Managed Services.
Let’s Build Together
Your next VMware renewal is a decision point.
Book a migration assessment and we will size your estate on OCI, review your Oracle licensing position, and lay out the wave plan and cutover window for the full workload.
Contact Us →